Visitor Engagement Lead

The Australian National Maritime Museum is seeking an experienced Visitor Engagement Lead to join the Museum Experience team. This full-time, non-ongoing role is offered for an initial 12-month period, with the possibility of extension and potential to become ongoing.

The successful candidate will bring strong operational leadership skills and a commitment to quality assurance, ensuring an exceptional and engaging visitor experience.

About the Australian National Maritime Museum
As one of Sydney’s most visited museums, the Australian National Maritime Museum shares our national maritime story across Australia and the world, online, onsite and through research, presentations and travelling exhibitions, and provides must-visit museum experiences that delight and inspire.

We connect our visitors with the oceans and waterways that are the heartbeat of who we are. From deep time to modern Australian and beyond, we explore our past, our present and future as an island nation shaped by sea, offering a sustainable and cohesive vision for the future.

The Museum welcomes over 2.5 million local, interstate and international visitors annually, and is supported by a thriving and passionate staff, membership, volunteer and education base. Find out more at sea.museum.

About the Role
The Visitor Engagement Lead is a pivotal supervisory role responsible for ensuring exceptional visitor experiences through effective operational leadership and quality assurance. Reporting to the Manager, Visitor Engagement, this position directly supervises two Front of House Supervisors and the Bookings Officer, providing hands-on leadership that translates strategic priorities into operational excellence.

The role focuses on developing high-performing teams, maintaining consistent service standards, and driving continuous improvement across all visitor touchpoints. The successful candidate will coach and support supervisors, monitor operational quality, coordinate cross-departmental activities, and ensure that visitor services consistently reflect the Museum’s commitment to outstanding experiences.

This position requires visible operational presence, strong people leadership capabilities, and the ability to balance day-to-day service delivery with strategic implementation. The Visitor Engagement Lead serves as the critical link between strategic direction and frontline execution, ensuring that the Museum’s 2.5 million annual visitors receive consistently excellent service.

Please note: This recruitment process is intended to fill both current and future vacancies. While the position on offer is non-ongoing, a merit pool of suitable applicants may be established to fill similar ongoing and non-ongoing positions within the next 18 months.

Key Accountabilities
Under limited direction, this position is responsible for delivering the following functions:

• Directly supervise and support two APS5 Front of House Supervisors and one APS4 Bookings Officer, providing regular performance feedback, coaching, and professional development to build team capability and sustain high performance.
• Oversee workforce planning and resource allocation including, reviewing and approving staff rosters, leave requests, and resource allocation to ensure consistent and effective operational coverage across all front-of house functions.
• Promote a positive, inclusive, and high-performing team culture aligned with Museum values, conducting regular performance discussions, goal setting and active support of staff wellbeing and engagement.
• Monitor and evaluate service delivery standards across admissions, tours, visitor services, and public spaces through regular floor presence, observation, visitor feedback and incident reporting to assess performance and identify trends.
• Identify and address operational risks, service gaps, and improvement opportunities, implementing corrective actions and maintaining current and effective Front of House standard operating procedures.
• Translate strategic direction into operational plans and priorities, supporting the Manager, Visitor Engagement by implementing agreed initiatives and providing visitor insights to inform planning and programming decisions.
• Coordinate visitor operations across internal teams including Tourism, Education, Families & Communities, Programs and Activations, and Retail and Commercial to ensure integrated and seamless service delivery.
• Plan and implement operational responses to special events, peak visitation periods, extreme weather, and other operational challenges exercising sound judgement to maintain safety, service quality, and visitor satisfaction.
• Oversee tourism bookings and group visit operations, ensuring effective coordination and delivery for tour groups and special visitors.
• Collect and analyse operational data, visitor satisfaction metrics, and service indicators, preparing regular reports with evidence-based insights and recommendations to inform decision-making and support continuous improvement for the Manager, Visitor Engagement.

Selection Criteria
The successful candidate will demonstrate their capacity against the following:

1. Demonstrated experience supervising and developing teams in visitor-facing or customer service environments, with proven ability to coach, mentor, and build capability in supervisors and frontline staff.
2. Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills with the ability to respond effectively to operational challenges, peak periods, and unexpected situations, including an understanding of work health and safety principles and a commitment to maintaining safe environments for staff and visitors.
3. Proven track record in operational quality assurance and continuous improvement, with the ability to monitor service standards, analyse data and performance metrics, and use evidence to inform decisions and drive improvements.
4. Strong operational coordination skills with demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across teams and departments to plan and deliver seamless service delivery.
5. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build relationships, provide constructive feedback, and engage effectively with diverse stakeholders including staff, visitors, and external partners.

Qualifications and/or relevant experience required

Mandatory:

• Significant experience in a supervisory or team leadership role within a visitor-facing, customer service, or museum environment.
• Experience in operational coordination, service delivery management, or front-of-house operations within a cultural institution, tourism, or similar public-facing organisation.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of tourism industry operations, group bookings coordination, and relationships with tour operators and travel trade.
• Experience with rostering systems, workforce planning, and resource allocation in customer-facing operations.
• Familiarity with visitor feedback systems, survey tools, or customer experience measurement platforms.
• Understanding of accessibility requirements and experience creating inclusive experiences for diverse visitor needs.
• Experience managing operations during major events, peak periods, or challenging conditions (e.g., extreme weather, high-volume visitation).
• Qualifications or professional development in leadership, management, customer service, or relevant fields.
• Knowledge of APS frameworks, including the Integrated Leadership System (ILS) competencies.

When applying via our online e-recruitment system, please provide a written application addressing each Selection Criteria. Your current resume is also to be included in your application.
In addition to an application and your resume, the assessment process for this position may also include an interview and referee reports.

Applications Close: 11:30pm AEDT, Thursday 26 March 2026. No applications will be accepted by mail or email. 

Selection for this position will be made on the basis of relative merit which will be assessed against each item of the selection criteria. Applications that do not address the selection criteria will not be considered for shortlisting by the Selection Panel. As part of the selection process the Selection Panel may invite candidates to undertake online testing, skills-based assessment and provide samples of written work at interview.

This position is open to all eligible members of the community, and we welcome and encourage applications from people with disability, the LGBTIQ+ communities, from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. To be an eligible member of the community, you must be an Australian citizen. Applications may be accepted from Australian permanent residents who are in the process of acquiring Australian citizenship. All employees will be required to satisfactorily complete an Australian Federal Police National Police Check and obtain and maintain a Working with Children Check registration.

What We Offer You
Working at the Museum offers a stunning office location plus access to a range of benefits including:

• A competitive salary, plus 15.4% superannuation
• Generous leave and flexible working arrangements
• Great training and development opportunities
• Rewards and recognition initiatives
• Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP – a free counselling service for you and your family).
• Wellbeing initiatives including free flu shots and reimbursement for optical
• Staff Regatta – Sailing on the Harbour.