Visitor Experience Lead Jobs

OVERVIEW:

If you love art, museums, and interacting with people to share that enthusiasm, join the Seattle Art Museum team as a Visitor Experience (VX) Lead! We seek highly competent individuals with a knack for providing exceptional customer service to serve as a primary sales and customer service role model to the VX team. You will display and model effective sales techniques for museum tickets and memberships, ensure professionalism and customer service is consistently exhibited among frontline VX team, and act as the liaison between management, staff, visitors, and Frontline volunteers.

SAM is dedicated to racial equity and strives for employees, volunteers, and interns who are passionate, qualified, and offer diverse perspectives. SAM prioritizes racial equity in the workplace because we know that people of color are the most impacted when it comes to inequities. We are particularly interested in engaging with historically under-represented groups in the museum field as we strive to be inclusive and equitable. SAM is responsive to cultural communities and experiences, and our strategic plan goals address the role art plays in empowering social justice and structural change to promote equity in our society.

FLSA STATUS: Non-exempt

COMPENSATION: $22.07 per hour

HOURS: Part Time Must be able to work 3 days a week consistently. We may provide additional hours for high-volume days, extended hours, and vacation coverage. Successful candidates must be available Wednesdays – Sundays at all locations and for some seasonal holidays.

REPORTS TO: Visitor Experience Manager

BENEFITS: Part time regular employees are able to enroll in our company’s 403b plan. Employees will also accrue sick leave and vacation leave at a rate of .0385 per hour worked. There are twelve paid holidays and one floating holiday throughout the calendar year, that are paid on a pro-rated basis, reflective of employee’s average hours worked in the prior six weeks. Additional benefits include subsidized transportation (ORCA business passport), access to fitness facility, and museum membership.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Other duties as assigned.
• Fourth Floor Operations: Monitor and regulate entrance to our Simonyi Special Exhibition Galleries, being aware of current gallery capacity, and communicate regularly with security in gallery space to monitor visitor traffic. Implement stanchioning and line management of gallery entrance as needed.
• Explain and Enforce Membership Policies: Help enforce proper membership policies adherence; coach VX reps as needed. Monitor the number of people entering on a single membership and explain reciprocal membership privileges. Look up membership information within our ticketing and membership software Tessitura. Handle complex question escalated from a VX Representative’s visitor interaction.
• Customer Service: Provide exemplary customer service and be a model for this across the VX team. Coach VX Representatives on customer service best practices and SAM policies and procedures. Be friendly, engaging and welcome all museum visitors and members. Be knowledgeable about the museum and able to enthusiastically provide information about current exhibitions, programs, and events. As a Visitor Experience Lead, you set the tone for staff, and are crucial in helping to curate a consistent and exceptional experience for visitors.
• Closing Preparation: At the end of the day, close each person’s till, make sure their paperwork is accurately filled out, document any discrepancies, and complete the closing checklist. Prepare anything needed for the next day.
• Leadership: Conduct on-the-spot coaching to VX Representatives. Provide training, guidance, and feedback, and take initial corrective action for time-sensitive issues as they occur, letting management know immediately, and documenting appropriately. Be able to make time-sensitive decisions when management is not present.
• Understand, Uphold, and Abide by SAM Policies: Deliver high-quality work by adhering to the Visitor Experience department policies and expectations, VX customer service standards, ticketing policies, Membership policies, COVID guidelines, discount guidelines, and overall SAM institutional policies. Adhere to directives from Visitor Experience Management and SAM leadership. Conduct yourself with professionalism in the workplace at all times.
• Flexibility: Perform duties at all SAM locations as needed. Be prepared to fill in as a breaker for various Visitor Experience positions. Dress for indoor and outdoor duties. Flexibility to work special events such as SAM Remix, Party in the Park, etc. required.
• Daily & Ongoing Projects and Tasks: Monitor supplies, ticket stock, and relay low levels to managers to be reordered in a timely manner. Based on our customer service needs, delegate projects to representatives to be completed during slower times. Follow up to make sure these projects are completed and/or rescheduled for another time if needed. Complete Lead projects as assigned by VX Management. Communicate project statuses to VX Management.
• Communication: Conduct yourself with proper workplace communication etiquette, engaging in a professional manner. Communicate operational questions, concerns, and feedback to Visitor Experience management. Engage with all visitors, staff, and volunteers with professionalism. Adhere to proper workplace email and communication etiquette. Responsible for checking work email and Slack channels for updates when on site.
• Cash Handling & Deposit: Assume responsibility for daily financial revenue and membership forms. Complete the daily deposit. Double check your work to make sure it is completed with accuracy. Balance daily admissions, membership, and box office revenue. Run daily reports, count back safe and tills, prepare funds for the next day, and submit change orders when needed.
• Ticket & Membership Sales: Perform the following duties, and coach others when they are not performing these procedures properly. Actively promote the museum to sell tickets and memberships to incoming visitors using membership and ticketing sales language. Maintain working and up to date knowledge of our ticketing and membership software, Tessitura. Encourage lapsed and renewing members to continue their membership using advanced understanding of our membership levels. Maintain working knowledge of our discounts and community programs in order to convert ticket and membership sales effectively.
• Opening Preparation: Upon arriving at work, count and assign the tills for the day and make sure the opening checklist is available for staff to follow; assign tasks as needed. Check the sick line and reach out to on-call staff if needed. Schedule lunch and break times and schedule staff to fill any empty Coat Check shifts. Participate in the pre-shift meeting by reviewing the day page and alert staff of any additional information Ensure VX is ready to open on time.
• Teamwork: Appropriately seek and value peer input, communicate and collaborate effectively, and interact with the Frontline staff and Volunteers in a positive, professional, and constructive manner. Perform VX Representative duties as needed. This means being willing and able to work in coat check, on the 4th floor, as ticket scanner, or on the ticket desk as needed.
• Training: Work with the Visitor Experience Assistant Manager and Supervisor to train all VX representatives, and keep them current on procedures, so they are informed and are able to give up-to-date accurate information to visitors and volunteers. Help train VX staff on selling tickets and memberships, and send feedback to managers as needed. Train staff in coat check, scanning, fourth floor ops, discount and reciprocal membership info, and other areas as needed.
• Customer Service Center (CSC): As needed, cross-train in the Customer Service Center to temporarily help out if the daily CSC volume increases. Provide excellent customer service: answer phones, reply to requests and inquiries, and sell tickets and memberships.
• Volunteer Relationships: Greet each volunteer and thank them for their service! Welcome volunteers to pre-shift if they choose to attend. Make sure that the volunteers know you are the Lead that day, introduce yourself. Communicate the day’s events and any pertinent information to the volunteers. Check in with them periodically to see if they need additional help or have training issues, especially on a busy day. Provide support to volunteers to resolve complex customer service issues. Ensure that the volunteers receive their 20-minute break.

QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED:

• Excellent customer service skills. Ability to maintain a positive approach when dealing with difficult internal/external customers in a consistent, professional manner.
• Ability to work professionally and tactfully to support management decisions in a positive, professional manner.
• Outgoing personality and excellent social skills.
• Ability to take initiative and prioritize multiple competing tasks; possess excellent time-management skill and ability to work under pressure at a fast pace.
• High school graduate or equivalent related experience.
• Strong general math skills, including the ability to handle cash-related transactions accurately and ethically.
• Ability to learn Tessitura, the museum’s database and ticketing platform, is essential.
• Demonstrated proficiency with and accuracy in using MS Office.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and etiquette.
• 1+ years of experience in a customer-oriented environment with a focus on sales or ticketing required.
• 1 year of supervisory experience preferred.
• Ability to work with close attention to detail and to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to learn and adapt quickly in a constantly changing environment.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Work areas are mostly inside, in a climate-controlled office environment with light to moderate background noise.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES REQUIRED TO PERFORM ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Sitting/Standing/Walking : Approximately 75% of time is spent seated while working at a desk. Balance of time (approximately 25%) is spent standing or moving around the work area. Ability to stand for extended periods of time when assisting at Museum events.

Communication : Clear and effective communication with volunteers, donors, members, the public, and co-workers is necessary.

Vision : Corrected vision close to 20/20 is necessary to effectively use the computer screens.

Moving : The ability to move up to twenty pounds on occasion is necessary for moving files, equipment, and supplies. Must be able to regularly position self to access files.

Office Work : Ability to effectively and regularly operate a cash register, computer, keyboard, and other office productivity machinery, such as copy machines and printers, and ability to inspect, prepare and use paperwork, files, equipment, and supplies is necessary.

Centering equity, diversity, and inclusion as an organization, and as individuals, Seattle Art Museum (SAM) is committed to ensuring that all employees and volunteers enjoy a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming workplace. SAM is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, honorably discharged veteran or military status, or any other protected class.

Please contact the Human Resources Department at (206) 654-3188 or for additional information or to request reasonable accommodations for the application or interview process.

Offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of a criminal background check and proof that the applicant is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or qualifies for a testing exemption or accommodation.

TO APPLY: Please visit to submit SAM employment application, cover letter and resume.

Deadline: May 9th, 2023

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