Head of Visitor Experience

Job Title: Head of Visitor Experience

Line Manager: Chief Operating Officer

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £45,000 per annum

Hours per week: 35 hours

Annual Leave: 25 days plus 8 bank holidays

Role Description

Working closely with colleagues, volunteers and project partners, you will lead and develop the visitor experience across the Cathedral and Abbey site, ensuring a consistently high standard of welcome, engagement and interpretation for all visitors.

As a key role within the Abbey of St Edmund Reborn project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, you will play a central part in increasing the profile and appeal of the Cathedral and Abbey site as a significant heritage and visitor destination, within the context of a living Christian community, attracting audiences from across the county, as well as visitors from further afield.

You will develop and deliver a diverse and engaging programme of activities, events, tours, learning opportunities, pilgrimages and experiences that responds to the interests of existing audiences while actively encouraging new, younger and more diverse communities to discover and connect with the site and its heritage. You will ensure that this activity complements the Cathedral’s worshipping life, creating opportunities for people to engage with the site’s heritage, faith and living traditions in ways that are welcoming, meaningful and appropriate to a working place of worship.

Working collaboratively with local, regional and national partners, you will identify opportunities to strengthen the Cathedral’s position within the wider tourism, cultural and heritage offer, encouraging repeat visits and longer stays.

Alongside delivering an exceptional visitor experience, you will take a strategic and entrepreneurial approach to maximising visitor donations, retail, events and other income-generating opportunities across the Cathedral and Abbey site, ensuring that increased engagement translates into sustainable income that can support the Cathedral’s long-term mission, worship, conservation and public benefit.

Through effective planning, partnership working, audience development and continuous evaluation, you will help ensure that the Abbey of St Edmund Reborn project creates a lasting legacy, one that celebrates the site’s extraordinary heritage while supporting its continuing role as a living plplace of worship, welcome, learning and community.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Visitor Experience

• Provide strategic leadership for the visitor experience across the Cathedral and Abbey site, ensuring a consistently high-quality, welcoming and inclusive experience for sightseers, pilgrims, worshippers, learners and event attendees.
• Lead the development of the Cathedral and Abbey as a significant heritage and visitor destination, attracting audiences from across Suffolk, the wider region and further afield, while encouraging repeat visits and longer stays.
• Develop and deliver a visitor experience and audience development strategy aligned with the Cathedral’s Masterplan and the ambitions of the Abbey of St Edmund Reborn project.
• Identify opportunities to attract new, younger and more diverse audiences and ensure the visitor offer remains relevant, engaging and accessible.

Leadership and Management

• Line manage the Events Manager, Learning Manager, Community Engagement Manager and Welcome Assistants, providing clear direction, objectives, support and professional development, and fostering a collaborative and high-performing team.
• Work closely with the Volunteer Manager to ensure volunteers involved in the visitor experience are appropriately recruited, trained, supported, valued and recognised, with particular attention to safeguarding.
• Oversee the visitor-facing volunteer groups, including Information Volunteers, Chaplains, Tower Tour Guides and Tour Guides, to ensure a consistent standard of welcome and information.

Programme and Partnerships

• Lead the development and delivery of an ambitious and innovative programme of events, activities, tours, exhibitions, pilgrimages and learning opportunities that increases visitor engagement, attracts new audiences and generates sustainable income.
• Build strong relationships with local, county-wide and regional tourism, heritage, cultural and community partners to promote the Cathedral and Abbey and increase visitation.
• Work with the Marketing and Communications Manager to ensure a clear, consistent and compelling visitor offer and effective promotion of events and activities.

Access, Interpretation and Visitor Information

• Lead the development of high-quality interpretation, signage and visitor information across the Cathedral and Abbey site, responding to different visitor needs and encouraging deeper engagement.
• Act as the Cathedral’s Accessibility and Diversity Champion, identifying barriers to participation and developing opportunities to engage a broader and more diverse range of audiences.
• Ensure that major events, exhibitions and visitor projects are effectively planned and delivered, with appropriate consideration of access, staffing, visitor flow, safety and the overall visitor experience.

Income and Commercial Development

• Take a strategic and entrepreneurial approach to maximising visitor donations and income.
• Work collaboratively with the Cathedral Shop and Pilgrims’ Kitchen to create a joined-up visitor experience and identify opportunities for increased engagement and income.
• Manage the Visitor Experience budget, monitoring expenditure, forecasting and reporting performance.

Performance and Continuous Improvement

• Monitor and analyse visitor numbers, audience profiles, feedback, donations and income, using insight and evaluation to inform future priorities and investment.
• Evaluate visitor programmes and activities to demonstrate impact, inform continuous improvement and support the outcomes and legacy of the Abbey of St Edmund Reborn project.

General Responsibilities

• Demonstrate commitment to the Cathedral's values, mission and inclusive culture.
• Work collaboratively with clergy, staff and volunteers.
• Comply with all organisational policies relating to safeguarding, health and safety, equality, data protection and other statutory requirements.
• Work flexibly, to include evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays where appropriate.
• Undertake any other duties reasonably required by the Chief Operating Officer.

Working within a small and collaborative team, the postholder will be expected to balance strategic leadership and development with a hands-on approach to delivery. This includes taking responsibility for their own administrative tasks, planning, coordination and record-keeping, contributing flexibly to the wider work of the team to ensure the effective delivery of the project and its objectives. The nature of this role requires the postholder to primarily work on-site.

Person Specification

Essential Qualities

• A strong understanding of and sensitivity to the Cathedral’s core mission as a place of worship, outreach, welcome and care, and how this underpins its heritage, visitor and commercial activities.
• Significant experience of leading and developing people within a visitor-focused, heritage, tourism, hospitality, cultural or similar environment.
• Proven experience of line management, team development and collaborative working across departments and organisations.
• A track record of developing and delivering successful visitor programmes, activities, events or experiences that attract and engage audiences.
• Proven commercial acumen, with experience of identifying opportunities to increase income, maximise resources and take measured, informed risks.
• Proven experience of audience development, with the ability to attract new, diverse and repeat audiences and increase visitor engagement and participation.
• Proven experience of developing and maintaining effective partnerships and networks with local, regional and/or national organisations to increase profile, participation and visitor numbers.
• Ability to balance the sometimes competing demands of a religious, heritage, conservation, community and commercial environment, while maintaining a clear focus on the organisation’s mission and values.
• Excellent relationship-building, influencing and negotiation skills, with the ability to gain commitment from a wide range of stakeholders and partners.
• Ability to understand and respond sensitively to different perspectives, finding constructive solutions that deliver mutual benefit.
• Experience of managing budgets.
• Ability to use visitor and audience data to inform decision-making.
• Highly organised and adaptable, with the ability to manage competing priorities, respond flexibly to changing circumstances and identify opportunities.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage confidently and appropriately with people of all ages, backgrounds and levels of seniority.
• Commitment to equality, diversity, accessibility and safeguarding, with an understanding of how these principles contribute to an inclusive visitor experience.
• Ability to work flexibly, including evenings, weekends and occasional special events as required.
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent professional experience.

Desirable Qualities

• Knowledge of or experience within the Church of England, particularly the Cathedral context.
• Experience of working effectively with volunteers and volunteer-led organisations.
• Experience of developing interpretation, exhibitions, learning or community engagement programmes.
• Experience of working within the wider visitor economy and developing relationships with tourism and cultural partners.