Visitor Operations Manager

About the role

We have an exciting new role playing a key part in ensuring we deliver an exceptional visitor experience in our amazing galleries based in the heart of Edinburgh. You must have substantial proven experience of successfully managing teams within a Visitor Attraction or Retail environment.

We are looking for someone who can step in with confidence and is energised by the opportunity to motivate and inspire a team. You will be an exceptional people manager with excellent communication and organisational skills. You will play a critical part in planning and delivering staffing requirements for exhibitions, learning programmes and events and ensure that income generation opportunities are maximised.

As part of our enthusiastic and skilled Security and Visitor Engagement team, you will manage up to 50 Visitor Assistants with the support of two Visitor Assistant Supervisors. It’s a busy and varied role and gives the opportunity to work with some fantastic people.



The difference you’ll make

Working across all our galleries you’ll be responsible for welcoming and engaging visitors, supporting delivery of exhibitions, programmes and events and maximising income from ticket, Friends membership sales and donations.

You will be a visible and active leader able to anticipate visitor needs and meet them through ensuring the team are highly motivated and confident in their roles. You will ensure an excellent welcome and high standards across the team, and that income from visitors is maximised. You will manage visitor compliments, comments and complaints received in person, by phone and via email responding as appropriate, always looking for continuous improvement.

You’ll work closely with curators, learning and engagement, marketing and membership teams to ensure that the set-up and delivery of exhibitions and events fully meet internal and audience expectations.


Reporting to the Director of Operations your responsibilities will also include the following:

Leadership

- Leading, inspiring and developing the team of Visitor Assistants in delivering exceptional standards of welcome, service and sales.

- Ensuring the Visitor Assistant Supervisors are fully skilled and supported in their roles and in the wider performance management, individual coaching and skills development of their teams.

- Being a key point of contact for all departments involved in planning and delivering visitor-facing programmes and events, ensuring that the needs and expectations of visitors are fully considered and delivered


Resource Management

- Planning Visitor Assistant rotas in-line with relevant NGS activity.

- Liaising with key internal departments on all aspects of planning visitor-facing activity, ensuring that staffing levels, event plans and budget controls are fully agreed.

- Ensuring all payroll, recharge, annual leave and associated processes are completed accurately and on time.

- Managing staffing levels and contracts and the recruitment of Visitor Assistants.


Experience Management

- Ensuring visitor feedback is actively collated, responded to, addressed at relevant forums and that actions are agreed, prioritised and followed through.

- Delivering engagement and training initiatives across the team to improve the quality of the visit.

- Seeking to improve the visitor journey through the continual evaluation and review of processes and interaction with colleagues.

- Working with the Director of Operations to set income targets for Friends recruitment and visitor donations at our galleries


Operations

- Acting as Duty Manager when required.



Who we are looking for

To succeed in this role, you’ll need the following range of knowledge, skills, and experience:

- While an interest in art would be great it’s not essential. However, you must have previous experience of successfully managing teams within a Visitor Attraction, Retail and/or customer service organisation.

- With experience of managing performance, you’ll be interested in people and possess outstanding people leadership and management skills

- A creative and pragmatic approach to problem solving, you will work well in a busy environment with strong organisational skills

- Ability to prioritise, co-ordinate and delegate tasks to meet your own and the team’s workload and deadlines.

- Excellent communicator with outstanding interpersonal and written skills with the ability to stay calm under pressure.

- Experience of working with ticketing and/or point of sale systems and to have helped drive successful income generating initiatives.

- High degree of IT skills, proficient in MS Office.


For more information and to apply, please visit our careers portal.

Closing date for completed applications is 12 noon on Tuesday, 15 October 2024.

Museum Website: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/careers