Venue Duty Manager

We are looking for a Venue Duty Manager who will be the public face of the Visitor Experience Department for the company and responsible for ensuring that the audience and visitors are constantly placed at the heart of the building.

About the Organisation 

Shakespeare North Playhouse, ‘Theatre Building of the year 2023’ is a unique new arts venue, which opened in the summer of 2022. It presents a vibrant contemporary cultural and learning programme featuring home co-produced and visiting performances, as well as comedy, music, community work, hire and events and a range of education and training activities.

The Shakespeare North Trust (SNT) is the Charitable organisation which is the operator of Shakespeare North Playhouse. The Trust also has two wholly owned subsidiaries within the Group structure. The subsidiaries are limited companies.

Our Vision: “Inspired by Shakespeare. Bringing Joy: Together, we tell stories that feel like our own, that change the way we see the world – opening doors, inviting debate, inspiring a love of learning, and bringing joy to this place; Our Shakespeare North Playhouse.”

Our Mission – The Big Goal: “We share world-class theatre, activities and conversations inspired by Shakespeare and relevant to all of us.”

Our Promise: At Shakespeare North Playhouse we commit to being ‘Bold and Brave’. It is a promise we make to each other internally as a team, to our visitors, patrons, and partners, and to all our artists and makers as we all come together to create a wonderful place.

Our Values and Behaviours: The organisational values define Shakespeare North Playhouse. They create a framework for the way in which the organisation wishes to achieve the vision and objectives. The team are firm in the belief that what is achieved is only half of the plan, as how success is attained is of equal importance. It is critical that there is a framework of how people will thrive together, as a team, with partners, visitors, and audience.

Innovative – Honest – Collaborative – Creative

Equal – Supportive – Accountable – Useful

The Role

The Venue Duty Manager’s will be the public face of the Visitor Experience Department for the company and
are responsible for ensuring that the audience and visitors are constantly placed at the heart of the building.
You will be the building’s duty manager whilst on shift.
You will work across several areas of Visitor Experience, including Front of House, Retail, Events & Venue Hire
operations, and overseeing all casual staff and volunteers. The Venue Duty Managers will need to have
excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to think on their feet and deal with difficult
situations.

Reporting Relationships

You will report directly to the Senior Visitor Experience Manager, and work closely with the Head of Visitor
Experience & Operations. There are no direct line management responsibilities, but you will oversee the on duty casual Visitor Experience team and Volunteers.

Place of Work

The place of work will be Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot, Knowsley. Occasionally work will be
required at alternative locations including partners with whom Shakespeare North co-produces.

Salary and Hours of work

The hours of work will be contracted as 21 hours per week, likely 6-8 hour shifts. The jobholder will be
expected to exercise flexibility based on the needs of the Venue. Evening and weekend work will be required.
Your actual hours to be worked each week will be as necessitated by the needs of the business. Working
patterns will be notified to you by your line manager at least two weeks, but usually four weeks in advance.
Shakespeare North believes in a healthy and happy workforce and recognises the importance of helping its
employers balance their work and home lives by offering working hours that as far as possible enable them to
balance their work commitments with other priorities.

The rate of pay for this role is £14,414 per annum.

Main Duties:

Front of House

• Ensure Shakespeare North Playhouse maintains our reputation for delivering an industry leading visitor
  welcome.
• Supporting, supervising and maintaining excellent standards within the on-shift Visitor Experience
  team.
• Lead the on-shift Visitor Experience team whilst delivering outstanding service through varied,
  challenging and often simultaneous performances and events
• Safely ensure the ingress and egress of audiences and work alongside the Senior Visitor Experience
  Manager and production team to ensure shows and events run on time whilst adhering to
  predetermined specifications and policies.
• Brief and debrief Visitor Experience team members
• Create post show event reports
• Act as Incident Controller during shifts, ensuring the company health and safety policy is upheld

Retail, Merchandise & Show snacks

• Support the Commercial team in all areas of retail, merchandise and show snacks
• Assist Retail & Ticketing Assistants to find solutions to ticketing issues as they arise.
• To oversee the sale of merchandise and show snacks during performances and events
• To process any refunds/exchanges.
• Ensure the gift shop is always immaculate and fully stocked, helping to merchandise when necessary.
• Drive the Visitor Experience Assistants to seek out opportunities to upsell and cross-sell when
  appropriate.

Event Operations

• Ensure rooms are set up and ready for internal and external events.
• Lead on the delivery of events to the highest standard.
• To collate and compile event information into briefing sheets, using our venue management system
  YesPlan.
• Be confident and comfortable overseeing an events team, including delivering event briefings.
• Work closely with the Events & Hires Manager and Senior Commercial Manager in delivering event
  catering

Other duties

• Become knowledgeable of the artistic programme, and Shakespeare North Playhouse’s brand and
  values to promote events to visitors.
• Ensure that all public spaces are welcoming and inviting.
• Close sales points and complete till reconciliation as required, following the company’s cash handling
  policy.
• Lead casual members of the Visitor Experience Team, ensuring a high and consistent standard of
  customer service.
• Act as Incident Controller/Duty Manager for the building
• Act as keyholder

Person specification:

Essential

• Management/Supervisor level experience working within a customer facing role in the culture or
  hospitality sector. (E.g. theatre, museum, attraction, restaurant, bar).
• The ability to lead and motivate a team and delegate tasks effectively.
• Clear and effective communication.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Flexible and adaptable, able to respond effectively in high pressure situations.
• Be a fast learner and engage with any training provided.
• Experience with cash handling.
• Flexibility in relation to duties and working hours which will include evenings and weekends.

Desirable

• Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate.
• First Aid qualification.
• Experience using scheduling systems such as YesPlan
• Experience supervising a team.
• Experience in cashing up and cash reconciliation procedures.
• A good knowledge of Health & Safety legislation and procedures

How to Apply 

If having reviewed the job description and information about the Shakespeare North Playhouse you consider yourself to be a good fit for this role, please email a CV and a cover letter of application to recruitment@shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk . Please also complete our equality monitoring form linked below.

The cover letter of application should be of no more than 2 sides of A4 addressing how your experience matches the role description, why you are interested in the role and why you think your skills and experience would make you a good candidate. Alternatively, you may submit a video/audio file of no more than 10 minutes in length. You can do this via WeTransfer or an alternative file transfer service.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 15th April2026. 

Diverse representation 

We encourage and welcome applications from people whose background and experience are under-represented in the cultural sector. We are committed to inclusive working practices and understand there may be barriers people face when considering an opportunity like this. If you are interested in applying for this role but feel there are things that may prevent you from getting involved, please get in touch and let us know how we can support you in making your application and throughout the selection process.

Equality Monitoring 

As part of your application, please make sure to fill out the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form . The information you provide will not impact on the consideration of your application and will be used solely for the purpose of monitoring. 

Data Protection 

Information provided by you as part of your application will be used in the recruitment process. Any data about you will be held securely with access restricted to those involved in dealing with your application in the recruitment process. Once the process is completed the data relating to unsuccessful applicants will be stored for a maximum of 6 months and then destroyed. If you are the successful candidate, your application will be retained and form the basis of your personnel record. By submitting your application, you are giving your consent to your data being stored and processed for the purpose of the recruitment process, equal opportunities monitoring and your personnel record if you are the successful candidate. In submitting your application, we will assume that consent by you is given. We refer you to Shakespeare North’s job applicant privacy notice which you should read before applying for this role.

If you have any questions or would like to have an informal conversation about the role before applying, please contact us via email at recruitment@shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk 

This job description is intended as a guide to the duties expected of the post-holder. These duties may be reviewed from time to time to meet the needs of the business.

This job description is not contractual.