Interim Senior Manager of Visitor Services

Love nature? Then you’re going to love The Nat.    

The San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat) was founded by amateur naturalists in 1874 and has played a major role in the conversation of our region. The Museum recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and completed a strategic plan focused on encouraging a love for nature, levering science and collections for conservation, and using our own voice to be here for nature.

The Visitor Services Department is the heart of our organization, which welcomes more than 300K guests per year (and growing!) and generates revenue that supports The Nat’s important mission of conserving nature through science and discovery. 
 
We are looking for an Interim Senior Manager of Visitor Services (ISMVS) to ensure that the Visitor Services department meets the needs of ALL Museum guests through consistent and intentional customer service. They center the guest experience by ensuring that guest visits are positive, and that guests feel valued, safe, and welcomed. The ISMVS also prioritizes making the Museum accessible for all – our Museum is full of super-cool nature and science stuff and we want everyone to be able to love it as much as we do!!!

The ISMVS is responsible for the daily operation and administration of the Visitor Services department and museum admission operations. Primary responsibilities include all aspects of hiring, onboarding, supporting, and managing a fun, creative, and diverse team of Visitor Services staff. They reinforce Museum policies, procedures, and values within the department, and they provide real-time feedback to VS staff to ensure that they meet both performance and behavior expectations, while maintaining high team morale and building a positive team culture.

The ISMVS collaborates with multiple internal departments, and they also represent our organization externally with peers at similar institutions to adopt and share best practices as appropriate. They also guide efforts to support the achievement of our department goals and contribute to the monitoring and reporting of our efforts.  

Essential Responsibilities 

• Oversee the daily operations of the Visitor Services department, including ticketing, group visit procedures, visitor flow, hiring/training/supervising, scheduling, and more
• Establish goals, standards of performance, and standard operating procedures which promote a consistently superior visitor experience
• Create a culture of engagement within staff to drive higher sales of tickets and memberships
• Proactively identify and develop solutions for visitor experience challenges and opportunities
• Coordinate all daily visitor experience efforts with the museum’s restaurant, shop, education, volunteer and special events functions
• Complete daily/weekly/monthly reports required for internal and external stakeholders and partners
• Coordinate and maintain on-site signage and admissions-related web content
• Coordinate and manage Resident Free Tuesdays and other large-scale admission-based programs and events
• Develop strong knowledge of the ticketing/database system- Altru
• Additional duties as assigned in support of the mission of the Museum

Qualifications 

• 5 years of customer service experience in a front-line environment and 3+ years in a formal supervisory capacity required; to include completion of written performance appraisals and delivery of performance feedback
• Experience working with a point-of-sale system, customer relations management system or other admissions/ticketing database system is required. Experience working with Altru ticketing system is a plus
• Knowledge of accounting, budgeting, and financial/attendance reporting
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience

Skills 

• Leadership skills to empower, motivate, and develop a collaborative and positive work environment. 
• Demonstrated employee management skills, including hiring, scheduling, training, conflict resolution, and team building. 
• Excellent customer service skills, ability to work as a team player, exercise diplomacy, and make independent decisions.
• Excellent communication skills; verbal and written fluency in English. Spanish is desirable but not required.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, prioritize tasks, and work under pressure to meet scheduled and unexpected deadlines.
• Solid analytic, organizational, and problem-solving skills. 
• Strong knowledge of MS Office suite, including Outlook, Teams, and Excel.  

The Interim Senior Manager of Visitor Services position will primarily be Sunday – Thursday, but in order to ensure daily supervisory coverage during high volume events and days, may be required to adjust their schedule to cover some holidays, Friday evenings, and Saturdays. Currently, the Museum is open to the public seven days a week from 10 AM to 5 PM, but our hours vary seasonally (including Nat at Nights from 10 AM to 11 PM hours on the 3rd Friday of each month).  

Pay

The pay range is $31- $33/hour, commensurate with experience.  The position is for a 4-month term with the possibility of becoming permanent thereafter. 

This is a full-time, temporary position that is eligible for benefits such as health insurance, sick leave and vacation, paid holidays, retirement plans, and free admission into all of Balboa Park’s museums as well as free admission to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. Learn more about the Museum’s benefits here. 

Ready to Apply?

Please submit a resume, cover letter, and three professional references.  

We will begin reviewing resumes and contacting strong applicants, the week of January 5, 2026. 

No phone calls or drop-ins please.

A little more about us.   

The San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat) was founded by amateur naturalists in 1874 and has played a major role in the conversation of our region. The Nat is looking forward to an exciting new era, focused on innovative audience engagement and an increased role in conservation. sdnat.org