Senior Manager, Museum Technology Support

National Geographic; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 124,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid time off

Job summary

National Geographic Society in Washington, DC seeks a Senior Manager, Museum Technology Support to lead a technical team ensuring uptime for museum ticketing and POS systems. You will drive process improvements, collaborate across IT, and mentor staff in a fast-paced, guest-focused environment.

The role emphasizes security, PCI-DSS compliance, and delivering reliable revenue-generating operations, with potential evening/weekend shifts for special projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology or related field; certifications and equivalent experience considered.
• 7+ years of related experience with at least 3 years supervising technical staff; hands-on support of enterprise ticketing, POS, hospitality or equivalent systems.
• Experience in museums, cultural institutions, hospitality, or retail environments preferred.
• Strong knowledge of PCI-DSS, ITIL practices, and customer-focused service delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead a technical team ensuring uptime and reliability of ticketing and POS systems during business hours.
• Manage upgrades, hardware deployments, and feature rollouts in collaboration with staff and other IT teams.
• Establish and report KPIs/SLAs; drive continuous improvement for end-user experience.
• Enforce information security policies and PCI-DSS compliance; provide hands-on support during peak periods and events.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and supervision to a three-person Museum Technology Support team.

Skills

Leadership

Customer service

ITIL

PCI compliance

Communication

Mentoring team

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related discipline

Tools

POS systems

Ticketing systems

Self-service kiosks

Enterprise software platforms

PCI-DSS knowledge

Job description

How You’ll Contribute

The Senior Manager, Museum Technology Support, focused on customer experience, operational uptime, and process improvement, manages a technical team responsible for configuring, securing, deploying, administering, and supporting hardware and software for the Museum's ticketing, retail point-of-sale (POS), and other related systems. In collaboration with the Museum team, the Senior Manager develops processes for delivering world-class technical support with an emphasis on the reliability of revenue-generating operations and exceptional guest service. The position requires hands-on technical experience to work collaboratively with internal colleagues, external consultants, and vendors to implement and support solutions that meet the Museum's business goals and are consistent with security policies and industry best practices, including PCI compliance. This role will foster a culture of teamwork, operational discipline, and a customer-centric focus. Leadership responsibilities include collaborating with staff, service providers and vendors, mentoring team members, reporting effectiveness against defined metrics/KPIs, and ensuring a cycle of continuous improvement. This position reports to the Senior Director, Technology Support Services, and may require working evening or weekend shifts to support Museum operations and special projects as needed.

Your Impact Core Systems and Technologies

The team’s portfolio includes the following types of devices, services, and technologies: Museum ticketing systems for customer purchase, admittance, and reporting Point-of-sale systems for the retail store and hospitality operations Computer equipment and software, POS terminals, self-service kiosks, barcode scanners, receipt printers, and payment card readers Routine technical support and problem resolution for ticketing and POS systems Investigation, resolution, or escalation of complex problems with critical systems including access or network connectivity issues, system outages, and disruption of complex integrations with various other business systems.

Operational (60%)

• Monitors the daily operations of all ticketing and POS systems, ensuring maximum uptime and reliability during business hours.
• Manages the technical team responsible for providing real-time support of critical Museum business systems, while leading or delegating assigned projects, including system upgrades, hardware deployments and new feature rollouts, in collaboration with Museum staff and other IT teams.
• Establishes and measures KPIs and SLAs to measure system performance and support effectiveness, presenting regular reports to department leadership, while developing continuous improvement initiatives to enhance system performance and the end-user experience.
• Ensures all processes, hardware, and systems adhere to information security policies, particularly the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS); and Provides hands-on support during normal operations, critical periods, major events, or in a backup capacity for staff.

Leadership and Management (25%)

• Provides leadership, technical guidance, and coaching to staff, mentoring the team to maintain a focus on customer service, operational excellence, and innovation.
• Creates the support team’s work schedule to ensure technical coverage during Museum operating hours and other designated times, including working as lead engineer for designated shifts.
• Represents the team in technology projects and working groups, providing subject matter expertise, and performs assigned ITIL leadership roles related to incident management, change management, problem management, and major incident management.
• Reports on critical strategic and tactical issues relevant to ticketing and POS operations and presents recommendations to management.

Planning (10%)

• Collaborates across IT and with Museum operational teams in the evaluation and implementation of new functionality, systems and services.
• Recommends and oversees service level objectives, vendor services, and system lifecycles for all ticketing and POS hardware and software, and works with administrative teams on statements of work and other vendor performance management activities.

Other Duties as Assigned (5%)

What You Bring

Educational Background

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related discipline. Certifications and equivalent experience in related areas will be considered.

Minimum Years and Type of Experience

• 7+ years of related experience. At least three years of employee supervision experience, preferably of technical support or systems engineering positions, in addition to five years of experience performing hands‑on work supporting enterprise ticketing, point of sale, hospitality, or similar systems.
• Experience in a museum, cultural institution, hospitality, or retail environment is strongly preferred.

Knowledge and Skills Required

Requires individuals to potentially work on evening/weekend shifts to support organization growth and special projects as needed. Extensive experience supporting revenue‑generating IT systems and related hardware, including: computer equipment (Mac, Windows, and Android), network connectivity, POS terminals, self‑service kiosks, payment card readers, barcode scanners, and receipt printers. Experience with enterprise‑level ticketing and POS software platforms or similar systems, including a strong understanding of API technologies for integrations with other critical business systems Knowledgeable of best practices for deploying and supporting end‑user devices and critical systems in a high‑volume, public‑facing environment. Experience managing the operational service levels of enterprise systems, utilizing service level objectives and KPIs. Strong understanding of PCI Data Security Standard (PCI‑DSS) requirements. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Strong customer service, troubleshooting, and problem‑solving skills are a must. Ability to interact positively and productively with teams across organizational lines. ITIL certification and/or experience with IT Service Management is a plus.

Supervision

• Manages a team of three Museum Technology Support Engineers

Salary Information

The National Geographic Society offers a competitive and holistic total rewards package. Our compensation structure and transparent pay philosophy are based on industry-specific market data for similar‑sized nonprofit organizations. The salary range for this position is $123,500.00 - $130,000.00. In addition, the National Geographic Society offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to,

• medical, dental, and vision insurance
• engaging and comprehensive wellness program
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with matching contributions after 6 months of employment
• flexible paid time off benefits with up to 22 days of paid annual leave per calendar year (15 days for new hires in their first year, prorated based on the number of pay periods remaining in the year) and 10 days of sick leave
• 12 paid holidays and a paid winter break between December 25 and 31 (May not apply to all roles that are required to work during high volume seasons or essential workers. Please check with the hiring manager for confirmation.)
• paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility benefits
• learning and development opportunities
• Lifestyle Spending Account
• pet adoption assistance and insurance
• pre-tax transportation benefits with a generous employer subsidy
• employer-paid life insurance and disability benefit
• and a variety of National Geographic discounts and perks

Job Designation

On‑Site Flex - Staff members who must be physically present at Base Camp to do the vast majority of their work supporting overall building and museum operations. On‑Site Flex staff hours are determined in consultation with supervisors, and are responsive to the needs of the MOE and other building operations, often including nontraditional (M-F, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.) work hours.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Who We Are

The National Geographic Society uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Our mission is only complete when our staff, explorers, educators, youth and partners are seen, valued, and heard. We embrace each person’s identity, experiences, and abilities, and we commit to cultivating an environment where everyone benefits from opportunity, mutual respect and a sense of belonging. National Geographic's headquarters is located in the heart of Washington, D.C. We offer our employees a comprehensive benefits package, including health and dental benefits, generous vacation and parental leave time, a 401(k) plan, flexible work options, and career development.