Job Details

Visitor Experience and Store Manager

Full Time | Santa Barbara Museum of Art

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art seeks an enthusiastic, service-oriented leader to manage the Museum`s visitor experience and Museum Store. This position reports to the Director of Marketing and Communications and oversees Visitor Services operations, onsite membership and ticketing, group sales and tours, and Museum Store retail operations. Join the Museum during our pivotal period of growth, outreach, major exhibitions, and increased regional and national visibility.

Key Responsibilities

Visitor Experience — 40%

Oversees daily Visitor Services operations, including hiring, training, scheduling, admissions, ticketing, phone inquiries, visitor issue resolution, onsite membership sales, and public event staffing. Ensures frontline staff are informed about exhibitions, collections, programs, and events, and maintains a welcoming, professional visitor experience.

Group Sales and Group Tours — 20%

Develops and manages group sales and group tours to expand the Museum`s reach among tourists, conference attendees, community groups, and cultural travelers. Builds relationships with hotels, tourism organizations, tour operators, travel agents, conference planners, and other partners; coordinates reservations and logistics; tracks sales activity; and works across departments to ensure a high-quality group visitor experience.

Museum Store — 40%

Manages Museum Store buying, merchandising, sales goals, inventory, e-commerce, P&L, and overall appearance. Sources merchandise aligned with Museum exhibitions, seasons, and brand identity; supports custom merchandise and visuals; motivates staff to increase sales; maintains the store website; and oversees store-related eblasts and pop-ups.

Required Qualifications

BA degree or equivalent combination of education and experience, plus 3 to 5 years of related managerial experience in visitor services, retail, hospitality, tourism, cultural institutions, customer service, or a related field.

• Experience managing staff, schedules, customer service standards, and public-facing operations. 
• Retail management experience, including sales goals, inventory, merchandising, vendors, and P&L responsibilities. 
• Strong communication, leadership, organizational, and problem-solving skills. 
• Ability to manage multiple priorities across visitor services, retail, ticketing, events, and group tours. 
• Comfort with membership sales, store sales, event ticketing, and group sales. 
• Proficiency with Shopify or similar POS/inventory systems. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and digital tools such as Canva or Photoshop, WeTransfer, iCloud, Dropbox, Faire, or similar platforms. 
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including some evenings, weekends, and holidays. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a museum, cultural institution, hospitality, tourism, retail, or guest experience setting. 
• Experience with group sales, tours, visitor programs, hospitality partnerships, or tourism-related offerings. 
• Success supervising and motivating frontline staff. 
• Strong visual merchandising, buying, or custom merchandise experience. 
• Familiarity with Santa Barbara`s tourism, hospitality, hotel, travel, or conference community. 
• Interest in art, museums, design, education, or cultural programming. 

Other Information

• Reports to: Director of Marketing and Communications 
• Schedule: Exempt status, non-remote, some evenings, weekend or holidays may be scheduled. Ability to adjust schedule to flex hours to support evening or weekend events. 
• Compensation DOE: $ 70,304 to 73,750.00
• Successful background check is required and ability to complete occasional offsite visits and/or errands using reliable transportation. Ability to perform merchandising tasks and lift 25 lbs occasionally. 
• Full Time status includes comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, pre-tax savings, long term disability, life insurance, vacation accrual up to 15 days in the first two years, 64 hours of paid sick leave reissued annually, 13 paid holidays, or 14 in Federal election years, 403(b) eligibility with Museum match up to 5% after one year of service, and SB BikeSpot membership. Located 90 minutes from downtown Los Angeles, and set between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara has a vibrant, walkable downtown and nearby higher education institutions, including UC Santa Barbara.

To Apply

Submission package to Include: Application, resume, cover letter, and three professional references to: hr@sbma.net. SBMA Application found at (located: https://www.sbma.net/about/careers) 

 

Santa Barbara Museum of Art
1130 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Fax: (805) 966-6840

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to diversity. The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is recognized for its comprehensive art collection, diverse exhibits, and a broad array of events and community activities.