[OliOli Doha] Venue Manager

OliOli; Doha; On-site; QAR 400,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

A contemporary children's museum in Doha is seeking a Venue Manager to oversee daily operations, enhance guest engagement, and lead a committed team. The ideal candidate should possess strong leadership and interpersonal skills, with a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience in similar organizations. This role champions creating memorable experiences for children and families in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated passion for children's development.
• Strong leadership and management skills.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations at the venue.
• Enhance guest engagement and satisfaction.
• Manage staffing and administrative aspects.

Skills

Empathy

Communication

Leadership

Team collaboration

Guest engagement

Education

8+ years of relevant experience

Job description

About the job

OliOli® Doha Venue Manager

Position: Venue Manager

Location: Doha, Qatar

Executive Summary

OliOli® opened a second location in Doha, Qatar, and is inviting all people interested to join an amazing group of people and help their mission to deliver exciting, joyful, differentiated, world‑class, and incredibly fun experiences to children that nurture their innate sense of curiosity and exploration.

OliOli® (means joy in the Hawaiian language) is a multiple award‑winning contemporary children’s museum that opened to rave reviews in 2017. Founded by a group of parents who are passionate about open‑ended non‑judgmental play, OliOli® comprises 6 interactive galleries and over 45 hands‑on exhibits.

The team at OliOli® comes from over 18 countries. For more information visit http://www.olioli.qa/ or http://www.instagram.com/oliolidoha.

Role Overview

The Venue Manager will be the brand ambassador for OliOli® and will lead the day‑to‑day operations at OliOli® Doha. Responsibilities include adhering to brand standards and values, embedding the venue within the local community, leading guest engagement and satisfaction, implementing the creative calendar, driving financial performance, overseeing back‑of‑house functions (HR, Admin, Procurement, Finance, Operations), managing facilities, and reporting to and collaborating with the corporate office.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Guest Engagement / Satisfaction

• Take full ownership of all aspects of guest engagement/satisfaction.
• Ensure guests have an awesome and memorable experience through a highly talented, effective, kind and committed frontline team.
• Establish OliOli® Doha as the preferred venue for families.
• Articulate the venue’s value proposition to local schools, nurseries, and authorities to encourage repeat visitation.
• Accurately measure and respond to guest satisfaction on a periodic basis.

Guest Feedback

• Collect information from guests to understand how they spend their time and how to improve the experience.
• Spend time on the floor, particularly during special programs, to gather feedback and address it.
• Compile and share guest feedback with colleagues to address complaints and prevent recurrence.

Leadership

• Maintain a cohesive team in collaboration with the corporate office.
• Ensure the team understands the venue’s purpose and objectives.
• Contribute to a positive, genuine, team‑based, guest‑first culture.
• Keep morale high through recognition, motivation, training, development, and collaboration.
• Supervise and evaluate the frontline team, providing constructive feedback.
• Bring positive energy to the floor and inspire guests.
• Develop and implement a training calendar to enable the team to excel at guest engagement.
• Ensure transparent and effective communication within the team.
• Address team concerns, constraints, and grievances empathetically.
• Work with local colleges and other institutions to build a pool of part‑time talent and provide training.

Commercial

• Optimize revenue while adhering to brand standards by focusing on local sales and marketing efforts.
• Take full ownership of the venue’s profitability and balance competing priorities.
• Prepare monthly performance reports in accordance with budgets and KPIs.

Implementing the Creative Calendar

• Create an execution framework to deliver diverse creative programs throughout the year.
• Develop a solid understanding of programs and prepare a quarterly execution plan, ensuring team clarity and visibility.
• Take a hands‑on approach during larger events and activations, speaking with guests daily to gather feedback.
• Work with colleagues to prepare a detailed debrief for each program.

Physical Infrastructure

• Ensure the premises are safe, clean and presentable at all times, and that exhibits and equipment are in good working condition.

Operations / Admin

• Manage the staffing schedule to optimize guest experience and satisfaction.
• Be responsible for all other administrative and operational aspects of the venue.
• Create a mechanism to allow team members to submit ideas and carry them through from concept to delivery.
• Engage with government authorities as needed for smooth operations.
• Perform any other duties required to establish and sustain the museum’s success.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will be empathetic, kind, compassionate, and thoughtful, with substantive experience caring for children and visitors within organizations of a similar mold. They must have strong interpersonal and communication skills, be creative, self‑directed, energetic, a team player, with a relevant background.

Strong and demonstrable leadership and management skills, the ability to build collaborative relationships, a track record of results, and a passion for working with kids.

Leadership

The ideal candidate will be a strong, dynamic leader who takes initiative, gets things done, and transforms vision and ideas into concrete high‑impact programs. They will have experience starting a venue or leading it through transformative growth and change, with an impressive track record.

Communication

The ideal candidate will be affable, personable, and a compelling spokesperson who articulates the mission to diverse audiences and rallies people around a vision, delivering formal presentations and one‑on‑one interactions effectively.

Passion for Children

The right candidate will have a demonstrated passion for children’s emotional, physical, and intellectual development.

Team Building

They will be flexible, creative in a challenging work environment, and able to recruit and develop a leadership team that works in an integrated way to achieve major goals.

Character

The venue manager should demonstrate honesty and integrity, be a guest‑centric problem solver, well‑organized, calm under pressure, drive for excellence, innovation, entrepreneurial thinking, and a mature, healthy sense of self‑assurance.

Background

A minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible experience in a comparable organization is strongly preferred.

Traits & Characteristics

• Can set the agenda for the organization and align/motivate the team to deliver against objectives.
• Truly passionate and driven in delivering a great experience to children.
• Guest‑centric in professional priorities.
• Deep knowledge of operations, well‑tested in high‑pressure environments with high traffic.
• Respected by staff; culture carrier capable of instituting the right culture.
• Lots of energy; articulate in communicating the vision and mission to visitors.

In summary, the Venue Manager will be responsible for leading, inspiring, and growing a dynamic and inclusive child‑centric organization that delivers world‑class experiences in Doha.