Director, Guest Experience and Volunteer Programs

Who We Are

Founded in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a private, not-for-profit educational, historic, and cultural institution that owns and operates one of the largest and best-known museum complexes in the world. Our mission is “that the future may learn from the past” through preserving and restoring 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia’s colonial capital. We engage, inform, and inspire people to learn about this historic capital, the events that occurred here, and the diverse peoples who helped shape a new nation.

Today, Colonial Williamsburg is the largest living history museum in the U.S. The Historic Area is the 301-acre restored colonial capital with 89 original buildings and 525 buildings reconstructed to how they appeared in the 18th century through extensive archaeological, architectural, and documentary research. The Historic Area is staffed by highly trained, historically dressed interpreters and expert tradespeople who bring the 18th century to life. The Foundation also owns and operates two world-class museums, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, The Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute, and a renowned research library, the John D Rockefeller Jr Library.

Additionally, Colonial Williamsburg is home to five world class accommodations at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge Autograph Collection, the Griffin Hotel, the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotels and Suites and the unique Colonial Houses in the Historical Area. Visitors may also indulge in food and drink at our many on site restaurants and taverns that blend a historically inspired dining experience with today’s evolved tastes. Each year over five million people visit Williamsburg and another 20 million engage with us digitally.

***This position is an onsite position and candidates must reside in or be ready to relocate to Virginia at time of hire***

About the Position

Main Duties:

1. Guest Experience Strategy and Service Framework
Develop and maintain an enterprise-wide guest experience strategy that defines how Colonial Williamsburg's Common Purpose (mission), Service Standards, Service Behaviors, and Leader Behaviors should be reflected at every touchpoint across the guest journey. Establish a practical framework that operating areas can use to adapt and translate service expectations into day-to-day guest interactions, decisions, and improvement priorities.

2. Volunteer Programs Leadership and Oversight
Provide strategic and operational oversight for Colonial Williamsburg Volunteer Programs across all areas of the organization. Directly supervise the Manager, Volunteer Programs and provide leadership oversight for multiple Supervisors, Volunteer Programs. Establish clear priorities, accountability, staffing structures, and consistent enterprise practices for recruiting, selecting, placing, onboarding, training, scheduling, supervising, evaluating, recognizing, and retaining more than 800 volunteers.

3. Volunteer Program Growth, Wayfinding, and Liberty Lounge Operations
Lead the planned expansion of Colonial Williamsburg Volunteer Programs by 200-300 individuals. Oversee the design, build-out, launch, and continuing operation of the Wayfinding volunteer program, including role design, recruitment, training, deployment, service expectations, and coordination with operating areas. Maintain leadership accountability for the Liberty Lounge operation, including supervisory coverage, volunteer preparedness, consistent service, operating coordination, and a welcoming experience for active-duty, veteran, and retired military members and their families.

4. Guest Experience Analytics Leadership and Analyst Supervision
Directly supervise the full-time Analyst, Guest Experience and Volunteer Programs, and establish priorities for enterprise guest experience measurement and analysis. Ensure the Analyst maintains reliable guest experience metrics, develops recurring and ad hoc summaries for operating areas and leadership audiences, and presents information in forms appropriate to each audience. Guide the Analyst in identifying trends, recurring concerns, emerging service issues, and data signals that may warrant service recovery, escalation, or additional operational review. Ensure that analytical work supports timely decisions, cross-functional improvement, and clear accountability while distinguishing what the data establish from what requires further investigation.

5. Common Purpose, Service Standards, and Service Behaviors
Serve as the primary organizational steward for the guest-facing application of Colonial Williamsburg's Common Purpose, Service Standards, and Service Behaviors. Partner with Hospitality, Historic Area, Museums, Operations, and other guest-facing functions to keep standards clear, relevant, observable, coachable, and measurable. Recommend revisions when evidence shows that standards or behaviors need clarification or adjustment.

6. Guest Journey and Experience Mapping
Lead enterprise experience mapping to understand the guest journey across pre-arrival, arrival, on-site experiences, transitions between locations, departure, and post-visit contact. Identify important handoffs, friction points, inconsistent experiences, and opportunities to improve clarity, ease, hospitality, and continuity across departments and locations. Use experience maps to support specific cross-functional improvement work rather than as stand-alone planning documents.

7. Voice of the Guest and Feedback Systems
Support and coordinate guest feedback systems across Colonial Williamsburg, including surveys, direct comments, digital feedback, online reviews, correspondence, and other appropriate listening channels. Establish consistent practices for collecting, categorizing, routing, and reviewing guest feedback so that information is timely, usable, and connected to the operating area able to respond or improve.

8. Guest Experience Performance Dashboard
Direct and oversee development and maintenance of an enterprise Guest Experience Performance Dashboard that provides a clear view of guest experience performance across Colonial Williamsburg. Through the Analyst, Guest Experience and Volunteer Programs, integrate guest satisfaction, NPS, service recovery activity, guest feedback themes, recurring concerns, and other appropriate measures. Ensure information is presented at an enterprise level while allowing leaders to understand meaningful variation by location, function, touchpoint, or time period where the data support that level of analysis.

9. Guest Metrics and Trend Analysis
Oversee the analysis of guest satisfaction results, NPS, feedback themes, service recovery data, and other available indicators to identify patterns and emerging issues. Direct the Analyst, Guest Experience and Volunteer Programs in maintaining routine metric reviews, preparing summaries, distinguishing one-time incidents from recurring conditions, and identifying data signals that may require service recovery or further investigation. Work with leaders and managers to determine where corrective action or additional review is warranted, and track trends over time to determine whether improvement efforts are producing the intended result.

10. Service Recovery Framework
Establish and maintain an enterprise service recovery framework that defines how employees and leaders should respond when the guest experience falls short. Set clear expectations for acknowledgment, ownership, response, follow-through, documentation, and appropriate recovery while allowing operating areas sufficient discretion to address the circumstances of an individual guest. Reinforce the principle that effective recovery should resolve the immediate concern and help prevent recurrence.

11. Escalation and Resolution Standards
Define practical standards for guest issue escalation and resolution, including when concerns should remain with the operating area and when they should move to higher levels of review. Clarify responsibility, expected response times, documentation, follow-up, and closure. Review significant or recurring escalations to identify process gaps, unclear ownership, or operational conditions that require broader attention.

12. Cross-Functional Guest Experience Improvement
Facilitate cross-functional improvement efforts when guest experience issues extend across departments, locations, systems, or stages of the guest journey. Bring together the appropriate leaders, define the problem using available evidence, identify the responsible owners, establish actions and timelines, and monitor progress. Focus improvement work on specific guest consequences and measurable operating conditions.

13. Field Observation and Experience Consistency
Maintain a regular presence across guest-facing areas to observe the experience as it is delivered and to understand how service expectations operate in different settings. Use structured observation, guest comments, leader input, and available performance information to identify inconsistent practices or conditions. Share findings with responsible leaders and support practical improvements while respecting operational ownership.

14. Service Training Partnership
Partner with the Director, Learning and Development to design, maintain, and reinforce guest-facing service training. Ensure training reflects Colonial Williamsburg's Common Purpose, Service Standards, Service Behaviors, service recovery expectations, communication practices, and the realities of different guest-facing roles. Use guest feedback and observed service patterns to identify training needs and evaluate whether training is improving behavior and guest outcomes.

15. Leader and Employee Service Reinforcement
Working with the Manager, Employee Engagement, provide leaders with practical tools and guidance for reinforcing guest experience expectations in daily operations. Support leaders in observing service behaviors, providing timely feedback, coaching employees, discussing guest feedback, and using service standards to guide decisions. Work with Learning and Development and Employee Engagement to strengthen consistent reinforcement rather than relying only on formal training events.

16. Employee and Guest Experience Connection
Work closely with the Manager, Employee Engagement to reinforce the relationship between employee experience and guest experience. Share guest feedback and service examples that can support recognition of employees and volunteers who demonstrate outstanding service. Identify, where evidence permits, employee experience conditions that may be associated with recurring guest experience patterns and bring those findings to the appropriate leaders.

17. Positive Guest Feedback and Recognition Partnership
Create a reliable process for identifying positive guest comments that recognize exceptional service by employees or volunteers. Coordinate with the Manager, Employee Engagement so that guest recognition is validated, shared promptly with the employee or volunteer and leader, and connected to Colonial Williamsburg's Common Purpose, Service Standards, and Service Behaviors when appropriate.

18. Internal Communication and Guest Experience Alignment
Partner with Internal Communications to ensure employees receive clear and useful information about guest experience priorities, recurring guest needs, service expectations, and significant changes that affect the guest journey. Where appropriate, work with Internal Communications to examine communication reach, readership, engagement, message clarity, and employee understanding when those measures may help explain service consistency or guest experience results.

19. Integrated Experience Analytics and Correlation
Work with Internal Communications, operating leaders, and other data owners to examine relationships among employee experience, communication effectiveness, guest experience, and operational performance. Use correlation and comparative analysis cautiously, distinguish association from causation, and clearly identify data limitations. Use findings to generate questions, target further review, or support improvement decisions rather than making claims the data cannot support.

20. Guest Accessibility and Inclusive Experience
Review guest experience practices with attention to accessibility, clarity, differing abilities, age, language needs, and other factors that can affect a guest's ability to navigate and enjoy Colonial Williamsburg. Partner with the appropriate subject matter experts and operating teams to identify barriers, improve communication and service practices, and help ensure that service standards are applied consistently to a diverse guest population.

21. Guest Experience Technology and Data Stewardship
Evaluate and support technology used for guest feedback, survey administration, service recovery tracking, experience reporting, and related guest experience functions. Establish sound practices for data quality, access, categorization, documentation, and retention in coordination with technology, privacy, legal, and operational partners. Ensure systems produce reliable information for timely action and longitudinal analysis.

22. Reporting and Executive Insights
Direct preparation of regular guest experience reports and concise decision-ready insights for the Vice President, Organizational Culture, executive leadership, and relevant leadership and culture teams. Use the Analyst, Guest Experience and Volunteer Programs to develop audience-appropriate summaries, dashboards, and supporting analysis for enterprise and operating-area needs. Explain what the data show, what they suggest, what cannot yet be determined, and where action is recommended. Highlight significant trends, recurring guest concerns, service recovery performance, cross-functional issues, and progress on agreed improvement actions.

23. Guest Experience Governance and Continuous Improvement
Establish practical governance for enterprise guest experience work, including definitions, reporting standards, ownership, review cadence, documentation, and improvement follow-through. Maintain a disciplined process for reviewing performance, selecting priorities, assigning accountability, and evaluating results. Help create a culture in which guest feedback is used constructively, service expectations are reinforced consistently, and recurring problems lead to specific improvement work.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

This job description reflects the general responsibilities of the position and is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Duties and responsibilities may evolve over time based on operational needs.

Required and Preferred Education and Experience:

• University degree in Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Leadership, Communication, Tourism, Museum Studies, or a related field preferred, or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in guest experience, customer experience, service excellence, hospitality, visitor services, operations, organizational culture, or a related field.
• Experience developing or administering enterprise-wide guest experience, service excellence, customer experience, or visitor experience programs across multiple departments or locations.
• Demonstrated experience leading a large, complex volunteer program, including responsibility for managers, supervisors, and volunteers serving across multiple operating areas.
• Experience expanding or redesigning a volunteer program, including workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, training, deployment, supervision, retention, and performance measurement.
• Demonstrated experience with guest feedback systems, customer or visitor surveys, NPS or comparable satisfaction measures, service recovery data, and trend analysis.
• Experience developing dashboards, performance reports, and executive-level insights that translate guest or customer information into clear operational priorities.
• Experience supervising or directing analytical staff responsible for performance measurement, data interpretation, dashboard development, recurring reporting, or comparable business intelligence functions.
• Experience with customer journey mapping, experience mapping, process mapping, or comparable methods for identifying friction points and improving cross-functional experiences.
• Strong understanding of service recovery, complaint resolution, escalation, follow-through, and root-cause-oriented improvement practices.
• Experience partnering with Learning and Development or operational leaders on service training, coaching tools, service standards, or behavior-based performance reinforcement.
• Demonstrated ability to influence across functions without assuming direct operational ownership, including work with executive leaders, operating managers, Human Resources, Communications, technology teams, and other partners.
• Experience using qualitative and quantitative information together, including the ability to distinguish trends, associations, possible causes, and limitations in the available evidence.
• Experience in a high-volume service, hospitality, museum, cultural attraction, tourism, education, nonprofit, or other mission-driven visitor-facing organization preferred.
• Knowledge of accessibility and inclusive guest service practices, including the ability to identify barriers in communication, navigation, and service delivery.
• Exceptional communication, writing, facilitation, analytical, project management, and advisory skills.
• Strong judgment and discretion when working with guest information, complaints, service recovery records, employee information, survey data, operational performance information, and executive reporting.

Key Skills / Competencies:

• Guest experience strategy and service excellence.
• Enterprise volunteer program strategy and governance.
• Leadership of managers, supervisors, and a large volunteer workforce.
• Volunteer program growth, deployment, and operational integration.
• Common Purpose and service framework stewardship.
• Guest journey and experience mapping.
• Voice of the guest and feedback systems.
• Guest satisfaction and NPS measurement.
• Service recovery and escalation design.
• Trend analysis and root-cause-oriented problem solving.
• Experience performance dashboards and reporting.
• Leadership and supervision of guest experience analytics.
• Cross-functional improvement leadership.
• Service training partnership and reinforcement.
• Leader enablement and behavior-based coaching support.
• Employee and guest experience integration.
• Communication effectiveness analysis.
• Accessibility and inclusive guest experience.
• Data-informed decision making.
• Project management and program governance.
• Guest experience technology and data stewardship.
• Judgment, credibility, and discretion.

Compensation Disclaimer: The compensation listed below for this position represents the anticipated hiring range and is provided in accordance with Virginia pay transparency requirements. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors such as the selected candidate’s skills, qualifications, experience, education, certifications, internal equity, and the specific requirements of the role.

Range: $125,000 - $140,000