Customer Experience Manager
Youll report to the Theatre Manager and be responsible for our Deputy Customer Experience Manager and all Customer Experience team members. Youll work closely with your Head of Department peers in the venue across all operational, risk management, budgetary and cultural matters. Youll also communicate regularly with central teams, particularly Hospitality/ Food & Beverage and Procurement.
You will be working at Richmond Theatre, a beautiful, 126 year old venue, which hosts a variety of performances throughout the year, including plays, musicals, dance, opera, talks, and the annual pantomime.
As Customer Experience Manager, you will lead all food and beverage operations within the theatre, set the service strategy and establish a vibrant and positive culture within your dynamic team. You will act as duty manager for a number of performances during the week. You will lead responsibility for the day to day operations of the department, meeting and exceeding targets to deliver a profitable F&B operation. With a keen eye for detail, you will ensure that high standards are maintained across the department and the theatre as a whole.
This role is challenging and requires an individual with tenacity, experience across retail and F&B operations; you will ensure our bars, Ambassador Lounge and service standards stay ahead of the game, encouraging innovative ideas to help drive revenue. Youll be analytical, using data to inform decision making to further drive sales and realise untapped revenue potential. You will successfully develop and implement strategic decisions and creativity across the department, while leading and inspiring your team and direct reports to deliver an outstanding experience for our customers. In Richmond, we view customers as anyone from: our patrons enjoying a show or attending an educational workshop; to a client hiring our venue; to a producer and cast bringing us their show. Welcome on all sides is very important to us; not least, to each other as colleagues within the team as well.
Please note, your role may involve working with children or vulnerable people.
Key responsibilities
- Line manage the Customer Experience team, leading on their development and monitoring their performance.
- Work with the Customer Experience team in maximising revenue and ensuring that key performance indicators (KPIs) are achieved; including but not limited to gross profit per admit, payroll management, customer service survey responses and stock control.
- Duty manage performances as operationally necessary and oversee the rota here, along with fulfil leading office day duty management.
- Establish strong working relationships with other venues and central departments, including strategic collaboration and sharing best practice.
- Nurture relationships with internal teams, interdepartmental relationships and positively working with resident and third party producers.
- Manage external merchandise for shows, working in partnership with producers and promoters
- Ensure the Front of House operation is being managed and meets the highest standards, whilst being fully compliant with both ATGE and external Health and Safety, Licencing and Food Hygiene Rules and Regulations.
- Assist in developing, planning and executing marketing, advertising and promotional activities along with the Venue Marketing and Ticketing Teams relating particularly to F&B and service initiatives
- Manage the Customer Experience recruitment in line with company policy and rotas to ensure all shows are staffed appropriately.
- Ensure that front of house and security staffing levels are appropriate to ensure optimum revenue whilst ensuring that we operate within the cost budgets.
- Manage all stock levels and storage within the stipulated areas, overseeing audits and external assessments
- Compile reports and data tracking, as well as disseminating the information to appropriate parties.
- Ensure accurate completion of daily sales documentation, stock ordering and purchase order system use within the team and have a working knowledge of till systems
- Take the lead on harnessing company developments when it comes to data available and dashboards available for making smart decisions when it comes to stock, customer preferences and implementing change to better our service
- Promptly action customer and staff feedback when required, utilitising avenues such as team meetings, employee council notes, the Hub, social media content and post-visit surveys
- Manage communication alongside our Marketing & Communications team with customers regarding feedback received either in advance, during, or after their visit to ensure our continued improvement in customer relations.
- Liaise with visiting production personnel as appropriate to ensure that their needs are met.
- Supporting other colleagues in venue with delivering initiatives including private event hires, team training and Inspire/ Creative Learning events
- Whilst we are a cashless site, ensure responsible management of venue takings and responsible oversight of cash when present onsite e.g. following charitable collections
- Take responsibility for setting the tone for the department and ensuring that the highest standards are maintained at all times, whether it be completion of Risk Management System paperwork, cleanliness of the bar spaces or friendliness of our service
- Represent the Customer Experience department at key internal and external meetings.
- Ensure the FOH team are working in line with ATGEs values and embrace the fast-paced nature of this beautiful venue and this innovative company
- In line with the venue business plan and Budget, develop strategies to ensure the venue provides a first class audience experience.
- Manage the implementation of new concepts with the Food and Beverage/ Hospitality central teams and venue teams.
- Lead on Risk Management and service training for your team, tailoring it to the needs and schedules of your dynamic and large cohort whilst meeting the audit expectations of the company
Your skills, qualities, and experience.
If you are able to demonstrate many of the essential criteria, we encourage you to apply, and welcome transferable skills from other industries or backgrounds. We can give experience of any desirable criteria but may also use them to decide between candidates for this role.
Essential
- Experience of managing a large team in order to achieve targets and KPIs
- Understanding of financial management and budget planning
- Proven experience of defining a sales strategy that meets the ever-changing needs of a client or customer base
- Evidence of success implementing standards that meet safety legislation, establishing systems and positive cultures
- Excellent written and oral communication and organisational skills
- A gift for solving problems and remaining flexible and calm under pressure
- Computer literacy including Microsoft programmes, Teams and PowerBI
- Ability to promote and represent our venue on shift and beyond
- A commitment to leadership that encourages an open and welcoming workplace culture
Desirable
- Experience of working in a theatrical, entertainment, hospitality or events setting
- IOSH certificate and personal licence holder
- First Aid at Work and Food Hygiene (Level 2/3) qualifications
- Previous experience of till, stock control or incident reporting systems
- Committed to raising the profile of our business within our local community and our company
- A passion for live theatre and the arts
About Us – Our values
ATG Entertainments values set the tone for how we work, how we treat one another, and the culture we continue to build across the UK and the wider organisation.
- THRIVE doing what we love (with passion and dynamism)
- CONNECT through every act (with collaboration and kindness)
- DARE to do different (with curiosity and courage)
- PERFORM at our best (with customer focus and ownership)
Our Corporate Social Responsibility pillars
Everyone at ATG Entertainment is expected to play their part in achieving our goals and upholding our Corporate Social Responsibility priorities:
- Inclusion: Committing to creating and upholding a positive, inclusive culture that nurtures potential and supports well-being.
- Sustainability: Playing your part in reducing our environmental impact and finding more sustainable ways of working.
- Next Generations: Encouraging the next generation in live entertainment by contributing to our outreach and training programmes, including mentoring students and trainees, and supporting our Creative Learning and Community Partnerships work.
Our culture
Youll help us uphold a positive culture around meeting our obligations, by having a positive attitude to health and safety, legal and insurance requirements and take care to understand our policies and procedures.
We are all expected to participate actively in the life of the company, and opportunities will arise for you to collaborate with others across the business. Everyone at ATG Entertainment is expected to be flexible and adapt as the needs of the business change, taking on new or different responsibilities as the need arises.
Our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Mission Statement – A Stage for Everyone
Our stages are a platform for compelling stories stories that are for all, by all, and of all. We shine our spotlight on our differences and believe that understanding and celebrating these differences makes us better global citizens. We are passionate about the pursuit of true diversity and equality. We strive to make our venues beacons of these ideals in our communities. Onstage and off, we hold ourselves accountable for nurturing an inclusive culture, one in which everyone can bring their authentic selves. At ATG entertainment, we provide a stage for everyone.
We recognise that we do not have all the answers; but we strive to listen, to learn and to change in order to ensure ATG Entertainment becomes a truly inclusive organisation. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from individuals from the widest possible range of backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from those currently underrepresented in our workforce.
We are a Disability Confident Committed Employer, which means that we are taking action to ensure that people with disabilities and long-term health conditions feel supported, engaged and able to fulfil their potential in the workplace. We will offer an interview or recruitment event to disabled candidates who tell us they wish to participate in the scheme and who demonstrate in their application that they best meet the essential criteria for the role. Where we receive more applications than we are reasonably able to interview for any given role, we will retain applications for the next available interview opportunity wherever possible.
If youd like to discuss accessibility prior to applying, please emailrecruitment@atgentertainment.com for a confidential discussion.
Salary: 35,000Closing Date: 2026-07-01…