Associate Vice President, Visitor Services & Experience

Socket.dev; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Socket.dev's Philadelphia Visitor Center network seeks an Associate Vice President, Visitor Services & Experience to lead a multi-site team delivering welcoming, memorable experiences across 7–9 locations and pop‑ups. You will build workforce strategies, develop talent and sustain high performance.

Independent and mission-driven nonprofit culture; travel between centers required; flexible schedule; strong leadership and stakeholder management preferred. Bachelor’s degree desired.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in tourism, hospitality or visitor services.
• Interest in nonprofit mission and community engagement.
• Demonstrated success leading high‑performing, multi-site teams.
• Strong leadership, communication, coaching and conflictResolution skills.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily visitor-facing operations for 5+ centers and popup locations.
• Lead, mentor and evaluate site managers to ensure outstanding experiences.
• Develop staffing strategies, recruitment, onboarding, and training programs.
• Manage external ticket partnerships and vendor relationships.
• Collaborate with Operations to address facility needs and events.

Skills

Leadership

Operations

People management

Customer service

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

POS systems

CMS systems

CRM databases

Ticketing platforms

Job description

Position reports to:

Vice President, Experience & Engagement

Position manages staff positions at the following locations:

Independence Visitor Center, City Hall and LOVE Park Visitor Centers, Parkway Visitor Center and Rocky Shop, Pride Visitor Center, Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia International Airport

Responsible for a team of:

• 5+ Full Time Visitor Services Managers and Supervisors
• 30+ Full and Part Time Visitor Experience Associates

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Philadelphia Visitor Center is a mission-driven nonprofit dedicated to welcoming visitors and connecting them with all the incredible experiences, people and places that make Philadelphia a world class destination. The Associate Vice President, Visitor Services & Experience is a senior organizational leader responsible for building, leading, and developing a high-performing visitor services team that delivers exceptional, welcoming, and memorable experiences across the Philadelphia Visitor Center network of visitor centers and visitor-facing locations.

The Associate VP will manage, direct and lead a talented team of 5+ managers. The position will provide leadership and oversight for 30+ full-time and part-time staff as well as volunteers to deliver excellent service in assisting visitors with ticket sales, retail purchases, PHLASH information or service updates, maps and wayfinding, itinerary planning, and information about special events and citywide promotions.

The Associate VP will establish a strong management culture, set expectations and accountability, develop staff skills, strengthen communication, and create systems that support employee engagement, retention, professional growth, and high performance. The Associate VP will empower site managers to effectively lead their teams while maintaining consistent organizational standards across all locations.

The Associate VP will be responsible for developing a workforce strategy that aligns staffing, organizational structure, talent development, scheduling, recruitment, and employee engagement with the organization’s evolving visitor needs.

The Associate VP will be an ambassador for the City of Philadelphia and serve as a role model to their management team in delivering an inclusive and welcoming visitor experience across the organization’s visitor centers and temporary/pop-up visitor facing locations.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Responsible for daily visitor-facing operations for the organization’s portfolio of 5+ visitor centers and temporary pop-ups.
• Lead, direct, and mentor managers to ensure outstanding visitor experience operations at each site. Establish and reinforce a consistent performance management culture.
• Set direction and accountability for the Visitor Services Management team. Establish consistent operational practices while empowering individual site managers to respond to the unique needs of their locations.
• Hold managers accountable for effectively managing employee performance, addressing workplace concerns, and creating healthy and productive team environments.
• Address employee relations matters, performance management, conflict resolution and other workplace issues in collaboration with Leadership.
• Foster a positive workplace culture where employees feel supported, heard, and accountable for delivering exceptional service.
• Oversee recruitment, hiring, onboarding, training, retention, and development strategies for Visitor Services staff and volunteers. Anticipate future workforce needs and proactively address staffing gaps and leadership capacity.
• Develop and manage an annual training program for visitor services managers and staff. This position is responsible for training all visitor services team members to ensure consistent onboarding, training expectations, and delivery service across all visitor services locations.
• Identify cross-training opportunities across sites and professional development that increase organizational capacity.
• Oversee management of visitor services staffing schedule, including assigning on-duty management, call-out coverage, and fulfilling seasonal, temporary, and extended hour operating needs.
• Manage and grow Visitor Center’s network of 90+ external ticket partnerships.
• Manage and negotiate with third party vendors.
• Participate in organizational leadership team meetings.
• Work closely with the Operations team to ensure facility needs are addressed and resolved quickly and to a high standard.
• Oversee employee communications channels to ensure visitor services staff are well informed and ready to support visitors and promote the City and the organization’s partners.
• Support sales, promotion and timely customer service information for the Philly PHLASH at all visitor center locations.
• Assist site staff with organizational tasks and special events as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years of experience in the tourism, hospitality or visitor services sectors.
• Interest in working in a non-profit work environment and advancing the mission of the organization.
• Embodies customer service best practices.
• Demonstrated success building and leading high-performing teams in a multi-site, hospitality, tourism, visitor services, cultural, nonprofit, or customer-facing environment.
• Superior leadership, salesmanship and interpersonal skills.
• Strong understanding of effective people management practices.
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication, coaching, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to build trust and credibility with employees at all levels of an organization.
• Demonstrated ability to create a culture of accountability while maintaining a supportive, inclusive, and collaborative work environment.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects.
• Dedication to Philadelphia and supporting the city’s reputation as a world class destination.
• Strong computer and data entry skills, comfortable with ticketing platforms, POS (Point of Sale) systems, CMS systems, CRM databases, and staff communication and scheduling platforms.
• Ability to stand or sit for at least 8 hours at a time. Lift items weighing up to 50 pounds.
• Valid Driver’s License with Real ID.
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience preferred.
• Second language proficiency is desirable.

HOURS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Full-time role with a variable schedule, including two weekends a month.
• Must be willing to work a flexible schedule, including weekends and holidays; the Philadelphia Visitor Center is open 362 days per year (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year).
• Must be willing and able to travel between all visitor center locations.