Chief of Business Enterprises (Retail, Events, Visitor Experience & Earned Revenue)

Milwaukee Art Museum•Milwaukee, WI

23h

About The Position

The Milwaukee Art Museum is a vibrant, welcoming destination where art, architecture, and community come together. As a cultural cornerstone of Milwaukee and a symbol of civic pride, the Museum connects people of all ages and backgrounds through inspiring exhibitions, engaging programs, and unforgettable experiences Position Summary: The Chief of Business Enterprises is accountable for the strategy and performance of the organization’s earned income portfolio—Admissions/Visitor Services, Retail (Museum Store), Event Rentals, and the outsourced Café and Parking operations—while protecting and elevating the overall visitor experience and brand. Reporting to the Museum Director, this role sets earned revenue direction, drives cross-department alignment, and ensures strong operating discipline, controls, service standards across all visitor-facing revenue touchpoints, and provides ongoing analysis and refinement of all earned income streams. This role works with other senior leaders to ensure institutional priorities are met when areas of responsibility overlap. Examples include, but are not limited to, supporting the visitor-to-member journey through oversight of the Visitor Services Department without owning membership revenue and supporting the Event Department’s execution of internal mission-driven programming.

Requirements

8+ years of progressive leadership experience overseeing earned revenue functions in a public-facing environment (museum/attraction, hospitality, venue, tourism, retail, events, or similar), including responsibility for multiple revenue lines.
Demonstrated success growing net earned revenue through strategy and execution—pricing, product/package design, sales pipeline discipline, operating hours/staffing models, and service standards.
Proven ability to lead through managers, including direct experience supervising senior leaders (e.g., Directors) and building accountability systems (KPIs, cadence, performance improvement, coaching).
Strong financial acumen: ability to drive budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and KPI dashboards, and to translate data into clear decisions and recommendations for executives.
Experience balancing guest experience and brand with commercial outcomes; strong judgment in service recovery and reputational risk situations.
Excellent communication skills—able to present clearly to the Museum Director, Board of Trustees, and senior leadership, and to set direction with consistency and follow-through.
Bachelor’s degree in business, hospitality, arts administration, or related field (or equivalent experience).

Nice To Haves

Experience in a mission-driven organization where brand, access, and community trust are central (museum/cultural nonprofit strongly preferred).
Experience working with non-profit Board
Experience with event rentals strategy (utilization, packaging, pricing guardrails, service standards) and working within a shared-authority contracting environment.
Strong retail business fundamentals (merchandising strategy, inventory turns, margin management, shrink controls).
Familiarity with ticketing and POS ecosystems and analytics/reporting (specific platforms a plus), including process design and controls.
Advanced degree a plus.
Calm, credible leadership in high-visibility visitor and event moments.