Customer Experience Manager

About the Role

Join Royal \& Derngate as our next Customer Experience Manager. If you're passionate about delivering exceptional customer service, leading high\-performing teams, and creating memorable visitor experiences, this is your chance to make a real impact in one of the region's leading cultural venues.

Job Opportunity

Key Task Areas:

Customer Experience \& Customer Journey

• Lead delivery of an exceptional customer experience across both venues.


• Maintain a visible, approachable presence, particularly during busy periods.


• Ensure a consistent, welcoming and inclusive customer journey.


• Identify and implement customer journey improvements.


• Ensure Front of House teams consistently deliver Customer Experience Handbook standards.


• Work across the organisation to resolve issues and improve processes.


• Ensure inclusive support for customers with access requirements.


• Promote a strong culture of hospitality.

Front of House \& Venue Operations

• Oversee effective Front of House operations during all activity including keyholder and alarm responsibilities.


• Set staffing and rotas to meet operational, service and safety needs within budget, correcting actual or forecast variances.


• Brief teams clearly on event requirements, risks and customer priorities.


• Liaise effectively with visiting companies, hirers, artists and colleagues.


• Ensure venues are prepared, presented and staffed before opening including VIP Lounge and related services.


• Maintain high standards of cleanliness, presentation and customer facilities.


• Check customer areas regularly and resolve issues promptly.


• Resolve operational issues and escalate appropriately.

Leadership \& People Management

• Act as Duty Manager when required and provide visible, supportive leadership to Customer Experience colleagues.


• Line manage designated colleagues, providing supervision, feedback and development.


• Manage performance, attendance, conduct and employee relations with the Head of Customer Experience.


• Identify training needs and support the Customer Experience training programme.


• Ensure colleagues understand and can fulfil their responsibilities.


• Recognise excellent service and team performance.

Volunteers

• Support volunteer recruitment, induction, training and management.


• Ensure volunteers are briefed, supported and valued.


• Develop volunteer engagement, training and progression with the Head of Customer Experience.


• Ensure volunteers understand their role in the customer journey and culture.

Commercial, Budget \& Financial Management

• Manage relevant income and expenditure within agreed budgets and targets.


• Monitor actual and forecast performance against budget and identify material variances promptly.


• Correct income shortfalls or overspends and escalate significant risks or variances.


• Support budgets and forecasts with accurate operational information on pressures and opportunities.


• Control staffing and other costs within budget while maintaining service and safety.


• Support commercial objectives through service and secondary\-spend opportunities.


• Coach teams to increase appropriate upselling and customer spend without compromising experience.


• Oversee bars, retail and other customer\-facing commercial activity.


• Monitor sales and financial performance against budget, understand variances and act on underperformance.


• Ensure effective stock, ordering, cash and EPOS controls to minimise waste, loss and discrepancies.


• Maintain high presentation standards in retail and bar areas.


• Implement commercial initiatives, promotions and new products.

Health, Safety, Safeguarding \& Compliance

• Maintain a safe environment for customers, colleagues, volunteers and visiting companies.


• Ensure Health \& Safety procedures are followed and communicated.


• Manage emergency procedures, including evacuation, lockdown and vulnerable\-person incidents.


• Identify hazards, risks and maintenance issues and ensure action is taken.


• Ensure compliance with licensing and relevant legislation.


• Hold, or work towards, required First Aid qualifications.


• Contribute to relevant Health \& Safety, Operations and safeguarding meetings.

General

• Work collaboratively across Royal \& Derngate and Northampton Filmhouse.


• Represent the organisation professionally with customers and partners.


• Support organisational sustainability initiatives and ensure that customer experience minimises its impact on the environment.


• Attend relevant meetings and training.


• Undertake other reasonable duties as required.


• Work evenings, weekends, Bank Holidays and other hours required by venue operations.

Responsibilities are shared across the Customer Experience Manager team. Each post\-holder has specific accountabilities while collaborating to provide consistent operational leadership across both venues.

Essential Skills

Essential Experience:

• Significant customer\-facing management or supervisory experience in entertainment, hospitality, leisure, cultural or visitor environments.


• Experience leading and motivating teams in fast\-paced operations.


• Experience delivering consistently high customer service standards.


• Experience dealing professionally with diverse customers.


• Experience resolving challenging situations and customer issues.


• Experience of working with EPOS/till systems.


• Experience of managing or supporting volunteers and/or casual staff


• Experience working evenings, weekends and busy periods.


• Experience managing income and expenditure against budgets or targets and acting on variances.

Essential Knowledge/Qualifications:

• Strong understanding of customer experience and the customer journey.


• Understanding of Health \& Safety and safe working practices.


• Understanding of safeguarding responsibilities.


• Understanding of equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.


• Understanding of commercial service and secondary\-income opportunities.


• Understanding of theatre, cinema or comparable venue operations.


• Willingness to develop knowledge of licensing and relevant legislation.

Essential Skills/Abilities:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.


• Strong leadership and people management skills.


• Calm, confident and solution\-focused under pressure.


• Excellent organisational and time\-management skills.


• Strong decision\-making and problem\-solving ability.


• Ability to prioritise in a busy, unpredictable environment.


• Ability to build positive relationships with customers, colleagues, volunteers and partners.


• Ability to coach colleagues and improve performance.


• Strong financial and commercial awareness; able to manage budgets, explain variances and take corrective action.


• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office and operational systems.


• Ability to use data and feedback to improve customer experience.


• Commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and a welcoming environment

Desirable Experience:

• Experience in theatre, cinema, arts, cultural or entertainment environments.


• Experience of managing Duty Managers or Front of House teams.


• Experience of working with volunteers.


• Experience delivering customer or operational training.


• Experience developing or implementing customer service standards.


• Experience managing events, performances or large customer operations.

Desirable Knowledge/Qualifications:

• Personal Licence Holder, or willingness to obtain one.


• First Aid at Work qualification.


• Knowledge of licensing law and premises/event licences.


• Knowledge of EPOS and stock management systems.


• Understanding of theatre/cinema operations and cross\-departmental working.

This listing is from Indeed. View original listing ↗