Front-of-House & Visitor Experience

• Maintain welcoming, accessible, clean, safe and efficient front-of-house spaces, including the lobby, café/bar, terrace, foyer, toilets, cloakrooms and circulation areas.
• Oversee the visitor journey from arrival to departure, including welcome, hospitality, accessibility, signage, wayfinding and feedback.
• Keep FOH signage, screens, visitor communications and event information clear, inclusive and up to date, working with Marketing.
• Ensure the FOH team can use the CRM and box office system (SevenRooms) to find hirer information and process in-person bookings and payments.

Facilities, Maintenance & Operational Management

• Lead day-to-day facilities management, keeping all public, staff, performance, hire and back-of-house spaces safe, secure, clean, accessible and operational.
• Manage the cleaning contract with our cleaning contractor, including schedules, service changes and cleaning-product orders.
• Plan preventative and reactive maintenance, prioritising faults and repairs to minimise disruption.
• Appoint, brief and manage contractors and specialist suppliers, including plumbers and electricians; oversee site access and confirm satisfactory completion.
• Maintain facilities records, service schedules, inspection logs, warranties, contractor documents and current statutory certificates.
• Manage the facilities and maintenance budget: plan expenditure, obtain quotes, approve costs within delegated authority, monitor spend, process invoices and report forecasts.

Health & Safety

• Lead day-to-day health and safety arrangements, working with the CEO, staff and advisers to meet legal duties and organisational policies.
• Maintain risk assessments, safe systems of work and emergency procedures, including fire safety, evacuation, accessibility, first aid and incident response.
• Coordinate inspections, testing, servicing and remedial actions; keep compliance records and escalate significant risks promptly.
• Ensure accidents, incidents, hazards and near misses are recorded, investigated and followed up, with learning and corrective action implemented.
• Provide appropriate health and safety induction, information, training and supervision for staff, casual workers, volunteers and contractors, and promote a proactive safety culture through regular operational checks.

Bar Management

• Lead compliant, efficient bar operations and ensure a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) is in place.
• Act as DPS, or work closely with the DPS, to ensure licensing compliance and staff training in responsible alcohol service and health and safety.
• Work with Bar Supervisors to manage stock, ordering and suppliers, ensuring value for money and accurate records.
• Oversee bar cash handling and reconciliation, and ensure the product range, presentation and service meet visitor and event needs.

Collaboration with Café

• Coordinate with the café team on opening and closing, visitor flow, staffing, event catering and hospitality.
• Ensure the café offer supports Chelsea Theatre’s visitor-experience standards.

Continuous Improvement & Visitor Insight

• Use visitor feedback and key performance indicators to improve service, accessibility and commercial performance.
• Apply relevant sector best practice and champion innovation and a visitor-centred culture.

Person Specification

Essential experience & skills

• Significant front-of-house, visitor-experience or public-venue leadership, including recruiting, developing and scheduling casual teams, with a commitment to accessible and inclusive service.
• Experience of café/bar or hospitality operations, including relevant licensing responsibilities.
• Strong facilities and health and safety experience, including maintenance, contractors, risk assessment, fire and emergency arrangements, accessibility and statutory compliance.
• Excellent interpersonal, organisational and judgement skills: able to collaborate across teams, manage external stakeholders, prioritise competing demands and follow work through to completion.
• Sound budget-management skills, including assessing quotes, controlling costs and reporting against budget.

Desirable attributes

• Personal Licence holder.
• Venue-hire experience, including contracts, risk and event logistics.
• Experience in a nonprofit or cultural organisation with community and commercial activity; understanding of sustainable operations and relevant CRM, box-office or room-booking systems.

How to Apply

This on-site role includes evenings, weekends and the Duty Manager rota. Chelsea Theatre is accessible and committed to equality, diversity and inclusion; under-represented applicants are welcome.

Send a CV and cover letter (maximum two A4 pages) to Katie Elston, CEO, at katie@chelseatheatre.org.uk by 22 September. Interviews: w/c 28 September.