Visitor Services Assistant - Yale Center for British Art
Job Description
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Overview
The Visitor Services Assistant performs all functions of the Visitor Services Department to provide the highest level of visitor experience to the Yale Center for British Art’s visitors/guests, members, donors, students, faculty, and staff. Reporting to the Head of Visitor Experience, this position is responsible for both welcoming and orienting visitors as well as processing all functions of the welcome desk including museum shop sales. Key responsibilities include opening and closing procedures, preparing attendance & sales reports, coordinating day-to-today operations with multiple departments, and supervising student staff. This position requires some evening and weekend hours, as well as work during the Yale winter recess period.
Essential Duties include
Serve as the Museum’s front-line ambassador, proactively engage with visitors, promptly respond to visitors’ needs, and deliver superior visitor experience.
Greet and assist visitors at the information/welcome desk, as well as throughout the museum, including events, programs, and tours.
Provide information to visitors about the collections, current exhibitions, membership, museum shop merchandise, and upcoming programs.
Collect information about YCBA’s audience and assist in conducting onsite surveys.
Ensure excellent customer service by answering the telephone in a warm, friendly manner and provide visitor guidelines as well as general information, including hours, events, tours, directions, parking, accessibility, and other visitor concerns.
Execute sales from the museum shop and assist with functions as needed, including maintaining the shop's website, phone and online orders, inventory, stocking, and shipments.
Speak in front of large and small groups of people in a clear and concise manner.
Respond to emails received from the Center’s general information account.
Responsible for documenting and recording visitor daily attendance, as well as other visitor details.
Encourage membership & newsletter sign-ups. Maintain a clean, organized, and well-stocked information desk that is always presentable to visitors. Support the museum’s leadership decisions, the museum’s mission, values, vision, priorities, and strategic objectives.
Additional duties as assigned.
Required Skills and Abilities
1. Excellent customer service skills and enjoy working with the public (to include all age ranges, school groups and general visitors). Excellent attention to detail and open to feedback.
2. Strong communication and motivational skills are important. Ability to work collaboratively, support teamwork, and exercise diplomacy.
3. Ability to adjust schedule to accommodate the needs of the Visitor Services department. Solid organizational and problem-solving skills. Ability to prioritize tasks and work under pressure.
4. Ability to be prompt and dependable. Ability to be available for work weekends and evenings.
5. Working knowledge of computers, including Excel, Microsoft Office software and point of sale (POS) systems such as Clover. Ability to learn new software programs as needed.
Preferred Education and Experience
Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Art History or in a related field, and two years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Face-to-face customer service experience. Minimum of two years of customer service and retail experience. Bilingual in Spanish and English. Proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
Principal Responsibilities
1. Oversees and coordinates administrative, program, and office activities. Establishes, selects, implements, and coordinates office procedures and systems. Serves as principal source of information to students, staff, and faculty on policies, procedures, programs, and office activities. 2. Oversees, instructs, and coordinates activities of support staff. Oversees the preparation of materials for grants, contracts and budgets. Monitors expenditures and reconciles financial statements. 3. Provides editorial support for a journal/publication. Proofreads and edits material for grammatical and factual accuracy. Tracks copy through various editing and production stages. Communicates with authors, printers, and others concerned with published work. 4. Determines administrative, facility, and equipment needs for symposia, lectures, seminars, and conferences. Assembles and arranges for necessary items. Determines sources of data. Compiles, synthesizes and manipulates data. Summarizes findings and writes reports or portions of reports. 5. Greets visitors. Answers and screens telephone calls. Assesses nature of business. Responds to requests for information and provides assistance. Screens and responds to mail. 6. Formats, keyboard, proofread, and edits correspondence, reports, manuscripts, grants, and other material. Assembles attachments and corresponding material. Reviews outgoing material for completeness, dates, and signatures. Composes substantive correspondence and written material. 7. Coordinates travel arrangements. Schedules and coordinates meetings and appointments. Orders and maintains inventory of supplies. Takes minutes or dictation. Performs additional functions incidental to office activities.
Required Education and Experience
Six years of related work experience, four of them in the same job family at the next lower level, and high school level education; or four years of related work experience and an Associate's degree; or little or no work experience and a Bachelor's degree in a related field; or an equivalent combination of experience and education.
Job Posting Date
05/20/2026Job Category
Administrative SupportBargaining Unit
L34Compensation Grade
Labor Grade DCompensation Grade Profile
Hourly Range
$31.83Time Type
Full timeDuration Type
StaffWork Model
On-siteBackground Check Requirements
All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.
Health Requirements
Certain positions have associated health requirements based on specific job responsibilities. These may include vaccinations, tests, or examinations, as required by law, regulation, or university policy.
Posting Disclaimer
The hiring rate of a role is determined in accordance with the provisions outlined in the respective collective bargaining agreement.
The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring department.
The University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and seeks to attract to its faculty, staff, and student body qualified persons from a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran.
Inquiries concerning Yale's Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment may be referred to the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility (OIEA).
Note
Yale University is a tobacco-free campus.