Commercial Assistant - Tours and Events - Sir John Soane's Museum

Sir John Soane’s Museum is considered by many to be best house-museum in the world, help us keep this unique Grade I listed building and historic house open to everyone and a source of inspiration for future generations. The Museum was Soane’s house as well as his private museum, his eclectic collection of antiquities, furniture, models and paintings still arranged today as they were at the time of his death in 1837.

Our plan for the future is to build on the success of the recent years - we were a finalist for Museum of the year in 2017, we are developing a new and exciting exhibition and learning programme and we are welcoming more visitors than ever before.

A high performing Soane Museum Enterprises team is vital to ensure the Museum becomes more self-sufficient by increasing commercial income year by year. Over the past two years the events business has increased significantly and in 2017/2018 we managed 60 commercial events including dinners, receptions, Soane Lates and filming and photography. In addition we managed over 100 private tours. 

The Commercial Assistant – Tours and Events will assist the Events Manager in exceeding Commercial targets for the Museum from commercial activities, with a particular emphasis on tours, filming and photography. The role also involves engaging with Museum stakeholders including the internal conservation and operations teams as well as external suppliers and customers.  Other tasks include dealing with reactive and proactive sales, marketing the Museum and the planning, execution and follow up of commercial events.  In addition the post holder is responsible for a range of administrative tasks related to commercial activities.

The role is ideal for a highly organised individual, with a passion for sales and an understanding of the challenges and sensitivities of working in an historical environment where the primary function is not commercial. The successful candidate will have initiative, will be a great communicator who possesses strong customer service skills and has a creative approach to problem solving with the ability to work on several complex tasks simultaneously whilst remaining calm under pressure.

Main responsibilities

Sales and Marketing

• Assist  the Event Manager in delivering   the Sales strategy e.g. conduct show-rounds, follow ups, upselling services, and income tracking/data reports
• Work with the Event Manager to exceed gross target of £256,000+, personally responsible for generating £55,000+ from Tours and £8,000+ from Filming and photoshoots.
•  Contribute  new ideas to promote the commercial hire of the Museum in innovative ways as well as developing marketing materials to promote commercial hire
• Work with Events Manager to produce and deliver marketing events to promote commercial hire of the Museum
• Participate with ideas for the Soane Lates Committee

Customer Service

• Deliver excellent customer experience by managing clients expectations and ensuring consistently high standards in the delivery of events

• To work with appropriate colleagues across various teams in the Museum in the planning and delivery of events. e.g Conservation and Operations teams
• Promptly respond to sales enquiries
• Deliver tours of the Museum when necesary

Administration

• Ensure all event-related administrative documentation and records are accurate and kept up to date and data entry is  in accordance with the Museum's data protection policy
• Produce monthly staff request and circulate to all relevant staff, make sure all events are covered and chase curators/tour guides as necessary

Event Management

• Act as Event Manager for some events for the full duration or part of the event/tour, some of which will take place in the evening or at weekends
• Deliver tours of the house when necessary, training will be given.

Financial Responsibilities

• Produce, send and monitor customer and supplier invoices, monitor the budget
• Liaise with the internal Finance Department to ensure that all financial information is accurate and up to date.

Role Competences

• Experience of delivering events, ideally within a museum/tourist attraction/historic environment
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to influence and negotiate
• Excellent organisational skills with a high level of attention to detail
• A flexible approach to work, with the ability to work well in a fast paced, fluid environment, whilst maintaining a professional manner at all times.
• A motivated self-starter with the ability to show initiative and creativity.
• Proactive and committed team player.

Salary Information and benefits

Permanent Contract

35 hours per week. Some early, evenings and weekend shifts will be required.  TOIL will be given.

Nest pension scheme

Season ticket loan

Salary: £22,330 plus bonus

There is a generous annual leave allowance of 26.5 days and all Bank Holidays

Access to other worldwide museums using ICOM card