Director of Guest Operations

Thomas Jefferson Foundation; Charlottesville (VA); On-site; USD 105,000 - 112,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent benefits package (medical, 1

Fitness club membership discount

Discount in the Monticello Cafe, gift 

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) -無料

$500 employee referral bonus

Job summary

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation seeks a Director of Guest Operations to lead the guest experience at Monticello. Reporting to the Vice President for Education and Guest Experience, you will oversee Admissions, Guest Services, and Transportation, and guide staff to deliver world-class service.

This full-time role requires strategic operations planning, budget oversight, and a hands-on leadership style to foster a guest-centric culture while ensuring safety and accessibility across all visitor

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; master's preferred.
• Director-level experience in planning guest facilities and operations at scale.
• Strong knowledge of ticketing, admissions, and guest CRM platforms.
• Ability to use reporting and data exports to drive decisions.
• Passion for guest service and cultivating guest-focused culture.
• Strong business and financial acumen with leadership ability.
• Proven track record of team-driven results and project management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication across diverse staff and visitors.

Responsibilities

• Fostering a culture that places guests at the forefront of decision-making.
• Managing budgets and personnel for Admissions, Guest Services, and Transportation, including three manager-level direct reports.
• Planning operational logistics for major events, including annual July 4th Naturalization Ceremony.
• Setting policies for online and on-site admissions, access control, service recovery, accessibility, and wayfinding.
• Managing Monticello's shuttle fleet and collaborating on security screening procedures and DOT compliance.

Skills

Guest operations leadership

CRM platforms

Data reporting

Communication

Financial acumen

Project management

Staff leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

CRM software

Ticketing systems

Job description

About The Thomas Jefferson Foundation

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation has a twofold mission of preservation and education, and was incorporated in 1923 to preserve Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Our dedicated staff leverages the power of a beautiful, resonant, and carefully preserved historic site to tell unflinching stories of America's complex origins and fitful progress toward the ideals Jefferson articulated in the Declaration of Independence. Monticello is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, a United Nations World Heritage Site and a Site of Conscience.

Director of Guest Operations (Full-time)

Reporting to the Vice President for Education and Guest Experience, the Director of Guest Operations is responsible for the following:

Fostering a culture placing our guests at the forefront of our decision-making. This includes the management of robust guest feedback systems and developing staff training programs to ensure that Monticello maintains its world-class guest experience ratings.

Managing budgets and personnel for Admissions, Guest Services, and Transportation, including three manager-level direct reports.

Planning operational logistics for major events, including Monticello's annual July 4 th Naturalization Ceremony.

Setting policies for online and on-site admissions, access control, service recovery, accessibility, and wayfinding.

Managing Monticello's fleet of six shuttle buses, and collaborating with other departments on security screening procedures, safety programs, and DOT compliance.

Compensation:

$105,000 - $112,000

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

A bachelor's degree; a master's degree in a relevant field is preferred.

Demonstrated director-level experience planning guest facilities, operations, and experiences at scale.

Strong knowledge of ticketing, admissions, and guest-facing CRM platforms, with the ability to use reporting and data export functions to drive operational decisions.

A passion for guest service, and demonstrated ability to cultivating an institutional culture that places guest experience first.

Strong business and financial acumen.

A record of team-driven results and effective leadership.

High-level analytical and project management skills, with experience managing collaborative projects.

The ability to anticipate how events, programs, and plans will affect guest flow — and to build plans that mitigate negative impact before it happens.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work across a diverse range of staff and visitors.

Physical Demands

As a seven-day-a-week operation, this role requires availability for non-traditional shifts — evenings, weekends, and holidays — and on-call availability for emergencies.

Monticello sits on a mountaintop: the job requires working outdoors in all weather and walking steep, uneven terrain on a regular basis.

We provide the following benefits for our full-time employees:

• Excellent benefits package (including medical, dental, vision, 401(k) retirement savings plan plus 6% match, life insurance, and more!).
• Fitness club membership discount.
• Discount in the Monticello Cafe, gift shop, and Monticello online catalog.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - free for employee and dependents.
• $500 employee referral bonus.