Senior Manager of Guest & Member Engagement

Job Title/Position: Senior Manager of Guest & Member Engagement

·       Reports to: Vice President of Exhibits & Experiences

·       Schedule: Primarily Monday-Friday, Weekends & Evenings as needed

JOB SUMMARY

The Senior Manager of Guest Services and Membership provides strategic leadership and hands-on operational oversight for the teams that welcome, serve, retain, and grow Discovery World’s audience. This role ensures that every guest and member interaction is welcoming, efficient, inclusive, mission-aligned, and financially accountable. Reporting to the Vice President of Exhibits & Experiences, the Senior Manager leads frontline operations, membership services, ticketing support, guest recovery, staff development, departmental planning, and cross-functional coordination for daily visitation, programs, events, and peak attendance periods.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Other minor duties may be assigned.

Leadership and Team Management

·       Directly supervise the Guest Services and Membership teams, including managers, supervisors, team leads, representatives, and other assigned staff.

·       Management of 3-5 leadership positions and approximately 20-30 team members.

·       Recruit, hire, onboard, train, coach, schedule, and evaluate staff to ensure consistent service standards and strong team performance.

·       Build a positive, accountable, inclusive team culture that supports employee engagement, professional growth, and retention.

·       Establish clear expectations, provide regular feedback, and address performance matters promptly and constructively.

·       Participate in departmental and institution-wide planning related to attendance, exhibitions, programs, events, operations, and audience engagement.

Guest Experience Operations

·       Oversee daily guest-facing operations, including admissions, entry flow, ticketing support, wayfinding, guest recovery, and guest inquiries and feedback response.

·       Ensure frontline service practices reflect Discovery World’s mission, brand, values, accessibility commitments, and standards for hospitality.

·       Partner with Exhibits, Education, Aquarists, Facilities, Security, Retail, Food Service, Events, Marketing, and Finance colleagues to support smooth operations and excellent guest outcomes.

·       Develop and maintain standard operating procedures, service scripts, escalation protocols, and emergency response support procedures for guest-facing staff.

·       Monitor attendance patterns, peak periods, guest feedback, and operational issues to recommend improvements to staffing, systems, signage, and guest flow.

Membership Strategy and Service

·       Lead membership operations with an emphasis on member acquisition, engagement, retention, renewals, upgrades, benefits fulfillment, and high-quality member service.

·       Collaborate with Marketing, Development, Finance, and Public Experience colleagues to support membership campaigns, reporting, communications, and revenue goals.

·       Ensure accurate membership transactions, data entry, acknowledgments, issue resolution, and benefit delivery across in-person, phone, email, and digital channels.

·       Analyze membership trends, guest conversion opportunities, feedback, and service metrics to identify opportunities for growth and improved member satisfaction.

·       Support member events, previews, promotions, and special access experiences in partnership with internal teams.

Systems, Revenue, and Reporting

·       Oversee the effective use of ticketing, membership, point-of-sale, customer relationship management, and guest feedback systems.

·       Ensure accurate cash handling, transaction processing, refunds, discounts, reconciliations, and financial controls in partnership with Finance.

·       Use data to identify operational trends, drive engagement, drive renewals, forecast staffing needs, support budget planning, and inform decision-making.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Listed below are key points regarding environmental demands and work environment of the job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

·       Required to use motor coordination and finger dexterity (such as keyboarding, machine operation, etc.): often

·       Required to speak to customers via telephone, email, and/or in-person: often

·       May be required to lift objects up to 30 pounds: occasionally

·       May be exposed to physical occupational risks (cuts, burns, exposure to toxic chemicals, etc.): rarely

·       May be exposed to a physical environment which involves dirt, odors, and noise, weather extremes, and/or similar elements: occasionally

·       The normal setting for this position is: museum floor, exhibit galleries, office setting

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

The requirements listed below are representative of the qualifications necessary to perform the job.

Education and Experience

·       Bachelor’s degree in hospitality, business administration, nonprofit management, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered.

·       Minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in guest services, guest experience, membership, admissions, hospitality, attractions, museums, aquariums, cultural institutions, or a comparable high-volume public-facing environment.

·       Minimum of three years of management experience, including hiring, training, scheduling, and performance coaching.

·       Demonstrated success leading frontline teams and improving service quality, operational consistency, and guest or member satisfaction.

·       Experience with ticketing, membership, point-of-sale, CRM, scheduling, and reporting systems are strongly preferred.

·       Strong financial acumen related to admissions revenue, membership revenue, cash handling, reconciliation, budgeting, and performance reporting.

·       Experience managing a unionized workforce preferred.

Other Knowledge, Skills, or Abilities

·       Exceptional hospitality mindset and commitment to creating welcoming, accessible, and inclusive experiences for diverse guests, members, staff, and community partners.

·       Excellent leadership, communication, coaching, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills.

·       Ability to remain calm, professional, and solutions-oriented in fast-paced, high-pressure, and guest-facing situations.

·       Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, projects, and teams simultaneously.

·       Ability to interpret data, identify trends, and translate insights into practical operational improvements.

·       Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and ability to learn and support specialized ticketing, CRM, scheduling, and reporting systems.

·       First Aid/CPR certification is preferred, training must be scheduled within 90 days of hire