Senior Manager of Visitor Services

Love nature? Then you’re going to love The Nat.

The San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat) was founded by amateur naturalists in 1874 and has played a major role in the conversation of our region. The Museum recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and completed a strategic plan focused on encouraging a love for nature, levering science and collections for conservation, and using our own voice to be here for nature.

The Hospitality Department is the heart of our organization, which welcomes more than 300K guests per year (and growing!) and generates revenue that supports The Nat’s important mission of conserving nature through science and discovery.  
  
We are seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Senior Manager of Visitor Services (SMVS) that will ensure that the Visitor Services department meets the needs of ALL Museum guests, whether they come in on a quiet afternoon or during one of our wildly popular Nat at Nights, through unparalleled, high-quality customer service. The ideal candidate will ensure that the guest experience is centered, and that the Visitor Services team provides experiences that leave guests feeling valued, welcomed, and accessible to all. 
  
The SMVS is responsible for managing the daily operation and administration of the Visitor Services department. Primary responsibilities include all aspects of hiring, onboarding, supporting, and managing a fun, creative, and diverse team of Visitor Services staff. They reinforce Museum policies, procedures, and values within the department, and they provide real-time feedback to VS staff to ensure that they meet both performance and behavior expectations, while maintaining high team morale and building a positive team culture. The ideal candidate will have excellent attention to detail, be able to anticipate and evaluate Museum and guest needs and will confidently make decisions. 
  
The SMVS collaborates with multiple internal departments, and they also represent our organization externally with peers at similar institutions to adopt and share best practices as appropriate. They will lead the Museum Theatre Committee as well as large-scale admissions events like December Nights and Free Tuesday. The SMVS guides department efforts to collect and analyze data to support our efforts in achieving our goals and monitoring and reporting on our efforts. The SMVS will specifically create, maintain, and present data to track sales and attendance for various internal and external constituents as well as assist with admission projections, budgets, and sales plans. They will be responsible for using and developing metrics to assess and improve performance.

Essential Responsibilities 

• Manage Visitor Services staffing operations; including hiring, training, scheduling, timecard management, staff meetings, and communications.
• Ensure delivery of exceptional customer service as well as resolve customer issues in a timely manner.
• Manage admission projections, budgets, and sales plans.
• Oversee daily operational aspects related to the Museum’s public spaces including, staff, phone and email communications, and opening and closing procedures
• Complete daily/weekly/monthly reports required for internal and external stakeholders and partners.
• Coordinate and maintain on-site signage and admissions-related web content
• Coordinate and manage Resident Free Tuesdays and other large-scale admission-based programs and events.
• Lead the process of updating and creating Visitor Services Department processes and procedures.
• Maintain strong knowledge of the ticketing/database system
• Additional duties as assigned in support of the mission of the Museum.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains new staff.
• Oversees the daily workflow of the department.
• Review & approve payroll
• Provides constructive and timely performance evaluations.
• Handles discipline and termination of employees in accordance with company policy.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Supervision Given 

• Visitor Services Leads
• Visitor Services Associates

Supporting Other Operational Functions as Needed 

• Clean up or reorganize
• Moving museum furniture
• Set up/break down for internal events

Qualifications 

• 5 years of customer service experience in a front-line environment and 3+ years in a formal supervisory capacity required; to include completion of written performance appraisals and delivery of performance feedback.
• Experience working with a point-of-sale system, customer relations management system or other admissions/ticketing database system is required. Experience working with Altru ticketing system is a plus.
• Knowledge of accounting, budgeting, and financial/attendance reporting.
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience.

Skills 

• Leadership skills to empower, motivate, and develop a collaborative and positive work environment.
• Demonstrated employee management skills, including hiring, scheduling, training, conflict resolution, and team building.
• Excellent customer service skills, ability to work as a team player, exercise diplomacy, and make independent decisions.
• Excellent communication skills; verbal and written fluency in English. Spanish is desirable, but not required.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, prioritize tasks, and work under pressure to meet scheduled and unexpected deadlines.
• Solid analytic, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong knowledge of MS Office suite, including Outlook, Teams, and Excel.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements 

• Prolonged periods standing and walking
• Must be physically able to climb ladders, bend or crawl into awkward spaces
• Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds at a time.

Time Commitment:

The Senior Manager of Visitor Services position will primarily be Sunday – Thursday, but in order to ensure daily supervisory coverage during high volume events and days, may be required to adjust their schedule to cover some holidays, Friday evenings, and Saturdays. Currently, the Museum is open to the public seven days a week from 10 AM to 5 PM, but our hours vary seasonally (including Nat at Nights from 10 AM to 11 PM hours on the 3rd Friday of each month and weekly during the summer). 

The SMVS position is a full-time, exempt position that is eligible for benefits such as health insurance, vacation, sick-time,15 paid holidays, free admission into all of Balboa Park’s museums, and more.

Pay: $71,000 annually.