Join Cambridge & Oxford Alumni Tours
We are a premium heritage experiences company, sharing the history, stories and traditions of Cambridge and Oxford with guests from all over the world. Our tours are led by people who genuinely know and love these cities — graduates, students and locals with a gift for storytelling and hospitality. We’re always interested in hearing from warm, articulate and dependable people. Below you’ll find our three main roles, a little about how working with us is set up, and how to get in touch.
How Working With Us Is Set Up
All of our roles are self-employed (freelance). That suits this work well — most of the people we work with are fitting it around study, research or other projects, and it gives everyone genuine flexibility. It does mean you look after your own tax and National Insurance; if that’s new to you, we’re happy to point you towards the right guidance — it’s simpler than it sounds.
Flexible, with a rhythm we agree together. You decide the shape of your week. Because our tours are scheduled in advance and guests book days or weeks ahead, we plan the calendar around the regular availability you offer — a realistic, consistent weekly pattern that fits around your studies or other commitments. You set the pattern, we schedule around it, and once you’ve taken on a tour or a session it’s a firm commitment that guests will be counting on. If your pattern needs to change, that’s absolutely fine — just give us reasonable notice so we can plan around you.
Put simply: flexible by design, ad-hoc never. The people who offer a consistent pattern and deliver on it reliably get the most work and the best of the calendar.
Full training is provided for every role, rates are competitive, and everything is set out clearly in a simple written agreement before you start.
Walking Tour Guides
Cambridge & Oxford
The role: Our walking tour guides lead story-led explorations of Cambridge and Oxford: the colleges, the famous alumni, the discoveries, the traditions and the lesser-known tales that make these universities so extraordinary. You’ll lead scheduled shared tours and private groups — families, international visitors, prospective students and VIP guests.
What the work involves:
- Leading scheduled walking tours through the historic centre
- Arriving ahead of time to greet guests at the meeting point and set a welcoming tone
- Delivering engaging, accurate storytelling — history brought to life, not a dry lecture
- Adapting your delivery to your audience: children, academics, tourists, VIPs
- Representing the brand with warmth, polish and professionalism
- Letting the operations team know promptly of any guest issues
What we look for:
- Confident, engaging spoken English (additional languages are a genuine asset — especially Spanish and Mandarin)
- Real knowledge of, or willingness to learn deeply about, Cambridge or Oxford
- Charisma, warmth and emotional intelligence with guests of all backgrounds
- Dependability — tours you’ve taken on run to schedule, whatever the weather
- A presentable, professional appearance in keeping with a premium experience
Who it suits:
Graduates of the universities, current students looking for work around term time, postgraduates, and knowledgeable locals. If you love these cities and enjoy an audience, this is a rare chance to be paid for both.
Training and terms:
Full training is provided — routes, storytelling content and guest-care standards, with the chance to shadow experienced guides before leading your own tours. Self-employed, with competitive rates and a schedule built around the weekly availability you offer.
Punting Tour Guide
Cambridge
The role: If you’re local, you’ll already know punting guides have one of the most enviable roles in Cambridge: warm days on the river, gliding past the Backs, sharing the history and heritage of the colleges from the best vantage point in the city. It’s sociable, physical, outdoors and memorable — work worth telling the grandkids about.
What the work involves:
- Punting guests along the River Cam on scheduled shared tours and private hires
- Delivering river-side storytelling: the colleges, the bridges, the legends and the history
- Helping guests board and disembark safely and comfortably
- Looking after guest comfort and safety on the water at all times
- Keeping to tour schedules and communicating clearly with the operations team
What we look for:
- Confidence with people and a natural storytelling instinct
- Capability for physically demanding work — punting is a genuine workout
- Calm judgement and attentiveness to guest safety
- Dependability across the season, including busy summer weekends
- Clear spoken English; other languages are an asset
Who it suits:
People-people who enjoy being outdoors and active. No prior punting experience is needed — balance, common sense and a bit of persistence are enough to learn.
Training and terms:
Full training is provided, including punting lessons — most people are confident on the pole within a couple of weeks. Self employed, with competitive rates and a schedule built around the weekly availability you offer.
Sales Assistant
Street Sales, Cambridge & Oxford
The role: Our sales assistants are often the first impression visitors get of the company. Working outdoors in the historic centre, you’ll welcome visitors, help them understand their options, and match them to the right experience — walking tours, punting, or both. This is premium, hospitality-led selling: we guide people warmly towards the right choice, we never pressure or hassle.
What the work involves:
- Welcoming visitors in the city centre with warmth and confidence
- Understanding what each visitor is looking for and recommending the best-fit tour
- Explaining options, timings and meeting points clearly and honestly
- Processing bookings accurately and handing guests over smoothly to the tour team
- Coordinating with the on-site team so each day runs smoothly
What we look for:
- A friendly, confident manner and excellent spoken English (additional languages are a real advantage)
- Honesty and accuracy — we never oversell or mislead guests
- Enthusiasm and resilience for an outdoor, on-your-feet role
- Dependability: a consistent weekly pattern, offered in advance and delivered on
- A presentable, professional appearance
Who it suits:
Approachable, enthusiastic, communicative people who enjoy meeting visitors from all over the world — and anyone who wants to develop genuinely valuable sales craft in a premium setting. Many of the people who do best here are students who’ve built a consistent weekly pattern around their timetable.
Training and terms:
Full training is provided — approach, conversation, product knowledge and booking systems. Self-employed, with competitive rates. The work is flexible by design and, as with all our roles, the schedule is built around the consistent weekly availability you offer around your studies or other commitments.
How to Get in Touch
Applying is simple. Email [email protected] with:
- Your CV
- A few lines about yourself and why the role appeals to you
- Which role and city you’re interested in (Cambridge or Oxford)
- The weekly availability you could realistically offer on a consistent basis
We read every application and will be in touch if there’s a potential fit. Not sure which role suits you best? Say so in your email — we’re happy to advise.
All roles are self-employed. Full details, including rates, are discussed openly and set out in a written agreement before you start.