Haunt Experience Director

Blake Farms; Michigan; On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Blake Farms is seeking a Haunt Manager to lead creative direction, season planning, and on-the-ground execution for four fall attractions. You will work with two Assistant Haunt Managers and two Haunt Leads, reporting to the Agritainment Manager, and shape the guest experience from arrival to departure.

This hands-on role requires a strong storytelling background, budget sensibility, and vendor negotiation skills to deliver a cohesive, high-quality haunt season.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in haunted attractions, theatrical production, or live event leadership
• Proven experience managing managers/leads, not just frontline staff
• Strong creative/storytelling background paired with hands-on budget and operations experience
• Comfortable handling safety and emergency situations with a clear, level head
• Experience with vendor negotiation and seasonal budget management
• Familiarity with ticketing and retail/point-of-sale systems (such as TicketSpice)
• Strong organizational skills; able to keep a multi-attraction, multi-team operation running smoothly

Responsibilities

• Lead creative direction: set the season's theme, story, and tone across all four attractions, deciding what is retired, refreshed, or built new each year
• Run brainstorm sessions with the Assistant Managers and Leads for new scares, set pieces, and attraction refreshes, and approve final scripts and scare sequences before they go live
• Own the season planning calendar: build dates, casting timeline, rehearsals, opening night, and teardown
• Manage budget and vendors: work with the Agritainment Manager on budgeting for builds, costumes, contract labor, and special effects; negotiate and manage vendor and contractor relationships
• Achieve season KPIs: deliver on attendance, guest satisfaction, operational efficiency, and other targets set by the Agritainment Manager
• Report to leadership: keep the Agritainment Manager informed on budget, staffing, and major decisions, and compile a season recap for next year
• Keep the department organized: maintain a centralized season folder, an inventory log for props, costumes, and equipment, and standard operating procedures for each attraction
• Coordinate marketing and ticketing: partner with Marketing on promotional dates and timelines, and manage ticketing and retail/POS systems (such as TicketSpice)
• Maintain the grounds and equipment: walk the haunt regularly to catch repair issues, submit and track maintenance work orders, and keep props, lighting, fog, and sound equipment in working order
• Own and enforce all guest and employee safety standards, including training, documentation, incident response procedures, and compliance with applicable regulations.
• Standardize opening and closing procedures: create formal, documented SOPs for each attraction’s open and close, train all staff on them, and audit regularly to confirm they’re being followed.
• Own the guest experience: make sure every touch point, from arrival to exit, reflects the haunt's identity and delivers on what guests expect
• Lead the team: hire, onboard, and coach both Assistant Haunt Managers and Haunt Leads, and set the tone for the department

Skills

Creative leadership

Storytelling

Budget management

Vendor negotiation

Ticketing systems

Staff development

Operations planning

Safety compliance

Job description

Blake Farms is seeking a Haunt Manager to lead creative direction, season planning, and on-the-ground execution for four fall attractions. You will work with two Assistant Haunt Managers and two Haunt Leads, reporting to the Agritainment Manager, and shape the guest experience from arrival to departure.

This hands-on role requires a strong storytelling background, budget sensibility, and vendor negotiation skills to deliver a cohesive, high-quality haunt season.