Museum Store Manager

About The Museum of Art Light (MoA L)

www.artlightmuseum.org

Founded in 2021, and opening to the public in fall of 2024, the Museum of Art Light (MoA L) is a contemporary art museum that explores the limitless convergence of visual art, the creative process and digital technology.

Our Mission—to bridge 21st century technology with the visual and performing arts to incite positive emotion, cultivate meaningful connections, encourage artistic exploration, and spark innovation.

MoA L captivates audiences through the presentation of rotating exhibitions featured on three floors. MoA L’s exhibitions, whether displayed as physical fine art objects in an array of media, or as unique digital immersive experiences inspired by original works of art created by artists past and present, are shown together with narrative context and versatile arts-inspired programming. All exhibitions provide illuminating, multi-sensory experiences that connect and stimulate visitors—families, youth of all ages, artists, community partners, and educators alike to have conversation and make personal meaning.

Our Values—central to our mission is the promotion, understanding, and appreciation of the arts through educational experiences that foster self-reflection, enhance critical and creative thinking, produce emotional responses, promote well-being, and facilitate community and cultural partnerships.

Summary of Position

The Museum of Art Light (MoA L) seeks an experienced Museum Store Manager to join our Team, located in Manhattan, Kansas. The MoA L store is often the first point of contact with our guests. The individual hired for this position will be leading the efforts for establishing and setting up the first ever MoA L store—slated to be available to the public in November 2024.This requires the manager to maintain an excellent level of customer service, personal presentation, and professional standards. MoA L’s store is to be fully integrated with the mission of the museum and will assist and serve our visitors as they view the exhibitions, participate in programming, and seek merchandise that extends these experiences.  

Reports to: This position will report to the VP of Learning Engagement & Visitor Experiences and collaborates with our Collections, Education, Exhibitions and Facilities departments.

Requirements

The Museum Store Manager supports the mission of the Museum and guides the Store to provide earned revenue for the museum operating budget. MoA L is seeking an energetic store manager who has a strong vison to move our shop experiences forward both onsite and through e-commerce. The Store Manager plays a key role in providing excellent visitor and customer service, education, and museum support. The position is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the museum shop including purchasing, merchandising, consignment, point of sale management, reconciliation, inventory control, potential product development, and management of shop staff and volunteers.

Duties & Responsibilities:

·       Responsible for all aspects of inventory, supplies, purchasing, inventory control and merchandising both onsite and e-commerce.

·       Oversees daily operations and sales reconciliation within POS system, tracking/deposits.

·       Cultivates, trains, and supports volunteers and part-time staff to support the museum’s efforts.

·       Prepares an annual budget, business plan, monitors sales trends, and tracks monthly sales figures reporting to the VP of Learning Engagement & Visitor Experiences.

·       Compares the museum shop to the market and is knowledgeable about other similar services, pricing, and customer development. Finds opportunities to collaborate with like-minded museums and regional organizations.

·       Works with marketing personnel to establish appropriate promotions, advertising, print, web, and social media material.

·       Buys from artists or vendors and prepares purchase orders, handling all related communication. Maintains excellent relationships with local, regional, and nationally located artists. Manages consignment with select artists.

·       Tracks merchandise for reorder or sales trends and prepares analytics using POS system.

·       Manages displays and promotions including seasonal/holiday promotions and open houses, artist promotions, visiting artists, and collaborative opportunities with museum programming, exhibitions, membership opportunities, and studio classes.

·       Organizes and develops special commissions for specialized promotions and product development: annual ornaments, exhibition artists, visiting artists in conjunction with other departments and receives approval from VP of VP of Learning Engagement & Visitor Experiences.

·       Seeks new sales avenues in conjunction with the mission and direction of the museum, including growth strategy to include e-commerce.

Desired Qualifications, Experiences, Skills, and Abilities:

·       The ideal candidate will have a BA or BS in business with marketing, retail and/or related experience, excellent organizational, management, and computer skills, 5 years of retail experience including management, merchandising, purchasing, and promotion.

·       Excellent people skills are required to work with vendors, artists, a client base, strengthen customer service, and development of volunteer staff. Must work well as part of a team with other museum staff.

·       Excellent computer skills using MS Office, adept in the operation of Blackbaud Altru POS system, QuickBooks, sales report generation, inventory control, and e-commerce promotions.

·       Photography skills and ability to process photos for computer promotions, website updates, and email to customer inquiries is desired.

·       Ablility to keep current on shipping and postal regulations is required.

·       Some travel is necessary. Some evening and weekend work will be required.

·       The position needs enthusiasm and a commitment to the mission and vision of the museum as well as being a positive person, interacting courteously and respectfully with both internal and external individuals.

·       Critical thinker and self-starter who is willing to work proactively to identify key priorities and work across teams to implement the necessary solutions.

·       Ability to bring forward-looking approach to solving current challenges and initiatives.

·       Strong logistical experience, with commitment to details.

·       Presents a professional, businesslike image to all co-workers, visitors, customers, and the public.

·       An ability to foster trust and keep all information confidential.

·       Must be self-aware, self-regulated, motivated, and empathetic.

To be considered for this opportunity, submit a resume and cover letter to both kpeterson@artlightmuseum.org

Submission Deadline: This job listing will remain open until the first interview phase is complete or until enough qualified candidates have been identified. NOTE: Incomplete application materials may not receive full consideration for the position.

Physical Job Requirements:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. This position requires the ability to move, pack, and ship objects. Performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to perform semi-skilled movements such as operation of a computer keyboard, telephone, calculator, paper cutter, and other office equipment. The employee is regularly required to exert light to medium physical effort in work involving lifting, carrying pushing, walking, standing, reaching with hands and arms, climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching or crawling. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds. Specific vision abilities require close vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Salary Range: $50,000 commensurate with experience (Yearly Salary)

Salary : $50,000