SEASONAL FARM TEAM – JOIN US AT OAKLEYS FARM!
We’re looking for enthusiastic, friendly, practical and confident people to join our seasonal team at Oakleys Farm!
This isn’t your average seasonal job — no two days at Oakleys are the same!
Our team work across multiple areas of the farm, so one day you could be making coffees and serving customers in the Farm Shop, the next helping with our animals, supporting a busy event or travelling with our reindeer to a Christmas appearance!
We’re looking for local, like-minded people who will thrive in a busy farming environment, aren’t afraid of hard work and love Christmas as much as we do!
THE ROLE
This is a varied, hands-on position and you’ll be expected to get involved across different areas of the business, including:
Farm Shop, Front of House & Barista
- Welcoming and serving customers
- Making barista coffees and other drinks
- Serving within our Farm Shop
- Helping customers with products and enquiries
- Keeping customer areas clean, tidy and well presented
- General cleaning and tidying around the Farm Shop and farm
- Helping wherever needed during busy periods
Animals & Farm
- Looking after and interacting with our animals
- Assisting with feeding, cleaning and daily animal care
- Working with our reindeer, goats, donkeys, alpacas and other farm animals
- Helping with animal experiences
- Keeping animal areas clean, safe and well presented
- Talking confidently to visitors about our animals
- Helping to train and work with our herd of 11 reindeer
Christmas & Offsite Events
Christmas is one of our busiest and most exciting times of the year!
We specialise in offsite reindeer appearances including school visits, Christmas light switch-ons, corporate events, shopping centres and private events.
Our previous clients include The Royal Family, Red Bull Racing, Tesco, Amazon, Roadchef, Zara, Sky, Channel 4 and the BBC – so some of our animals are already little celebrities!
Members of our seasonal team may have the opportunity to travel with our experienced drivers and animals to events across the country, including locations such as London and Leeds.
You’ll help with:
Handling and presenting our reindeer
Keeping the magic of Christmas alive
Engaging with families, children, guests and clients
Dressing up and getting involved with the Christmas experience
Teaching visitors about our wonderful animals
Travelling to offsite bookings where required
Setting up, cleaning and helping with the general running of events
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We’d love to hear from people who are:
- Friendly, approachable and confident with the public
- Keen, enthusiastic and reliable
- Comfortable talking to children and families
- Passionate about animals and farm life
- Happy working outdoors in all weather conditions
- Willing to undertake physical and manual work
- Not afraid to get their hands dirty!
- Able to use their own initiative
- Punctual and flexible
- Happy to work across different areas rather than having one set job
- Comfortable travelling to events when required
- Available for weekend and weekday work throughout the season
Previous animal-handling experience is a bonus, but enthusiasm, confidence, reliability and a willingness to learn are just as important.
A full UK driving licence is desirable, but not essential for every role.
REINDEER HANDLING
Our reindeer are large, strong livestock and working safely with them is extremely important.
A practical animal-handling component will therefore form part of our interview process for candidates wishing to work within the animal and reindeer side of the role. This allows us to assess your confidence, awareness and ability to work safely and effectively around our animals.
Full training will be provided, including:
- Reindeer handling
- Animal care
- Health & Safety
- Risk assessments
- Customer service
- Farm Shop procedures
- Barista training where required
HOURS
This is a seasonal position, with both part-time and seasonal full-time opportunities available.
Hours can vary depending on events and bookings, typically around 15–40 hours per week.
Applicants must be able to work at least one weekend day, as well as having some weekday availability throughout the season.
Some days may involve early starts, later finishes or travelling to offsite events, so flexibility is important.
Oakleys Farm, Staffordshire
If you’re looking for a standard 9–5 where every day looks the same, this probably isn’t the role for you!
But if you love animals, enjoy meeting people, thrive in a busy environment, don’t mind getting muddy, can make a great coffee and want to experience everything from farm life to Christmas events with our reindeer – we’d love to hear from you!
TO APPLY
Please send us:
- Your CV
- A little bit about yourself and why you’d like to join Oakleys
- Your availability throughout the season
- Any experience you have with animals, hospitality, barista work, retail, children or customer service
- Whether you hold a full UK driving licence
Come and get stuck in, join our team and gain some brilliant experience on our diverse farm!
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Temporary
Pay: £8.00-£12.71 per hour
Benefits:
Experience:
- Customer Service: 2 years (preferred)
- Animal handling: 2 years (preferred)
Location:
- Stoke-on-Trent ST10 2PT (preferred)
Work Location: In person
