Manager of Visitor Services

POSITION SUMMARY

The Manager, Membership, Visitor Services & Retail (MVS) is a key leader responsible for delivering an exceptional guest experience while supporting strong on-site on-site commercial performance across the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

Overseeing the daily operations of the Entry Pavilion—including Admissions, Membership, Visitor Services, and the Museum Store—this role combines guest experience leadership, membership growth, retail management, revenue generation, and frontline operational excellence. The MVS Manager is responsible for executing and recommending opportunities to increase revenue and engagement throughout the visitor journey, including membership conversion and upgrades, admissions upselling, cross-selling, retail performance, promotions, special offers, and other commercial opportunities within the Museum.

As a key connector between visitors, staff, and the Museum's broader revenue strategy, the MVS Manager ensures that every guest interaction is welcoming, engaging, and commercially purposeful—without compromising the Museum's mission-driven, family-focused experience. This is a hands-on leadership role for a commercially minded customer-experience professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is passionate about creating memorable experiences for children and families while achieving measurable business results.

Located within the stunning Golden Gate National Recreation Area at Fort Baker, Sausalito, CA, the Bay Area Discovery Museum is a unique place where play, learning, and exploration come together. This position offers an exciting opportunity for a bilingual, retail, membership, or visitor services professional looking to manage front-line operations in an interactive children's museum set within a national park.

This is a hybrid position requiring employees to work onsite four days per week, with one remote workday on either Monday or Tuesday, based on business needs and scheduling requirements. Must be available to work at least one weekend day, with flexibility to work both weekend days as needed, as well as during school holidays and breaks.

The pay range for this exempt role is $85,000 - $95,000.

Leadership & Supervision

• Lead and supervise MVS staff, including Assistant Managers, Supervisors, and Assistants.
• Oversee recruitment, interviewing, onboarding, training, scheduling, coaching, time management, and performance assessment.
• Set clear performance expectations and establish individual and team goals related to guest experience, membership, retail, and revenue performance.
• Develop frontline staff capabilities and create opportunities for professional growth and advancement.
• Foster a culture of accountability, hospitality, commercial awareness, and teamwork.
• Serve as a visible and engaged leader on the museum floor and in the Entry Pavilion.

Guest Experience & Visitor Services

• Ensure the visitor experience is at the forefront of policies, procedures, and daily operations.
• Uphold and model Museum customer-service standards and create a welcoming, inclusive environment for all visitors.
• Resolve visitor concerns and service issues calmly, professionally, and effectively.
• Respond to visitor and member inquiries via telephone, email, and in person.
• Monitor the guest journey and identify opportunities to improve convenience, engagement, satisfaction, and revenue.
• Partner with Marketing, Experience, Membership, Development, and Operations teams to ensure frontline teams are prepared for promotions, events, new experiences, and seasonal initiatives.

Membership & Revenue Growth

• Take an active leadership role in membership acquisition, conversion, renewal, upgrades, and cross-selling.
• Establish and monitor frontline membership performance goals and KPIs.
• Train and coach staff to effectively communicate membership value and confidently recommend the appropriate membership product.
• Identify opportunities to convert single-visit guests into members and existing members into higher-value tiers.
• Ensure frontline teams understand current membership offers, promotions, pricing, benefits, and campaigns.
• Monitor membership performance and provide regular insights and recommendations to the Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Membership teams to test and implement new opportunities to increase membership revenue

Retail & Commercial Operations

• Oversee the day-to-day performance of the Museum Store, with responsibility for sales, merchandising, inventory, customer experience, and commercial performance.
• Implement and recommend retail strategies that maximize sales, average transaction value, product mix, and profitability while remaining aligned with the Museum's mission and brand.
• Identify opportunities to introduce relevant products, seasonal merchandise, exclusive offerings, bundles, and other revenue-generating initiatives.
• Establish and monitor retail KPIs and sales goals.
• Analyze sales trends and customer behavior and make recommendations regarding product selection, pricing, promotions, merchandising, and inventory decisions.

On-Site Revenue Execution & Optimization

• Identify and recommend opportunities to improve revenue performance across the Museum's physical visitor journey.
• Proactively identify and recommend opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, promotions, and incremental revenue.
• Support the Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer in testing and implementing new commercial concepts.
• Provide frontline insights and recommendations regarding opportunities related to admissions, memberships, retail, food and beverage, programs, events, experiences, and other visitor-facing revenue streams.
• Recommend and implement frontline sales initiatives and promotional programs.
• Monitor commercial performance and recommend adjustments based on visitor behavior, sales data, seasonality, and operational realities.
• Ensure commercial initiatives enhance rather than detract from the overall guest experience.
• Act as the eyes and ears on the Museum floor, identifying unmet visitor needs and opportunities to increase engagement and revenue.

Training, Sales & Frontline Execution

• Train frontline employees on membership sales, upselling, cross-selling, promotions, retail products, Museum programs, and seasonal initiatives.
• Ensure staff are knowledgeable about current offers and able to confidently communicate their value to visitors.
• Establish consistent sales and service practices across the Entry Pavilion.
• Ensure staff can effectively execute promotions and transactions through POS and CRM systems.
• Coach employees in consultative selling techniques that feel natural, helpful, and appropriate to a family museum environment.
• Recognize and celebrate strong individual and team performance.

Data, Systems & Performance

• Monitor and report on key performance indicators including admissions revenue, membership conversion, upgrades, retail sales, average transaction value, and other relevant commercial metrics.
• Use POS, CRM, membership, and retail data to identify trends and opportunities.
• Provide operational input to the Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer in establishing annual and seasonal revenue goals and manage frontline performance against established goals.
• Provide regular reporting, insights, and recommendations regarding on-site commercial performance.
• Ensure operational systems and procedures support accurate revenue tracking and an efficient guest experience.

Skills and Qualifications

• Experience: Minimum 3 years of supervisory experience managing a team of 5+ in an in-person, customer-facing role. Preference for high-volume environments in hospitality, attractions, retail, or attendance-based settings.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in cash handling with the ability to count cash and change accurately. Minimum 3 years of experience with POS or ticketing systems preferred (Square, Acme and Humanitru a plus). Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Suite, with the ability to learn financial and accounting systems. Familiarity with CRM platforms is a plus.
• Customer Service & Leadership: Strong communication, interpersonal, and diplomat leadership abilities. Professional, detail-oriented, and capable of handling high visitor volumes while
  maintaining focus and composure. Exceptional conflict resolution and de-escalation skills in person, over the phone, and via email.
• Sales & Revenue Management: Experience in memberships, retail sales, and ticketing. Ability to analyze sales trends, monitor performance against established goals, and implement revenue-generating initiatives that increase visitor engagement and on-site revenue. Online, retail and commercial experience a plus.
• Commitment to DEAI: Dedicated to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for staff and visitors.
• Work Ethic & Adaptability: Reliable self-starter with excellent time management. Able to work independently and collaboratively across departments to ensure an integrated visitor experience. Adaptable to changing schedules for coverage and special events.
• Professionalism: Comfortable engaging with senior management, donors, and diverse community members. Experience in museum, cultural, or nonprofit settings is a plus.
• Staff Development & Training: Experience recruiting, training, and mentoring staff to deliver exceptional customer service. Ability to create and lead training programs to enhance team performance.
• Safety & Emergency Response: Must complete first aid and CPR certification (training provided). Experience handling guest incidents and ensuring visitor safety is a plus. Adheres to and enforces the Museum’s health and safety protocols. Comfortable enforcing the museum’s Code of Conduct.
• Interpersonal & Engagement Skills: Must be comfortable working in a dynamic, family-friendly environment with children, families, and adults of varying ages and abilities. Ability to interact with visitors in a patient, engaging, and welcoming manner.
• English proficiency required; Spanish-speaking or Cantonese-speaking an asset.

Physical Requirements

• The role requires moving between work areas (Entry Pavilion, Store, museum floor, and administrative offices), frequent use of a computer, phone, and other office equipment with safe ergonomic practices.
• May occasionally lift and carry items weighing up to 50 pounds for short distances/periods.
• Ability to work both indoors and outdoors as needed for events, programs, or other Museum activities, including exposure to varying weather conditions.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work Environment

Predominantly working in an indoor and outdoor active museum floor or office environment, moderate to high noise level, an indoor temperate environment, and light levels that are bright and conducive to minimal eye strain.

What We Offer

• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision for employee only premiums
• Life and long-term disability insurance
• Paid time off starting at 3 weeks, on an accrual basis.
• 10 days of sick leave (Five frontloaded, and the other five accrued throughout the year)
• Nine (9) paid holidays and three (3) floating holidays.
• Paid parental leave
• Discounts at museum café and store, and on museum programs
• All staff celebrations
• Reciprocal admission benefits at other museums
• Professional development training

A bout Us

At the Bay Area Discovery Museum, we believe that providing children with the high-quality early learning experiences they need to be successful is the best investment we can make as a society.

Whether at the museum, online, or in the community, we provide experiences that spark children’s natural curiosity for the world around them, while building their creative problem-solving skills and STEM content knowledge. Both on-site and off-site, we facilitate research-backed learning experiences that are fun and engaging for children and families. At our one-of-a-kind location at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, this includes hands-on exhibits, rich STEM and art programming, an on-site preschool, and camps and classes. Off-site, our museum educators bring hands-on STEM programming to students and families at schools and libraries in all nine Bay Area counties.

We believe that these research-backed on-site and off-site experiences should be made available to all children and families and offer a variety of access initiatives toward this goal. We are currently working our way back up to our pre-pandemic numbers:

• 350,000 visitors each year, including nearly 80,000 with free or reduced admission
• 10,000 member families
• 33,000 children through our school and community programs
• 587 schools and 215 libraries through all nine Bay Area counties

The Bay Area Discovery Museum is committed to being welcoming and inclusive. We are continuously working toward the goal of reflecting the diversity of the Bay Area both within our organization and with those we serve.

Note to Candidates

The Bay Area Discovery Museum is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity. We encourage those from all backgrounds to apply to allow us to build the most inclusive and creative team possible.

Please do not remove yourself from contention before you even apply. Research shows that women and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds often apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. If much of this job description describes you, then you are highly encouraged to apply.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Bay Area Discovery Museum is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

Disclaimer

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. The Bay Area Discovery Museum reserves the right to modify duties and responsibilities as organizational needs evolve.

Due to the sensitivity and requirements of our positions, you should expect to undergo and be cleared of an employment background/criminal check if extended an offer for employment. You may also be asked to provide proof of educational degree(s), licenses, credentials, or vaccinations pertinent to the position.