Director of Visitor Services and Experience, Obama Presidential Center

About the Obama Foundation

At the Obama Foundation, we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. Our mission is to inspire those people to take action, empower them to change their world for the better, and connect them so they can achieve more together than they can alone.

We were founded by community organizers, so when we seek change, we do it by bringing people together.

That approach begins at home, on the South Side of Chicago, where we are building the Obama Presidential Center. The Center represents a historic opportunity for Chicago: a chance to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady, steps away from where he began his career, where she was raised, and where—together—they made their home.

But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity.

As President Obama has said, “we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together.” So join us.

For more information, please visit www.obama.org.

Purpose of the Role

Visitor services will be the face of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC). The OPC Director of Visitor Services and Experience will lead planning of visitor services for the OPC during its pre-opening phase and oversee the implementation of these functions once open. These functions primarily include hospitality, ticketing, and on-site member services to ensure a seamless, efficient, unparalleled, and unique visitor experience across the OPC campus. As the Director of Visitor Services and Experience, you will build-out, train and lead a visitor services team as the OPC transitions toward opening day and beyond. This role will collaborate closely with the Director of Earned Income, the Development Team, and colleagues across other Teams to ensure that the visitor experience at the OPC is in alignment with the Foundation’s overall experiential goals. You will have specific responsibility for managing the visitor experience in the public areas of the OPC. You will also be responsible for supporting day-to-day operations in other areas of the OPC.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Lead a cross-functional team focused on customer service and ensuring all guests have an exceptional experience. Ensure the Foundation’s values and commitment to inclusion through strategy and training.
• Collaborate with the Director of Design and the Senior Associate of Interior Design; the Product & Technology Team; the Experience Design Team; and other Foundation stakeholders to finalize the inclusive design of lobby and ticketing spaces, including signage and wayfinding, that ensure an equitable and pleasurable experience for all visitors of all abilities.
• Collaborate with the Foundation’s People Team to hire, onboard, and train a diverse and high-performing visitor services staff in time for opening day.
• Serve as key liaison with the Development Team concerning on-site membership services. Coordinate with Development to create and achieve membership fundraising goals and program implementation.
• Collaborate with other OPC Teams to assure Visitor Services and Experience staff have a baseline level of knowledge of exhibit interpretation and security protocols.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• In coordination with other OPC Teams, establishment of a vision for service that continually improves the standards for the visitor experience; create a comprehensive visitor services strategy to implement this vision.
• Development of a schedule and budget for all pre-opening hospitality and ticketing activities.
• Timely and cost-effective procurement of all visitor services vendors, if outsourced, to meet the opening schedule of the Center.
• In coordination with other Teams, ongoing maintenance and improvement of the OPC’s ticketing and reservation system.
• Development and proactive management of Visitor Services and Experience budget including the identification and monitoring of key metrics of success.
• Onboarding and ongoing evaluation of high performing, visitor-oriented staff; these staff will be especially important since they will be the primary point of visitor interaction, serving as the “Face of Foundation.”

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated & extensive senior-level experience managing visitor services or hospitality of complex, visitor-facing organization(s).
• Significant experience with ticketing systems and membership programs.
• Significant experience with business diversity and workforce development policies and programs.
• Experience successfully managing complex projects and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

In the interest of employee health and safety during the pendency of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Obama Foundation is requiring that all prospective employees present proof that they are fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, or seek a reasonable accommodation for religious or medical reasons, prior to their first day of employment.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at [email protected] if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.