Assistant Director of Visitor Experience

TUCSON MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORIC BLOCK

JOB DESCRIPTION | EOE

POSITION: Assistant Director of Visitor Experience
STATUS: Regular Full-Time, Exempt
SCHEDULE: Wednesday – Sunday weekly

REPORTS TO: Senior Director of Visitor Experience and Safety

DIRECT REPORTS: Visitor Experience Associates

POSITION SUMMARY

The Assistant Director of Visitor Experience is responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the Museum’s visitor experience and retail operations, with a primary focus on front-line service delivery, admissions, and earned-revenue activities including the Museum Store and vendor opportunities such as Artisans Markets, pop-ups, or trunk shows. Working under the direction of the Senior Director of Visitor Experience and Safety, this role translates institutional service standards, policies, and performance goals into consistent daily practice, ensuring a welcoming, inclusive, and mission-aligned experience for all visitors.

This position plays a key supervisory role for visitor-facing staff and serves as an operational leader on the Museum floor, supporting customer service excellence, retail performance, and cross-departmental coordination for programs, exhibitions, and special events.

Key Responsibilities

Visitor Experience Operations and Customer Service

• Implement visitor experience policies, service standards, and procedures established by the Senior Director of Visitor Experience and Safety.
• Provide visible, hands-on leadership for front-line visitor experience staff, modeling professionalism, hospitality, inclusivity, and accountability.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality customer service across admissions, retail, and public-facing spaces.
• Address visitor questions, concerns, and service recovery issues in a timely and professional manner.
• Support staffing coverage for daily operations, evenings, weekends, and special events as needed.

Retail Operations and Earned Revenue

• Oversee daily operations of the Museum Store and vendor opportunities in support of earned revenue goals.
• Manage merchandising, inventory control, purchasing, and vendor coordination in alignment with approved strategies.
• Operate and oversee point-of-sale (POS) systems, including cash handling procedures and reconciliation.
• Track sales performance, admissions activity, and retail trends; prepare daily and periodic reports for review by the Senior Director.
• Coordinate retail offerings and activations with exhibitions, programs, and special events to enhance the visitor experience.
• Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of the semi-annual TMA Artisans Market—managing vendor selection, permitting, vendor/staff logistics, inter-departmental operations (F&B, performances), on-site execution, and post-event analysis.

Staff Supervision, Training, and Development

• Recruit, onboard, schedule, train, and supervise Visitor Experience Associates.
• Deliver initial and ongoing training in customer service standards, admissions procedures, retail operations, and POS systems.
• Provide regular coaching, feedback, and performance support to front-line staff.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, and collaborative team culture aligned with Museum values.

Coordination, Reporting, and Continuous Improvement

• Collaborate with colleagues in Curatorial, Education, Marketing, Advancement, Facilities, and Security to support exhibitions, programs, and events.
• Generate and submit accurate daily admissions and sales reports; assist with data collection for visitor feedback and performance assessment.
• Identify operational challenges and opportunities for improvement and communicate recommendations to the Senior Director.
• Support the implementation of assessment practices and data-informed decision-making at the front-line level.
• Contribute to a convergent organizational culture grounded in professionalism, mutual respect, and an entrepreneurial spirit.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS/COMPTENCIES

• Associate or bachelor's degree in hospitality, business, arts administration, museum studies, or related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of 3–5 years of experience in visitor services, retail operations, hospitality, or customer service, preferably in a museum or nonprofit environment.
• Demonstrated training and supervisory experience with front-line or customer-facing staff.
• Strong customer service orientation with a commitment to inclusive and welcoming practices.
• Working knowledge of retail operations, inventory management, cash handling, and POS systems.
• Basic financial literacy, including the ability to track sales performance and meet operational targets.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including evenings, weekends, and special events.
• Interest in mission-driven retail, arts engagement, and public-facing cultural work preferred.