Visitor Experience Manager

The Visitor Experience Manager (VEM) is an integral part of the management team responsible for the oversight of a seamless House visit and visitor engagement programme during varied opening hours throughout the year to ensure that every aspect of the experience is taken into account. With extensive management experience in a visitor facing environment, the VEM will act as an ambassador for our visitors across the property, embedding their needs and expectations at the heart of the visitor experience.

With oversight of the house-based visitor operation and shouldering direct responsibility for the seamless visitor engagement programme throughout the year, they will enable a broad range of audiences to have an outstanding and inspirational visit through the consistent quality of our welcome and the stories we tell.

The VEM will play an important role in the growth and development of the Visitor Experience department, championing excellence in operational delivery, recruitment, training, customer best practice, and engagement initiatives. Using their knowledge and understanding of best practice within the sector, they will play an integral part in developing the Visitor Experience strategy and helping to future proof department objectives and delivery of KPIs.

Working Wednesday to Sunday throughout the year, they will be experienced in supporting and delivering a large daily visitor operation and ensuring the best use of staffing and resource across the property.

Primary Responsibilities:

Operational Management

House Based Operation

• Have oversight of the House based visitor operation, supporting the AVEM to ensure;
  • the consistency of visit for all guests
  • presentation standards are exemplary throughout and meet brand guidelines
  • compliance throughout the operation
  • engagement of staff and volunteers with the purpose of their roles and environment
  • visitor feedback is recorded and reviewed, escalating where appropriate
• Create operational House planning document, updating regularly following operational changes
• Look strategically to future proof the house-based visitor operation, regularly benchmarking against other sector leading properties, and implementing change management where necessary
• Actively support AVEM in operational delivery of house opening and tours programme
• Act as a Fire Warden for the property during opening hours
• Act as a point of escalation for the AVEM and team, confidently responding to any in-person visitor feedback or complaints, resolving any issues raised and escalating with suggestions for improvement to the HVE for review where necessary

Tours and Walks Operation

• Responsible for the oversight and daily operational delivery of the public tours and walks programme non-House based, ensuring it is consistently delivered to a high standard and sufficiently resourced with staff and volunteers
• Act as a central point of contact and liaising between teams and departments to ensure spaces and resources are efficiently managed in a timely manner, in particular: Group Bookings Coordinator, Collections Administrator, and Head of Private Events
• Operational responsibility for the visitor journey and experience, staffing resources and programming at the Wedding Cake/Dairy site, as well as any satellite exhibition spaces
• Conduct informative briefings for staff and volunteer teams ahead of tours and walks
• In collaboration with the AVEM provide motivational and supportive line management and provide resources to guide and volunteer teams, encouraging them to embed the needs and expectations of visitors at the heart of the operation
• In collaboration with relevant colleagues & departments, create agreed scripts and guidance for delivery of walks and tours programme by guiding teams
• Create risk assessments and method statements, pertinent to the operational delivery of the engagement programme
• Prepare ticketing set-up for house-based activity and paid for tours in a timely manner
• Regularly attend scheduled tours and walks to monitor the consistency and quality of the visitor offer, implementing any necessary improvements
• Train to be a guide, covering staff/volunteer shortfalls to ensure consistency in the visitor offer
• Where necessary, support out of hours exclusive access tours, sharing this responsibility amongst the VE management team
• Grow and develop the public programme, with particular reference to accessible and income generating programming
• Work closely with the HVE and VEM, as well as colleagues from the Box Office, Volunteering, Collections, Gardens, Marketing and Events departments to ensure the holistic delivery of excellent visitor care and engagement
• Contribute to the planning and delivery of programming and exhibitions, ensuring all operational aspects are considered and advocating for the needs of visitors
• Work closely with the Collections department to update interpretation materials to ensure that they remain current, relevant and engaging
• Work collaboratively with the AVEM in relations to all house-based tours, supporting them to ensure the smooth running of the operation and efficient management of staff and volunteer resources, whilst ensuring scope for the AVEM to be involved in the planning and delivery of the wider tours programme

People Management

• Line manage the Assistant Visitor Experience Manager (AVEM), providing operational guidance, supporting their growth in post and prioritizing personal development opportunities
• Support & coach the AVEM in managing House based staff (Experience, Operations and Welcome Assistants) and volunteer (House Host) teams
• Consistently provide authoritative and motivational line management for guides and volunteers (Specialist Guides, Garden Guides, Wedding Cake Guides, Visitor Insights volunteers and Hosts & Eythrope Guides and Hosts) teams acting as a friendly and approachable point of contact & where appropriate sharing this responsibility with the AVEM
• Provide motivational and supporting line management for Visitor Insights volunteers and supporting HVE to analyse audiences and the visitor journey
• Create homogenous House team of staff and volunteers, striving to deliver a culture of excellence, whilst adopting a one team approach
• Develop a culture of exceptional service, every time, for everyone throughout the team and be a role model of best practice
• Motivate teams to be inspired by, engage with, and safely manage historic surroundings - demonstrating a particular interest in the house, its history and collections
• Alongside the AVEM oversee the implementation of staffing plans to ensure all aspects of the visitor operation are sufficiently resourced and align with agreed budgets
• Working with the AVEM, lead on recruiting talented and enthusiastic people, develop and coach them, driving strong performance through setting clear objectives and giving regular feedback and reviews
• Work closely with the Head of Visitor Experience, Head of Volunteering and AVEM to expand and develop a year-round integrated Visitor Experience volunteering programme developing a strategy to grow the volunteer offer and adopt sector best practice
• Support the VE management team in performance managing shared permanent staffing teams
• In collaboration with the AVEM deliver inspiring induction and training programmes for Visitor Experience House based teams, enabling proactive staff development and ensuring that a culture of continuous improvement is in place
• In collaboration with the AVEM, develop role specific induction and training materials, continuously assessing their impact as the season progresses and updating where necessary
• Act as VE lead on planning annual best practice visitor care training for staff and volunteer teams
• Provide regular role specific training for staff and volunteer teams, including; collection and exhibition updates, security, access awareness, fire evacuation, collection care, inspecting and using ladders, and disaster management

Developing Best Practice

• Working closely with the HVE, contribute to the Visitor Experience departmental strategy
• Use experience to look holistically at house-based operation, providing a strategy for implementing best practice:
  • Efficient use of staffing resources to ensure compliance obligations are consistently met whilst maximising budgets
  • Professional development of staff team members, providing opportunities to maximise skills and experience, train further in role specific areas and opportunities to progress within the department
  • Build on the development of house-based volunteer roles, expanding the visitor engagement focus and attracting and retaining diverse volunteer
  • Ensure scope for AVEM to be involved in all of the above strategic planning
• Work collaboratively with the HVE, Group Bookings Coordinator and Marketing team to understand our audiences and to develop tours and walks aligning with visitor and group preferences
• Use experience to further develop visitor engagement programming, providing a strategy for implementing industry leading tours and experiences:
  • Research and identify audience preferences
  • Looking broadly, research and identify sector leading experiences
  • Working with the Collections and Private Events departments, take an holistic approach to developing a guide recruitment and training programme
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