UNDISCOVERED MONTENEGRO JOB OPPORTUNITIES

We are currently recruiting for our 2023 season and have two vacancies for the position below. We are also always interested to hear from freelance adventure guides with experience in Montenegro – please email us at enquiries@undiscoveredmontenegro.com

Assistant Management Couple & Hosts – Villa Miela, Montenegro

• Lifestyle job – escape to nature
• Possibility for permanent role 6 months on, 6 months off
• Optional Nov-March paid caretaking
• Opportunity for career progression in eco-tourism
• Full ex-pat package including accommodation and attractive salary

Summary

We’re on the hunt for an outdoorsy, energetic, practical, people-loving, multi-talented and sustainability-minded couple to join our team as assistant managers and hosts at Villa Miela Lake Retreat, a boutique eco-lodge in the heart of Lake Skadar National Park in Montenegro. 

If you are looking for a hands-on, operational position in tourism which gets you closer to nature, this could be the role you’ve been looking for, and with the option to work six months on, six months off! 

Villa Miela, a renovated stone farmhouse, is a media-acclaimed base for small group multi-activity holidays and, occasionally, specialist retreats like yoga and painting. 

For 2023 our assistant managers will work alongside the two company founders, who also live on-site. For 2024, ideally, as our business continues to grow, we would like our Assistant Managers ideally to progress to “fly solo”!

If you love the outdoors, stunning scenery, pristine nature and never thought you could find a job that offers you all this – every day – and then spend six months of the year travelling, then read on!

About us

Villa Miela is operated by British tour company, Undiscovered Montenegro, to run week-long small group activity holidays from April to October involving nature-based activities hiking, kayaking and wild swimming, as well as yoga and, occasionally, art. 

Now in our 12th year of operations, our breaks have won media acclaim from The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, Daily Telegraph, Lonely Planet and National Geographic and have more than a decade of five-star guest reviews!

Guests – up to 10 in peak season – enjoy an expertly-hosted package of 4 group adventure days and a superbly-run, relaxing, eco-conscious place to stay with knowledgable, friendly hosts. 

The villa itself is a beautifully restored stone farmhouse with four guest bedrooms, communal kitchen/living room, hillside orchard gardens, swimming pool, yoga deck, boules court and stunning views, surrounding by forest, wild flowers and abundant wildlife (wild tortoises, badgers, golden jackal and a plethora of birds!).

Key tasks and responsibilities

As house and grounds managers, as well as assistants on activity days, you will need to be up for adventure, frequent challenges, be highly organised neat freaks, problem solvers and love meeting new people! Your day-to-day tasks will include:

• Assisting with the management of all operational and guest related aspects of running the villa, co-ordinating with the owners and community partners 
• Basic groundskeeping; gardening, watering, weeding, sweeping, pruning, strimming and power-washing, as well as harvesting fruit from the natural orchard and collecting eggs from our on-site chickens!
• Basic maintenance; cleaning and tidying the villa, daily swimming pool maintenance, weekly mountain bikes checks and keeping the kayaks and company vehicles clean and guest-ready. 
• Changeovers: Sundays are guest departure and arrival day when one group leaves and another arrives. The villa requires a rapid major clean and all bedrooms, bathrooms and guest areas need to be prepared to hotel standard.
• Tour Assistance; assisting the Tour Leader with groups of 4-15 on kayaking, hiking and 4×4 excursions. Ideally, you would swiftly be able to assume Tour Leader duties yourselves. This requires a love of all the above pursuits, a clean driving licence, readiness to drive a 4×4 and willingness to throw yourself into cold water swimming! A basic BCU kayaking qualification or kayaking experience would be useful, also the ability to speak or learn Montenegrin/Serbian language!
• Guest Assistance; interacting with guests and helping them with any needs they might have, including providing lifts to the village, arranging taxis, giving information, socialising or even leading an impromptu yoga session on the deck.
• Catering: providing daily breakfasts, cooking and serving a welcome dinner and occasional other evening meals once to twice a week (guests pay for these at extra cost).
• Administrative Assistance; answering emails, liaising with our other tour guides and local tourism businesses, e.g. restaurants, boat tour companies, helping with marketing and promotion including making social media posts on Villa Miela’s Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Full training will be provided in-house to compliment certificates in outdoor skills such as kayaking and emergency outdoor first aid. Experience in customer-facing roles, social media and basic property maintenance is essential. 

Working schedule

Ideally, we would like the successful applicants to start in April, but we can be flexible for the right candidates, who would work six days and have one day off each week. Working days start early, while working hours may be long or short depending on the day’s tasks. This is no nine-to-five and flexibility is required!

Accommodation

Merida Cabin, a self-contained eco-cabin nestled in the abundant nature of the Villa Miela estate, with fig and plum trees right outside your door! The cabin has a double bed, kitchenette and private outdoor space, with access to a communal WC and shower nearby. Power comes from the mains and a solar generator. WiFi dongle provided (unlimited data). There is also a separate office “operations centre” with broadband WiFi for administrative duties.

• Previous customer-facing experience in hospitality and/or tourism (experience in catering and/or yoga instruction is a bonus)
• Enthusiastic, sociable, highly organized, responsible team player with excellent communication and problem-solving abilities and attention for detail
• Fluent English language speaker with knowledge of, or willingness to learn, Montenegrin/Serbian
• Outdoor sports and nature lover with a keen interest in sustainability
• Flexible and adaptable approach to roles, responsibilities and working hours
• Full, clean driving license

Salary

Year One – £1,500 per couple per month March-October, £300 per couple per month November-March (caretaking role)

Year Two – £2,000 per couple per month full time

Employment in Season One would be on a seasonal worker’s visa. Season Two would be on full temporary residence with work permit.

About Villa Miela

Villa Miela is a beautifully restored stone farmhouse with four guest bedrooms, communal kitchen/living room, hillside orchard gardens, swimming pool, yoga deck, boules court, stunning views and a fleet of bicycles and kayaks. It is 1.5km from Virpazar, the lake’s main settlement and only a 30-minute drive or train ride to the coast and two hours from the stunning mountains of Montenegro’s north. 

About Lake Skadar National Park

Lake Skadar is a vast freshwater lake straddling the borders of Albania and Montenegro and surrounded by dramatic karst mountains. Its mirrored waters, rocky shores and wetlands play host to a myriad of wildlife with more than 260 species of birds, traditional fishing villages, islet monasteries and pristine beaches. Home to some of the most celebrated panoramas in a country renowned for its wild, natural beauty, Lake Skadar has been a protected National Park since 1983. Many Montenegrins regard this area as their country’s heart and soul. It was here that the former Montenegrin royal family chose to summer, where Turkish invaders sought to conquer, and where some of the best wines and organic food in Montenegro can be found, cultivated by the local producers of Crmnica and Godinje valleys.

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