Ticketing & Customer Experience Director (2024)

About The Company

At Center Theatre Group, we believe theatre creates an extraordinary connection between artists and audiences. As one of the nation’s most influential non-profit theatre companies, we provide the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country at the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Whether it’s producing new work through our robust artistic development programs or engaging people of all ages and backgrounds across Los Angeles through our community and education programs, we put theatre at the center of it all.

Center Theatre Group commits to creating a safe space where the values of diversity, equity, access, and inclusion are rooted in all levels and aspects of our work. We aim to attract, nurture and retain staff in a supportive home where we can be our best selves. We celebrate our commonalities and embrace our differences in order to ensure that everyone has access to our work onstage, behind the scenes, and in the community.

Position Summary

Center Theatre Group seeks a seasoned customer service and ticketing professional to oversee its ticket sales, box office, audience services, subscriber services, front-of-house, merchandise, and customer experience initiatives for presentations at the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Kirk Douglas Theatre, and in the community. The Ticketing & Customer Experience Director will apply a forward-looking mindset to ensure innovation and first-to-market implementation of all customer service and ticketing programs—this position won’t just follow best practices, but actively create them.

As a member of the marketing leadership team, the Ticketing & Customer Experience Director will actively participate in strategic planning and program development that supports ticket and subscription sales and annual fund contributions. This position will serve as a leading voice within the company on matters related to theatre accessibility and compliance.

Primary Responsibilities

• Direct all front-line customer service including box office, audience services, front-of-house, and others to provide best-in-class customer care; supervise, manage, coach and appraise department managers; ensure proper training is provided
• As a member of the marketing leadership team, participate in strategic departmental planning, develop comprehensive goals and objectives, define expectations for staff, and encourage innovation and program development
• Support and promote the artistic vision of Center Theatre Group
• Stay abreast of local and national laws related to ticketing and theatre accessibility, ensuring CTG remains compliant in all aspects of accessible facilities amenities and ticket sales and delivery
• Work with Equity, Belonging, and Engagement staff on audience inclusion and accessibility initiatives
• Create performance schedules and subscription package mapping
• Oversee front-of-house management at the Kirk Douglas Theatre which oversees usher staff, concessionaires, and liaises with Culver City officials and local businesses to foster an engaging, customer-focused experience
• Liaise with front-of-house management, concession vendor, parking officials, and other vendors at The Music Center (Ahmanson Theatre and Mark Taper Forum) as needed to ensure a holistically positive customer experience; coordinate response when issues are escalated
• Direct merchandise sales efforts across all venues with appropriate staffing, fiscal responsibility, and inventory management
• Oversee third-party vendor relations as appropriate for customer & ticketing services, including rollover call center(s), digital ticketing, online chat, and more
• Stay abreast of current database and ticketing best practices and actively explore and implement new functionality; work with ticket operations, marketing operations, database administrator, and sales teams to ensure use of database is maximized;
• Collaborate with management, artistic, marketing, communications, institutional advancement, and others to ensure uniform and effective communication to CTG patrons
• Coordinate with IT and other staff to ensure website infrastructure and messaging reflects sales needs and provides best-in-class service for customers
• Ensure consistent enforcement of CTG standards, policies, and customer service within the customer experience teams and across the company
• Cultivate collaborative and effective communication within customer experience teams, and lead cross-departmental efforts focused on customer experiences
• Manage budgetary efficiency for all subordinate departments
• Supervises creation of daily, weekly, seasonal and other periodic sales reports. Works with marketing and sales colleagues on trend reporting and analysis, sales projections, and forecasts
• Participates in negotiations with appropriate labor unions representing employees under the Director’s supervision
• As the leader in all aspects of customer service, it is expected that this position is available for any emergency response related to performance cancellations or other timely patron communications
• Assist with the management and development of departmental interns
• Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to our equity, diversity, inclusion and access initiatives and an ongoing commitment to an anti-racist culture and environment at CTG
• Other duties as assigned

Center Theatre Group provides a dynamic working environment in which duties and responsibilities may change. Employees are expected to be flexible and responsive to changes in the scope of their duties.

Qualifications

• An excellent and proven background in ticket sales with a strong customer service history
• Expert knowledge in ticketing systems and CRM databases; experience with Tessitura preferred
• Familiarity with telephone systems, live chat, websites, and other customer service technologies
• Familiarity with ticketing protocols and compliance in the arts and entertainment industry and applicable laws; knowledge of California law a plus
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) with strong ability to deescalate challenging situations
• Experience managing and building rapport with large teams in a hybrid setting
• Professional and positive demeanor and comfort communicating effectively in person, on the phone, and by email
• Demonstrated experience maintaining relationships with diverse audiences
• Ability to work and collaborate with folks from many backgrounds and cultural experiences

Minimum Requirements

• Ability to sit, type and work at a computer for extended periods of time.
• Ability to lift, carry up to 30lbs
• Willingness and ability to work 40 hours per week. Flexibility to work additional hours as needed

All employees are required to pass a background check.

CTG cares deeply about employees' health and safety. We strongly recommend that all employees remain current with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.

Compensation

CTG offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package including retirement plan options, escalating paid vacation, sick, personal days and holidays, and health benefits including medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance, flexible spending accounts and employee assistance program.

How To Apply

Tell us why you are the ideal person for this job.

Please send your resume and cover letter along with salary desired to marketingjobs@ctgla.org. Please be sure to include the position title in the subject line of the email. Due to the heavy volume of resumes received, emails that do not include the job title in the subject line of the email may not be considered. In the cover letter, please indicate how you became aware of this position, e.g., name of website, current employee, other source.

No phone calls please. We will contact qualified individuals to set up interviews.

Center Theatre Group is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any applicant on the basis of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, color, ancestry, disability, age, national origin, pregnancy, veteran/military status, genetic information or any other basis prohibited by law. CTG will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. We support, promote and embrace a diverse workforce.