Visitor Experience Director

Hands On! Children's Museum - Hendersonville, North Carolina

VISITOR EXPERIENCE DIRECTOR | full-time, exempt

About The Museum:

Hands On! Children’s Museum is a regional 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to offering engaging and educational experiences to over 60,000 visitors annually across Western North Carolina. Spanning 13,000 square feet, the museum boasts a diverse array of interactive exhibits designed to captivate the imagination and ignite wonder in children ages 1 to 10.

Through play-based learning experiences, children can explore and develop their interests in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math, and Culture. The backbone of the museum is its incredible staff, who are passionate and dedicated to providing the best informal learning experiences possible to the children of Western North Carolina, and beyond.

Position Summary:

The Visitor Experience Director oversees the daily operations of the museum floor, admissions desk, and gift shop. This floor-based leadership position is responsible for delivering the highest level of visitor engagement, satisfaction, and safety by maintaining exceptional standards of customer service, cleanliness, and physical appearance of all public spaces. This position reports to the Director/CEO.

Physical Demands:

This position is required to stand and walk for long periods of time within a fast-paced and moderately loud environment. Must be able to sit; talk or hear, both in person and by telephone; use hands to handle or feel objects or controls; reach with hands and arms. Regularly required to stoop, kneel, bend, crouch and lift up to 30 pounds.

Schedule: Tuesday-Saturday or Monday-Friday depending on organizational needs. Flexibility is required for early mornings, evenings, and weekends.

Staff & Volunteer Management:

· Leads by example and provide general supervision of all department staff and volunteers.

· Ensures accountability across all staff and volunteer roles within the department.

· Supports successful cultivation of department staff and volunteers.

· Coordinate the recruitment, onboarding, and training of all department staff and volunteers.

· Coordinates performance evaluations for all department staff and volunteers.

· Clearly communicate expectations and duties to department staff.

· Develops and distributes monthly staff schedules and ensure all areas of the museum’s floor operations are properly staffed.

· Serve as the “Manager on Duty” while working on the museum floor.

· Leads daily department staff meetings to coordinate the daily operations of the museum.

· Ensures all department staff adhere to all museum policies and procedures.

Floor Operations:

· Opens and closes the museum daily. (arrive early and stay later than museum hours)

· Maintain a clean, orderly, and safe admissions desk, entrance, lobby, and exhibit galleries in accordance with the museum’s opening and closing procedures and standards.

· Warmly greet and introduce visitors to the museum and respond promptly to their needs.

· Engage children and their adult caretakers through play-based learning experiences throughout the museum.

· Provide supervision of the museum floor in partnership with department staff, ensuing all rules and safety standards are enforced.

· Collect admissions, sell memberships, sell merchandise, collect program fees, and other revenues using the Point-of-Sale system.

· Record zip code data from museum visitors using database system.

· Work with staff to ensure daily cleaning and exhibit reset procedures are being upheld.

· Actively address visitor complaints/issues and work to improve overall visitor experience.

· Utilize information from visitor surveys to improve operations as it relates to the admissions desk and museum floor.

· Report facility and exhibit issues in a timely manner to the Director of Exhibits.

· Organize and display gift shop merchandise neatly and in and attractive fashion.

· Serves as the liaison between the museum and facility cleaning vendors.

Administration and Finance:

· Manages the Visitor Experience Department budget.

· Purchases supplies and equipment for museum floor operations.

· Ensure cash drawers balanced at the end of each day.

· Ensures department employees adhere to cash handling policies.

· Prepares and processes bank deposits as needed.

· Ensures adequate start-up cash is available at the beginning of each day.

· Ensures backup change is available if/when needed for cash drawers.

· Attends and participates in weekly leadership team meetings.

· Represents the museum at public and fundraising events as needed

· Exhibits a willingness to perform other duties as assigned to advance the mission of the Museum.

Minimum Qualifications:

· Experience working with and around children of all ages and/or experience in customer service management.

· Cash handling, point of sale, admissions, or retail experience.

· Ability to use Microsoft Office 365 Suite and Square POS.

· Must possess a “hands-on” management style with sound judgment and diplomacy in all interactions with staff and visitors from all backgrounds and walks of life.

· Ability to work weekends, occasional evenings, and select holidays is mandatory.

· Ability to pass a criminal background check and drug screening upon hiring.

· Active certification or ability to obtain certification in Adult, Child, and Infant CPR, and First Aid within 45 days of hiring.

· Valid Driver’s License or ability to acquire within 45 days of hiring.

Desired Qualifications:

· Strong conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.

· Facilities and operations management experience.

· Comfortability with multi-tasking and strong organizational skills.

· Bilingual is highly desirable but not required.

· Passion for hands-on learning & exploration.

· Previous experience working within a children’s museum, science center, zoological park, or aquarium setting.

· Customer flow and crowd management experience.

· Human Resources experience including hiring, coaching, and termination

Compensation:

This is a full-time salaried position that works a minimum of 40 hours per week. Annual salary range is between $40,000 - $46,000 per year. Benefits include paid sick leave, paid vacation, and paid holidays. Employee discount for museum merchandise and free annual membership included.

INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLY: Please submit a cover letter, resume, and 2-3 professional references via email to joseph@handsonwnc.org. You may also submit the aforementioned directly through really. This position is scheduled to start June 2, 2025. Open until filled and no phone calls, please.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $40,000.00 - $46,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Employee discount
• Paid time off

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Rotating weekends

Ability to Commute:

• Hendersonville, NC (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Hendersonville, NC: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $40,000 - $46,000