Visitor Experience Manager

Overview

Job title: Visitor Experience Manager

Salary: SO2 £37,280 - £39,152

Hours: 37 hours per week (includes some weekend working)

Contract: Permanent

Location: Temple Newsam and Lotherton

Leeds Museums & Galleries are looking for an inspiring Visitor Experience Manager to lead the front-of-house operations at two of our iconic historic sites: Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall. This is a unique opportunity to shape exceptional visitor experiences across two much loved heritage destinations, each with its own character, stories, and diverse audiences.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About You

As a Visitor Experience Manager you will bring the skills, knowledge and experience to:

• Lead the day-to-day visitor experience operations across Temple Newsam and Lotherton Hall, ensuring a consistent, high quality and welcoming experience.
• Manage, motivate, and support a multidisciplinary team, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment.
• Develop and implement visitor experience strategies that grow audiences, strengthen engagement, and improve visitor satisfaction.
• Work with colleagues to shape programmes, tours, activities, and events that bring the stories of both houses to life.
• Support and drive income generation through ticketing, membership, retail, events, and customer service excellence.
• Use visitor feedback, data, and research to inform improvements and future planning.
• Champion accessibility, safeguarding, and best practice across both sites.

About The Role

As Visitor Experience Manager, you will be the driving force behind delivering memorable, meaningful, and high quality experiences for every visitor. You will lead, motivate, and develop the visitor experience teams across both sites, fostering a culture of professionalism, warmth, and continuous improvement.

Working closely with colleagues across collections, learning, events, and commercial operations, you will help develop programmes, events, and approaches that deepen connections with our audiences, broaden participation, and support our income generation targets.

This is a role for a creative problem solver and collaborative leader who can balance operational excellence with an audience centred, innovative approach to heritage experiences.

What We Offer You

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How To Apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Maya Harrison, Principal Keeper- Historic Houses. Call 0113 378 0445 or email maya.harrison@leeds.gov.uk.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

Work Eligibility

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job Purpose: Develop, lead, and manage the delivery of exceptional customer service and a consistently high-quality inclusive and accessible visitor experience at Leeds Museums and Galleries’ (LMG) Historic Houses – Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall. Ensure venues are sustainable and welcoming destinations, creating deeper connections and widening impact. Ensure delivery of the commercial offer. Ensure the buildings and facilities are accessible, safe, secure and in good working order.

Responsibilities

• Embed the visitor experience in everything we do - you will be responsible for ensuring venues maintain a high-quality, inclusive and accessible visitor offer. Develop, implement and oversee excellent customer service and engagement standards.
• Play a key role in the growth and evolution of the visitor experience, driving excellence in operations within the sector. Develop the visitor experience offer ensuring all sectors of the community are comfortable, safe, feel welcome and are able to use the venues and can engage with the facilities.
• Ensure the venues are presented in their best light, maintaining high quality public facilities and exceptional housekeeping, and ensuring onsite and online visitor experience messaging is up to date.
• Lead and inspire the Visitor Assistant front of house team to deliver inclusive and accessible day-to-day operations, including the visitor welcome and engagement, identifying visitor needs, visitor flow and wayfinding, along with building presentation standards, and health and safety.
• Lead on the recruitment, induction, management and development including training and performance of the operations team. Lead on the development and management of a cohesive and effective front of house team where working together creates the best experience for visitors.
• Supervise volunteers and work experience placements on site as appropriate, leading on recruitment and induction processes and managing day to day activity.
• Ensure that admission ticketing is accurate and correct both online and on site.
• Work with and support the Commercial Events and Experience Officer to ensure that revenue and footfall is increased though commercial operations including venue hire, weddings and the events programme.
• Work with the Historic Houses Assistant to ensure the successful administration of group visits.
• Manage delivery of the day-to-day operations of the retail offer, working with the enterprise team to ensure the shop is well stocked with a range of appropriate products. Lead, empower and encourage the operations team to upsell and meet / exceed income targets.
• Work with venue staff in developing and delivering an excellent inclusive and accessible visitor experience, including Audience Development, Learning, Collections and Community Engagement.
• Work with the Audience Development team in marketing and promoting the venues. Create content for social media channels.
• Operate and continually evaluate an effective security regime for the venues and their contents which complements the visitor’s enjoyment and experience, ensuring all staff can undertake all procedures. Act as one of the emergency key holders for the venues for out of hours emergencies and be part of the emergency call out team
• Prompt resolution of any aspect of the visitor experience and facilities not up to desired standards with timely reporting to the relevant team, ensuring venues are safe and secure.
• Work with the Principal Keeper – Historic Houses to ensure that all visitor experience operations deliver to budget and achieve targets.
• Ensure KPIs are recorded and reported appropriately.
• Aware of and adhere to Leeds City Council Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy being responsible for your own health and safety whilst at work and that of your colleagues and visitors. Lead on the management, review of risk assessments, and implementation of safe systems of work as required.
• The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications

Degree level or relevant knowledge and experience related to the service.

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements.

• Able to and experience of communicating appropriately and effectively with a wide range of people including internal and external partners, staff, volunteers and visitors through a variety of different methods.
• Able to and experience of developing constructive working relationships and collaborations within LMG and to work effectively as part of multi-layer teams (across different teams).
• Able to and experience of managing staff, and contributing to their development through appraisal, supervision and training.
• Able to and experience of working effectively as part of a team and demonstrating organisational and time management skills prioritising own and team’s work to meet agreed targets and deadlines.
• Able to use initiative to think ahead, identify and develop solutions to day-to-day issues and problems and suggest and implement practical improvements or solutions.
• Able to and experience of delivering operational activity within allocated budgets.
• Able to use and experience of relevant information technology e.g. word, spreadsheets, databases, email etc. and relevant management software systems.
• Able to and experience of maintaining direct contact with customers through day-to-day involvement with service delivery.
• Experience of delivering frontline services and high quality inclusive and accessible visitor experience.
• Experience of leading and managing a highly cohesive successful team in a fast-paced customer-facing environment, motivating and developing staff, including recruitment, induction, training and performance management.
• Track record of devising and implementing inspiring visitor engagement activities, with a proven creative approach to engaging a wide variety of audiences.
• Proven experience of developing and delivering commercial opportunities and achieving income targets.
• Experience of facilities management, ensuring services are delivered safely and securely.
• A flexible approach to working hours with the ability if required to work out of normal hours to respond to emergency situations.
• Able and willingness to act as a keyholder.
• Knowledge and experience of relevant financial regulations to carry out financial transactions including delivering operations activity within allocated budgets.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation, guidance, policies with ability to interpret and apply them consistently.
• Knowledge of relevant Health and Safety legislation related to service delivery.
• Understand responsibilities in terms of Health and Safety, security, confidentiality and data protection
• Understand importance of confidentiality and the needs and wishes of individuals.

Essential Behavioural & Other Characteristics

• Demonstrate a strong interest in the work of Leeds Museums and Galleries.
• Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct
• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Leeds Ambitions of health and wellbeing, inclusive growth, thriving strong communities and a resilient sustainable city
• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
• Carry out duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing
• Participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills.
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding equality & diversity of Leeds City Council.
• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
• The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

Desirable requirements

Candidates are not required to meet all the following desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

• Knowledge of best practice in visitor services and the visitor experience in an art gallery, museum or cultural/visitor attraction, including standards and legal requirements.
• Experience of working to financial regulations and procedures.
• Experience of delivering commercial activity in the heritage sector.

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