Senior Visitor Experience Associate

Job Title: Senior Visitor Experience Associate

Department: Visitor Experience

Hourly Pay Rate: $24.57

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

Employment Status: Part-Time

Union Position: Yes

Reports to: Visitor Experience Manager and Retail Manager

POSITION DESCRIPTION           

Senior Visitor Experience Associates (SVEA) are ambassadors for the Museum and assists the Visitor Experience Manager (VEM) and Retail Manager (RM) in the day-to-day operation of the visitor services desk and New Museum Store including opening and closing of the museum lobby and oversees the implementation of museum policies. Work hours include weekends, evenings, holidays, and may encompass staffing at offsite events and projects. Senior Visitor Experience Associates reports to the Visitor Experience Manager and Retail Manager.

This position is a union-represented position subject to terms of the Museum’s agreement with Local 2110, UAW, and is eligible for the New Museum’s employee benefits programs. This is a part-time position with 22-24 hours/week and a pay rate of $24.57 per hour. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

Visitor Engagement

• Leads by example by proactively greeting and engaging visitors, providing outstanding professional, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and friendly service to museum visitors. Monitors and when necessary, assists with coordinating visitor flow. 
• Oversees the implementation of museum policies with Visitor Experience Associates (VEAs), ensuring professional, warm and friendly customer service, assists with onboarding new VEAs and in enforcing museum protocols with visitors and internal policies with the Visitor Experience team, provides constructive feedback to VEAs in partnership with VEM and RM.  
• Leads daily opening and closing procedures including cash counting and completing daily and weekly reports. Ensures lobby areas, store, and galleries are stocked, clean, and prepared to receive visitors prior to opening each day. 
• Addresses and resolves visitor inquiries and feedback with professionalism and congeniality; including diffusing situations that may arise and escalating to VEM and RM as needed.
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of museum exhibitions, programming, membership benefits, events, store products, and museum policies. Assist VEM and RM with update of product knowledge guide and visitor experience procedures guide.
• Assists with admission, public program, and special event ticket inquires, reservations and re-bookings in person, on the phone and via email.
• Assists with check-in and admissions for public programming and special events (exhibition openings, donor receptions and events, store pop-ups and events…etc.). Provides support in store special events, promotions and other related activities both on and off site.
• Provides some reception services for administrative staff.

Sales and Maintenance

• Works to meet individual and team store sales goals on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis.
• Sells tickets for exhibitions, public programming, and special events. Actively promotes and sells memberships and provides member support.  
• Accurately performs cashier duties, process cash and credit card transactions with precision in accordance with museum policies and procedures. Reconciles cash drawers daily, perform necessary cash deposits and reports in accordance with museum procedures; ensures safe is always locked and secured.  
• Approves and processes customer discounts exemptions, returns, voids and credits in accordance with museum policies and procedures. 
• Monitors store and lobby supply and inventory levels, notify RM and VEM of low stock and supply levels.
• Receives merchandise and daily replenishment of store stock on shelves, in back stock areas, and replace merchandise that has sold from displays in store. Assists with processing online orders as needed.
• Operates the store and visitor services desk POS station including troubleshooting basic functions; assist with maintenance of POS supplies, printers, and credit card terminals.
• Maintains store product pricing and in store signage based on current promotions.
• Assists with physical inventory counts.
• Assists with visual merchandising and leads daily maintenance of the store and visitor services desk areas. Works with VEM and RM in visitor experience and store projects.
• Actively participates and contributes to team meetings.
• Other duties as assigned relating to visitor experience and retail operations.

QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants must be eager to provide professional, welcoming, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and friendly service to museum visitors. 2 to 3 years experience interacting with the public in a museum, gallery, retail, hospitality or cultural institution is required. Ability to communicate effectively, attention to detail and the ability to prioritize, follow through and complete assigned tasks is essential for this position; previous supervisory experience is a plus. Familiarity and comfort with cash handling, computers and technology is important. SVEAs must be able to occasionally lift 25-pound boxes and be physically active in the lobby, Store and storage areas. A passion for contemporary art is highly desired, and fluency in a foreign language is a plus. Senior Visitor Experience Associates report to the Visitor Experience Manager and Retail Manager.

Weekends and holidays required. A varying shift availability of early and evening hours may be required.

BENEFITS 

We offer a benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), Health Reimbursement Program through the Difference Card, Commuter Benefits Program through the Difference Card, Voluntary Short Term Disability Plan and Long-Term Disability, Life Insurance, Retirement Plan, and other voluntary benefits.  7 sick days off and 13 holidays off as applicable through the fiscal year.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM 

The New Museum's mission is simply "New Art, New Ideas."  Founded in 1977 by curator Marcia Tucker with a bold vision of presenting contemporary culture in a critical and scholarly context, the New Museum has been a leader among contemporary art museums for over 40 years, and is among the most respected internationally for its risk-taking curatorial program. The New Museum is a center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists from around the world, focusing on emerging and under-recognized voices, and providing a platform for the artists who are defining our cultural moment.  In 2007, the New Museum made history with the inauguration of its first permanent building at 235 Bowery designed by the Tokyo-based firm SANAA. Since that time, over 4 million have visited or attended programs and events, and the Museum has 155 exhibitions featuring over 600 artists from 60+ countries in our galleries, as well as over 1,200 public programs ranging from live performances, conferences, residencies, screening, after-school programs, and family days. For more information about the New Museum and its programs, please visit www.newmuseum.org. 

Equal Opportunity Employer

The New Museum of Contemporary Art believes that all persons are entitled to Equal Employment Opportunity and we do not discriminate against our staff members or applicants for employment because of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender identity and expression, sex, age, disability, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, genetic information, or veteran or citizenship status provided they are qualified and meet the requirements for the job. The New Museum provides reasonable accommodation to candidates with disabilities.