The Visitor Operations Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the Museum of Brands, ensuring an outstanding visitor experience while supporting the effective running of the organisation.
The postholder will lead visitor operations, volunteer management, retail, facilities and key administrative functions, ensuring the museum is welcoming, safe, financially strong and operationally efficient. They will also play an important role in developing staff, improving systems and supporting the museum's long-term sustainability. You will be comfortable working in a small, dynamic organisation where no two days are the same, and be flexible to move confidently between strategic planning, team leadership and hands-on operational tasks as required.
Key responsibilities
Visitor Operations
- Lead the day-to-day operation of the museum, ensuring a consistently high-quality visitor experience and excellent customer service.
- Be based in the museum's reception area, acting as Duty Manager four days a week providing day-to-day operational support for visitors, volunteers and staff.
- Manage the team and volunteer rotas, coordinating cover for holidays and illness with other team members
- Recruit, train and develop the Volunteer Admissions Assistants, ensuring consistent front-of-house cover and an excellent visitor welcome
- Line manage the learning team, providing active support and cover when necessary
- Develop and maintain our ticketing system, Roller, including building new products and processes as needed
- Maintain high standards of financial security including till reconciliation and petty cash management.
- Maximise Gift Aid income and annual pass uptake through effective processes and staff training.
- Develop processes for collecting visitor feedback and ensure customer enquiries and feedback are monitored and responded to appropriately.
- Maintain our retail offering including ordering and inventory management
- Administrate the publishing arm (Scrapbook series) including printing, orders, reporting and ensuring accurate financial records
Finance
- Monthly preparation of statistics towards end of month accounts including visitor numbers, till reconciliation and petty cash management.
- Maintain good financial records, ensuring we are always accountable
- Build a positive relationship with our external accounting team
- Reporting against KPIs including sharing with the team and board of trustees
HR
- Support the museum in maintaining good HR practice and ensuring policies and procedures remain up to date.
- Support the recruitment, induction and development of new team members, maintaining the training matrix for staff to ensure legal training requirements are met
- Lead fortnightly team meetings
- Line manage your team including regular 121s, objective setting and annual reviews
- Develop a positive relationship with the board of trustees
Facilities Management
- Lead facilities management, ensuring the museum remains safe, compliant, welcoming and always looking at its best.
- Manage contracts for external IT support including utilities, cleaning, till, phones.
- Maintain our health and safety policies and procedures including risk assessment, reviewing them annually
- Actively engage with Integrated Pest Management internally and externally
- With the Collection Manager, develop and implement an Emergency Salvage Plan and other policies and procedures relating to collections care
- Ensure all health and safety compliance needs are met, including conducting internal checks, coordinating with contractors and arranging maintenance
- Emergency response contact and shared responsibility for security/alarm call outs during working hours
- Responsible for best practice within GDPR as appointed Data Officer
- Ensure practices and planning are in line with the environmental sustainability policy and contribute to a team-wide effort to reduce the museum’s footprint.
As duties and responsibilities change, this job description will be reviewed and amended in consultation with the post-holder.
Person Specification
Experience
- Significant management experience in a customer facing environment delivering excellent visitor experience
- Experience managing both staff and volunteers
- Experience in retail operations including ordering, pricing and stocktake
- Experience managing multiple priorities and projects within a small organisation with minimal oversight
- Experience monitoring budgets, analysing performance data and reporting against targets.
Skills
- Excellent technical skills using and developing POS and online ticketing systems
- Strong IT skills including Microsoft Office (particularly SharePoint)
- High level of accuracy and attention to detail, especially with numbers
- Confident decision-maker with a practical, proactive approach to problem-solving.
- Willingness to undertake any task, no matter how big or small
- Comfortable working in a noisy environment
Knowledge
- Knowledge of HR best practice
- Knowledge of health and safety best practice
- Basic knowledge of how environmental conditions affect historic collections would be beneficial
How to apply
Please send your CV and a covering letter demonstrating how you meet the person specification to [email protected]. Applications with no cover letter will not be considered. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the role further, please get in touch.
Please let us know if you need any assistance or additional resources to aid in your application.
Closing date: Tuesday 4 August, 9am. We will be reviewing applications and interviewing as they come in, so this vacancy may close early if we find the right candidate.
What we offer
As a member of the Museum of Brands team, you will receive:
· Staff discounts
· Flexible working during quieter periods
· Training and professional development opportunities
· Free museum entry for family and friends
We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcome. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, even if your experience doesn't directly match every requirement in this job description. If you have relevant transferable skills, we'd still love to hear from you.
We recognise that a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, skills and experiences makes us a stronger organisation. We therefore welcome applications from those who bring difference, and we particularly encourage applications from disabled people and people from Black, Asian and other ethnically diverse backgrounds, who are currently under-represented in the cultural sector.
Pay: £34,000.00-£36,000.00 per year
Application question(s):
- Have you included a cover letter demonstrating how you meet the person specification? Applications with no cover letter will not be considered.
Work Location: In person
