Institute for Contemporary Art Assistant Manager of Visitor Engagement (part-time)

Virginia Commonwealth University • Richmond, VA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU seeks two Assistant Managers of Visitor Engagement to help broaden access to contemporary art and ensure an exceptional visitor experience. These roles are members of the ICA’s front-of-house leadership team and work under the direction of the Head of Interpretation. One assistant manager works Sunday through Wednesday and the other Wednesday through Saturday, with overlapping Wednesday shifts for meetings and team planning. The positions require availability for approximately 29 hours per week, including partial weekend and holiday commitments most weeks of the year.

The assistant managers jointly lead and support the Visitor Engagement Associate team and oversee daily front desk and in-gallery operations. They serve as liaisons among the ICA, its part-time staff, and the communities it serves, and help sustain a welcoming, informed, inclusive, and accessible front-of-house culture. The role also includes direct visitor engagement and, as needed, leading tours, workshops, discussions, and other educational experiences. The position is fully onsite.

Requirements

• Consistent availability for approximately 29 hours per week, on either a Sunday-through-Wednesday or Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule, including partial weekend and holiday commitments most weeks of the year.
• Previous experience supervising, mentoring, or leading staff in a customer service, cultural, educational, hospitality, or public-facing environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to build positive relationships with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
• Strong judgment and the ability to remain calm, thoughtful, and solution-oriented in unexpected or challenging situations.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic museum environment.
• Collaborative approach to working across departments and with colleagues at all institutional levels.
• Ability to facilitate engaging conversations with visitors and staff and adapt communication styles to different audiences.
• Warm, welcoming demeanor and genuine interest in working with the public.
• Leadership style grounded in kindness, collaboration, accountability, and respect.

Nice To Haves

• Interest in contemporary art and commitment to creating accessible and inclusive cultural experiences.
• Creative, visionary thinking about welcoming, engaging, and growing museum audiences without compromising visitor experience.

Responsibilities

• Cultivate an active, inclusive, welcoming front-of-house culture for visitors and staff.
• Provide visitors with accurate, accessible, and educational information about exhibitions, programs, events, membership, architecture, and institutional policies.
• Engage visitors in conversations about art and encourage connections with ICA exhibitions, programs, and mission.
• Ensure compliance with visitor policies, procedures, accessibility standards, safety expectations, and gallery security practices.
• Serve as a visible, approachable institutional representative to visitors, staff, artists, students, and community partners.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training, evaluation, scheduling, and daily supervision of Visitor Engagement Associates.
• Co-develop and distribute schedules for regular operations, events, tours, workshops, and other programming.
• Direct and provide constructive feedback to associates, fostering accountability, learning, and professional growth.
• Collaborate with the Head of Interpretation and the Weekday Assistant Manager to build associate knowledge and maintain consistent training, procedures, communication, scheduling, and team culture.
• Plan, coordinate, and facilitate staff discussions, field trips, trainings, and professional development opportunities.
• Lead tours, workshops, discussions, and other educational programs as needed; prepare and facilitate accessible, engaging, audience-appropriate conversations about exhibitions and contemporary art.
• Support new visitor engagement approaches that encourage curiosity, participation, learning, and repeat visitation.
• Delegate daily front desk and in-gallery responsibilities to scheduled associates.
• Monitor gallery security and visitor safety, respond to operational or visitor concerns, and follow incident-reporting procedures.
• Provide front-of-house leadership and day-of support for public and private events.
• Receive loading-dock shipments, distribute mail to administrative suites, handle phone inquiries, and direct requests to appropriate staff.
• Coordinate with colleagues to support visitor-facing spaces, including the café, shop, galleries, and other areas.
• Track attendance, tours, programs, events, and other visitor engagement data; log feedback and share relevant information with appropriate departments.
• Distribute attendance and visitor experience data and contribute to institutional reporting and evaluation.
• Identify patterns in visitor feedback and behavior and recommend improvements to visitor experience and operations.
• Collaborate across the ICA to support successful, sustainable, responsive front-of-house operations and thoughtfully expand visitorship while preserving the visitor experience.

Benefits

• VCU states that all employee types are eligible for a wide array of benefits; eligibility depends on employee type. Specific benefits are not listed in the posting.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed