Director, Visitor Experience

Application Deadline: April 12, 2022

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Harbourfront Centre is a leader in providing internationally renowned artistic, educational and recreational programming across a beautiful 10-acre campus at the heart of Toronto’s waterfront. For more than 45 years, Harbourfront Centre has celebrated the best in Canadian culture and the rich mosaic of cultures from around the world, presenting thousands of events annually from music festivals to contemporary dance, to craft and design, to visual arts and more. Welcoming visitors year-round, there is something for everyone at Harbourfront Centre!

We are currently looking to bring on board a motivating, forward-thinking, dynamic and top-notch service-oriented Director, Visitor Experience to manage and direct all activities related to the Visitor Experience and the delivery of exemplary customer service befitting Harbourfront Centre at all venues and events.

 

Position Title: Director, Visitor Experience
Department: Marketing, Programming department in the interim
Reporting to: Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Programming Officer in the interim
Direct Reports: Manager, Hospitality, Manager, Visitor Services, and Manager, Volunteer Resources
Type of Employment: Full-Time

 

Role Overview

The Director, Visitor Experience, has overall leadership accountability for the people leadership, operational and tactical management of the Visitor Experience team. Areas of accountability include Hospitality, Front of House, /Guest Services (Ticketing, Info and Accessibility), and Volunteer Resources. This role plays a key leadership role in the development, management, and implementation of long-term strategic planning for major organizational priorities and initiatives to ensure Harbourfront Centre meets its strategic goals and maintains operational, programming and service integrity.

 

Duties

  • Manage the areas of Ticketing, Info Desk, Front of House, Food & Beverage/Hospitality, Accessibility Services and Volunteers.
  • Provide leadership to workforce planning, hiring, managing, and developing staff, maximizing their potential to meet business needs.
  • Develop best practices in Visitor Experience and coach service staff to adhere to these best practices.
  • Maintain awareness of visitor needs and attend to visitor complaints in an effort to achieve high visitor satisfaction levels.
  • Create and direct long- and short-term departmental goals and objectives.
  • Manage all departmental budgets and expenditures. Make recommendations to Sr. Management on Capital purchases.
  • Manage AGCO relationship, Liquor Sales Licenses, Special Occasion Permits.
  • Work with Grounds and Site Operations to ensure, venues and workspaces/practices comply with all relevant Federal, Provincial, and Municipal codes and policies.
  • Manage the day-to-day relationship with Food&Beverage tenant Boxcar Social as required.
  • Support the departmental management team, standing in for them required.
  • Communicate with senior executives about Visitor Experience issues, as well as successes, through informal channels, written reports, and formal presentations.
  • Maintain detailed records on Visitor Experience as well as staff development.
  • Support the development of, and adherence to, Human Resources and Health & Safety initiatives, policies, and procedures.
  • Work cooperatively and professionally to achieve outcomes that align with Harbourfront Centre Vision and Values.
  • Collaborate with other departments to align the goals of the Visitor Experience department with other areas of the business.

 

Skills & Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Hospitality Management or relevant field.
  • 3 – 5 years’ leadership and management experience in service/hospitality industry.
  • Demonstrated experience in customer relationship management and overseeing visitor engagement and satisfaction, preferably in the live entertainment or cultural sector.
  • Demonstrated track record in hiring, motivating and developing effective frontline and visitor support teams to deliver exceptional service and be great ambassadors of the organization.
  • Familiarity and experience with ticketing best management practices, reporting, and ticket sales/financial reconciliations. Knowledge of Tessitura is considered an asset.
  • Experience in Volunteer outreach practices.
  • Strong computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite, and database management.
  • Must enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, collaborating with many different teams.
  • Demonstrated experience in executive level interaction.
  • Knowledge of and demonstrated experience with festivals and events.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills are required in dealing with outside peers, the general public and media, and diverse communities.
  • Excellent demonstrated organizational skills with the ability to coordinate multiple activities and programs.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability in dealing and collaborating with diverse communities, and other departments.
  • Experience with creating, enforcing, and analyzing budgets for various locations.
  • Strong familiarity with local health and safety statutes and regulations.
  • Must be legally eligible to work in Canada. Non-Canadian applicants must have a valid employment Visa and proper documentation authorizing their ability to work in Canada.
  • This role is based in Toronto. Remote work from home is currently in place, however when a return-to-work directive is communicated, the candidate must be able to work on site at our downtown lakeside campus.
  • Harbourfront Centre recognizes its heightened duty to protect employees from health and safety risks during the current pandemic. As such, an offer of employment shall be conditional on proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with a vaccine series approved by Health Canada or the World Health Organization.

Our Values

Open
We’re friendly, welcoming and inclusive, with an experimental attitude that thrives on collaboration.

Brave
To achieve our bold ambition we empower and support imaginative risk and we always try to learn from our mistakes.

Rigorous
We are committed to excellence in all we do, ensuring every visitor encounter is safe, memorable and enriching.

Kind
We value and respect each other and all our visitors, celebrating difference and striving to realise potential.

How To Apply

Harbourfront Centre values and is committed to diversity and inclusiveness in our teams, creative communities, programmes and services. We invite qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply. Acceptable applications must include a current resume and a cover letter indicating why you wish to join the team, how you would meet the criteria of what we are seeking, and your salary expectation.

Qualified applicants can submit their candidacy by contacting jobs@harbourfrontcentre.com by no later than April 12, 2022.  Please quote Director, Visitor Experience in the subject line of the application.

We sincerely thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those being considered for an interview will be contacted. Suitable accomodations will be available upon request during the hiring process.