Job title: Head of Visitor Experience (maternity cover) 12- month fixed term contract.
Part time: 32 hours per week. Typically Monday- Friday although occasional weekend and evening work will be required
Contract: Hours: Salary: £33,300 (FTE £41,600).
Reports to: Executive Director
Direct reports:
Events Manager, Learning Manager, Retail Manager, Visitor Experience Manager Archivist and Curator, Assistant Retail Manager, Visitor Experience Officers x3, Visitor Experience Assistants x23, Shop Supervisors x5, Events Assistants and c. 100 volunteers
ABOUT BATH ABBEY
Bath Abbey is a vibrant parish church at the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage City of Bath. As the last great medieval church built in England, the Abbey has been a place of worship, welcome and wonder for more than 500 years. Today, it is home to a thriving gathered congregation from all over the city and surrounding area, supported by dedicated staff, talented choirs, and hundreds of volunteers, while also welcoming over 350,000 visitors from around the world each year. Guided by our values—Welcoming, Sharing, Cherishing and Flourishing—we strive to be an inclusive, diverse and caring community where all can contribute and grow. Recent investment through our ambitious Footprint Project has transformed the Abbey for the future, creating new spaces, improving sustainability and enhancing our visitor and worship experience. Joining Bath Abbey means becoming part of a place where heritage, hospitality and hope come together—serving the city, celebrating our shared story and shaping the Abbey’s mission for generations to come.
INTRODUCTION TO THE ROLE Thank you for your interest in the role of Head of Visitor Experience at Bath Abbey.
Bath Abbey attracts approximately 350,000 visitors a year. The Head of Visitor Experience is responsible for the operational leadership of the Visitor Experience Department which includes Events, Learning, Retail and Visitor Experience. The successful candidate will oversee day to day operations, engaging teams of staff and volunteers to provide high-quality experiences while delivering on financial targets. Alongside this, the Head of Visitor Experience is responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of visitor focused development projects and the short-term planning and delivery of Bath Abbey’s public programme. As a key member of the Abbey Leadership Team, the Head of Visitor Experience will contribute to the overall direction, leadership and development of Bath Abbey.
KEY RESPONSIBILITES Visitor experience
• Lead visitor facing teams to ensure a high-quality visitor experience.
• Set and review standards for visitor facing teams and lead by example when implementing these.
• Lead staff and volunteers to ensure all public areas are maintained to a consistently high standard, ensuring they are clean, safe and attractively presented at all times.
• Work across the Abbey to identify opportunities to continually improve the visitor experience.
• Ensure all visitor enquiries and complaints are dealt with to a high standard of visitor satisfaction and within set timescales.
• Support direct reports to develop and deliver high quality and sustainable offers while ensuring financial control and appropriate income generation.
• Lead the development and delivery of an audience focused public programme which supports the Abbey’s mission and values.
• Champion the needs of visitors in all areas and across all departments of the Abbey, providing expert guidance and advice when necessary.
Strategic
• Work strategically with all teams and other stakeholders to ensure that the Abbey’s vision is delivered taking particular responsibility for events, learning, retail and visitor experience.
• Work proactively within all teams to ensure that appropriate business continuity plans are in place in the event of a major incident.
• Contribute to overall operational planning.
• Lead and take responsibility for the following development projects; a refreshed welcome leaflet, new wayfinding signage and a refreshed or new audio / multimedia guide.
• Contribute to the management of the Abbey’s risk register taking responsibility for visitor related risks.
People management
• Lead and line manage direct reports; supporting, involving and guiding them to feel valued, inspired and empowered to succeed.
• Oversee the management and development of a team of visitor facing staff and volunteers.
• Establish and maintain effective methods of internal communication.
• Ensure organisational and departmental policies, procedures and standards are followed. Budget management and reporting
• Contribute to the creation and manage relevant sections of the Abbeys annual budget.
• Empower managers and their teams to achieve their income targets while maintaining value for money for visitors.
• Collate and present departmental reports as required.
• Actively monitor and evaluate visitor experience at Bath Abbey against agreed plans and set targets for improvement.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
ESSENTIAL
Sympathy with and understanding of the vision and values of Bath Abbey as a place of worship.
• Experience working in a visitor attraction or other similar venue.
• Experience developing or implementing visitor experiences.
• Experience leading and managing staff.
• Experience of managing a budget and basic financial reporting.
Skills
• Highly personable, able to motivate and inspire others.
• Excellent communicator capable of working with diverse stakeholders.
. Organised with high standards and attention to detail.
• A team player.
• Confident to work independently and be self-motivated.
• Ability to work well under pressure and manage competing demands.
• Computer literacy and IT skills.
• Excellent customer service and relationship building skills. Other
• A flexible and proactive approach.