Front of house assistant/ manager

Job description

Front of house (FOH) manager

Reporting to:

Head of Operations

Enthusiastic and highly organised manager required to lead the front of house team, oversee front of house operations including box office/ reception, and to ensure customer services are welcoming to all our audiences, visitors and resident organisations; as duty management during events forms an essential part of this role, some evening and weekend work will be required

This is an excellent opportunity for an exceptional candidate to develop experience in managing a vibrant, complex arts venue.

We are seeking a full-time Front of House Manager to be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day running of the building and its activities. The main focus of this key role is the effective management of staff and resources. You will head a team of one fulltime and numerous casual staff, ensuring that the building is at all times safe and welcoming to all our audience, visitors, and resident organisations.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Front of House (this includes “performance” mode and “day-time” mode):

to manage the front-of-house operations of the venue and ensure that the
reception and box office functions are efficiently managed
to ensure that events at the venue are adequately staffed with reception / Box Office Assistants, Duty Managers, hosts and other events staff
to act as Line Manager for all front-of-house staff, as noted above, working within agreed procedures and to appropriate standards; including monitoring work performance, timekeeping and general discipline, ensuring that events are serviced to the appropriate standards
to work closely with the Venue & Events Manager, to ensure that the building and all events operate smoothly and efficiently and in accordance with licensing authority regulations (the FoH Manager will be a personal licence holder for the venue)
to act as evening Duty Manager as required and always during key events as well as daytimes as required
to take responsibility for all Front of House sales, including ordering of stock, design and supervision of sales systems and stock control
to implement procedures for cashing up and the use of floats in the Front of House and box office operations
to manage an efficient and effective box office sales service and have a good working knowledge of the Databox box office and Artifax event management systems to access information, sell tickets, collect data, provide reports and to train the box office/ reception staff

Health & Safety:

to be a key member of the Health & Safety working group, to improve and maintain health and safety policies and procedures
to take responsibility for all fire and security procedures within the building; ensuring that all staff who work in the building are familiar with the building’s fire drills and security procedures and to ensure that staff receive regular fire awareness training and first aid training
to liaise with visiting companies on their front of house requirements, providing a welcome and induction to the building to cover fire and evacuation procedures and communicating relevant information

Building and Facilities:

to liaise with the Building & Facilities Manager, who heads up a team of
caretakers/ cleaners to ensure the building and its facilities are clean, presentable, and safe at all times

Customer Care / Audience Development / Marketing:

to implement and ensure the collection of monitoring data of room hire users and audience for events in accordance with funding requirements and to assist in the implementation of regular audience and user surveys
to work with Head of Communications and Development regarding customer service, marketing and sales issues
to ensure that publicity material at reception is kept up-to-date and well-presented
to oversee the regular updating of our web site and phone system autoattendant
to take overall responsibility for the building’s customer care policy and practice to include organising customer care training for relevant staff and drawing up a customer care policy document
to monitor the organisation’s procedures to ensure that the building is accessible to the broadest possible communities
to take the lead on disability issues within the organisation, including the development and implementation of an access policy and to plan a
strategy to improve disability access including signed performances and audio described performances
to work with the Head of Operations on written policies for the building e.g. dealing with threatening behaviour, drug users etc; smoking policy and their implementation

Finance:

to manage pay & non-pay budgets for your department, under the supervision of the Head of Operations and the Head of Finance

General:

to work actively at all times within our equal opportunities, child
protection, and Health & Safety policies and to ensure all front of house staff are aware of the requirements of our policies
to attend and/or organise management, planning and departmental meetings as required
to undertake any other duties reasonably requested by either the Head of Operations or the Chief Executive

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential:

significant experience in a role involving front line customer service
experience of staff supervision and management
ability to train subordinate employees
demonstrable understanding of Health & Safety and licensing issues in a venue licensed for public entertainment
enthusiasm for working in a creative organisation
excellent IT skills
experience of budgetary control and cash handling
excellent communication skills at all levels
demonstrable understanding of customer care issues, particularly in
relation to a building that is responsive to the needs of diverse communities and a variety of users
experience of box office or sales systems
knowledge of and commitment to the principles of equal opportunities
and an understanding of the issues relating to cultural diversity within an
organisation
ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
ability and enjoyment of multi-tasking in a busy work environment

Desirable:

experience of recruitment, selection and line management of staff
demonstrable understanding of disability issues
personal license, first aid certificate, fire safety/ fire warden training