Our Head of Visitor Experience plays a key role within our Senior Management Team and is responsible for ensuring our “Step Inside, Think Outside” ethos is carried through every aspect of our visitors’ experiences and encounters at Somerset House. Our ideal candidate will have a passion for ensuring outstanding visitor experience to diverse audiences. 

We are looking for a dynamic leader who is able to adapt their approach to the full range of activities at Somerset House, whilst ensuring consistent standards and underlying principles are maintained. The breadth of activities at Somerset House ranges from critically acclaimed ticketed exhibitions such as Cute, to free installations, interactive workshops and creative careers festivals, the Summer Series of gigs in our courtyard every July and our winter highlight SKATE. Just as important are our public-facing third party partner projects, including the Photo London, 1-54 and Collect art fairs, and how we continually use our spaces in new and inventive ways. 

The Head of Visitor Experience is responsible for managing 100+ Visitor Experience Assistants and volunteers. Therefore, strong people management skills are key and the ability to inspire the very best from front of house staff as the most visible ambassadors for Somerset House.  

As the home of cultural innovators, we should embrace what technology has to offer when it comes to visitor experience. We are looking for someone who will innovate and introduce new processes and systems to enable us to work more effectively.  

What we are looking for:

• Leadership – As the Head of Visitor Experience, you will be responsible for leading a dynamic and diverse team of core staff, casuals and volunteers. Your goal is to foster a positive and inclusive work environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to deliver exceptional service. By leading from the front, you’ll ensure that our visitors have unforgettable experiences during every visit 
• Delivery of our KPIs in relation to the public enjoyment of the site 
• Visitor Experience strategy – Reset and embed our Visitor Experience strategy in line with our “Step Inside, Think Outside” ethos, ensuring consistency across all visitor touchpoints. 
• Customer service and customer insights – Maintaining our high standards of customer service and seeking continual improvements, ensuring that visitor feedback is considered and informs future decision-making across Somerset House Trust.  
• Resource planning and front of house staff management – Ensuring we have sufficient, trained staff in place in order to be able to welcome and safely manage the public to our site and to our exhibitions and event programme.    
• Compliance and safety – Working closely with our Security teams to ensure that the public are safely welcomed to Somerset House and that all safeguarding risks are considered, that all incidents are reported and learnt from and that the principles of our Safe Space Policy are adhered to, learning from best practice and new innovations in visitor welcome from the arts and cultural sector and beyond.  This includes working with Health & Safety Advisers, feeding into and reviewing event safety management plans and risk assessments.  

Skills, knowledge & expertise required for the role:

Experience 

• Proven leadership experience of front of house and customer service functions, including inspiring and developing large teams 
• Venue management – ideally experience of working in a multi-venue, cross artform organisation, or equivalent 
• Strong track record of designing and delivering exceptional customer experience   
• Demonstrable commitment to championing inclusive practices and improving accessibility 
• Strategy development and implementation.

Skills

• Exceptional communication and advocacy skills – both verbal and written, including developing business cases to make recommendations 
• People management – including introducing new contractual arrangements, performance management, training and development 
• Transformation – evolving operating models and embracing use of new technology 
• CRM – practical knowledge of Tessitura or other CRM systems, including ticketing 
• Highly organised leader, able to manage multiple teams including FOH teams  
• Able to juggle multiple priorities and work to a range of timescales 
• A deep understanding of the visitor economy, offering a solutions based approach to challenges and opportunities  
• IOSH Managing Safely accredited, or with equivalent, demonstrable skills in this area. 

Please see job pack for further information

Benefits to working at Somerset House

Mental Health & Wellbeing

– Access to our external Employee Assistance Programme (CiC) for free 24/7 confidential advice and support, including up to 6 free counselling sessions per year where needed

– Mental health support and guidance from our in-house trained Mental Health First Aiders 

– Hybrid working based on having 3 days in the office per week (pro rata if part-time)
– Contribution towards eye tests and glasses
-Trust life insurance scheme 

Holiday

– Enhanced annual leave – 25 days plus bank holidays (pro rata)

– Birthday leave – additional day leave 

– Celebration day  – to celebrate anything of your choice

Other Leave

– Sick leave – 20 days full pay, followed by 20 days half pay (pro rata & following 3 months service)

– Emergency dependent care – option to use 25% of paid sick leave for emergency care of a dependent (pro rata & following 3 months service)

– Enhanced maternity pay

Pension

– 8% employer pension contributions, no employee contribution required*

– Option for salary sacrifice

– Interest-free loans

– Season ticket loan

– Cycle to Work scheme

Discounts, offers and free stuff
–The list is endless and includes tickets to Somerset House events and entrance to other London Heritage sites
-Discounts in Somerset House cafes and restaurants
-Discounts with various high street retailers and restaurants
-Discount to local leisure centres

*following 3 months employment

About Somerset House Trust

Somerset House hosts the UK’s largest and most exciting creative community right in the heart of London, and are always looking for new talent to join our team. We welcome 3 million annual visitors to share our unique combination of cultural events, the creative industries and history. This mix informs and powers our programme and organisational culture, making us a singular, compelling and inclusive place to visit and work.

Somerset House is actively anti-racist, you can read about our Anti-Racism Pledge and the action we’re taking here.  We are working hard to ensure our people, our onsite community and our sector reflect, represent and include all of society. 

Our Commitment to Anti-Racism, Diversity and Inclusion:

Somerset House is open to all, and we value everyone’s unique skills. Somerset House Trust is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to championing equality, diversity, and inclusion in our workplace.  We are committed to equal opportunity and encourage applications from all qualified individuals. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background. 

Where candidates are equally qualified, we will seek to prioritise diversity to help us increase representation across the creative economy and the Trust.

We anonymise all job applications to help avoid discrimination in the initial screening stage of our recruitment process. This reinforces our commitment to focusing on the skills and qualifications of all applications from the start.

We’re committed to creating an inclusive recruitment process. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help you perform at your best. We’re open to adjusting our process to accommodate your needs. 

The Trust reserves the right to close a job before its application deadline.

Please only apply if you have the right to work in the UK; the Trust cannot currently offer sponsorships.