Job Title: Commercial Director
Salary: £115,000
Duration: Permanent
Division: Commercial
Reports to: Deputy Director & Chief Operating Officer
Direct Reports: Heads of: Front of House Operations, Membership, V&A Academy, Retail, Omnichannel, Publishing Sales
JOB DESCRIPTION
The V&A – the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance – is at one of the most exciting times in its history. Housing 2.3m objects that span 5000 years of human ingenuity, alongside a world-leading exhibition programme and flagship shops, the V&A’s ambitious strategy will see it expand to multiple sites in London over the next three years, alongside V&A Dundee in Scotland, the V&A Wedgwood Collection in Stoke-on-Trent and the V&A gallery at Design Society, Shenzhen.
To lead the V&A’s commercial income generation and underpin the museum group’s financial growth and sustainability, the newly configured role of Commercial Director brings together the V&A’s key income-generating areas, working across the V&A’s family of museums. It is a pivotal role that will help to grow and sustain the V&A over this period of expansion, build the V&A’s digital income potential and international customer base, and oversee the development of exciting new commercial partnerships and opportunities.
A key early priority for the new commercial director will be the development of an ambitious group-wide strategy for sustainable growth in income and commercial contribution, for our business to consumer commercial activities as the new division establishes itself.
Purpose of the Job
The Commercial Director champions, leads and delivers the V&A’s overall commercial strategy and approach across the V&A’s family of museums. This role connects all of the primarily business to consumer self-generated income channels, overseeing Retail, eCommerce, Membership, the V&A’s cafes and restaurants, the V&A Academy, publishing sales and ticket sales for the V&A’s world-renowned exhibition programme. These areas have been brought together for the first time in one Division creating the potential for a seamless commercial experience that underpins the V&A brand. They will also, for the first time, ensure that the V&A’s physical front of house operations are positioned to provide a unified, distinctive and high-quality visitor experience to the public, in support of our brand and to maximise our commercial opportunities.
Main areas of responsibility
Major areas of responsibility include developing a new, multisite B2C commercial strategy for the V&A; driving digital capabilities, together with the ADE division, and developing our commercial propositions to build a global audience and maximise online income; leading the V&A’s eCommerce strategy and roadmap; and shaping the V&A’s Membership scheme across a multisite V&A. Driving value and developing innovative experiences for V&A visitors and customers lies at the heart of this role, underpinned by the V&A’s brand, audience and digital strategies to align all commercial activity centrally.
Reporting to the Deputy Director & COO, and working closely with the Director of ADE, this role joins the V&A Executive Board to shape and lead an entrepreneurial approach to Commercial activity, as well as playing an important part in helping to shape and support all areas of the V&A’s future plans.
The Commercial Director will set the commercial strategy across the V&A’s expanding family of museums, including the V&A in South Kensington and close collaboration with V&A Dundee and the V&A Wedgwood Collection in Stoke-on-Trent, as will play an integral role in the establishment of Young V&A (opening July 2023), and the development of V&A East, two new sites currently under construction on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London and due to open in 2025.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and Lead Commercial Strategy: Champion and lead the V&A’s overall approach to commercial activity across the V&A’s family of museums, with a particular focus on business to consumer activity. Develop an exciting new strategy that will iterate and adapt to drive maximum sustainable growth in commercial return and customer value, shaping the strategy to target different audiences and support the V&A brand and flex as the V&A grows
- Team Leadership: Lead and manage Heads of department across Retail, Omnichannel/eCommerce, Membership, the V&A Academy, the commercial lead for Digital and Book Publishing, and Front of House operations
- Revenue & Optimisation: Drive incremental self-generated income for the V&A across all areas and channels, building existing products and businesses, and exploring new opportunities for income generation. Lead a programme of constant optimisation to meet/ exceed ambitious profit targets.
- Retail: Oversee the V&A’s successful retail business and series of shops – including the flagship shop at V&A South Kensington – alongside the retail team’s expansion into new shops at Young V&A and V&A East. Work closely with the Head of Front of House Operations to oversee the shop teams at South Kensington, and with the Operational Leads at Young V&A and V&A East.
- Membership: Oversee the V&A’s membership proposition, developing an audience-focused multisite strategy that grows Members year on year, maximises opportunities, and develops a clear acquisition & retention plan for the future.
- Omnichannel/ eCommerce: Lead the V&A’s approach to Omnichannel, bringing together online ticketing and membership sales with online merchandising (eCommerce), to build a coherent new discipline that maximises online conversion and develops into a thriving global business. Instill a culture of cross-divisional collaboration through working closely with Technology, Digital and Marketing teams.
- V&A Academy: Develop the next phase of the V&A Academy’s evolution as a new digital and commercial product, to evolve its offer, broaden international reach, attract new audiences and grow profitability.
- Ticketing: Working closely with Marketing on pricing strategy, lead the V&A’s approach to ticketing, from exhibitions and events to Academy courses, maximising income opportunities through both direct sales and membership conversion opportunities and responding to audience demand.
- Front of House: Oversee the V&A’s Front of House Operations at South Kensington to drive income onsite, and embed commercial thinking across key FOH teams to drive ticket sales, Membership, donations and develop new income-generating experiences. Oversee the V&A’s F&B activity and relationship with Benugo across the V&A’s cafes and Members room.
- Contact Centre: Through the Omnichannel function, oversee the V&A’s Contact Centre, which supports all customer queries, ticketing and retail, delivering a high standard of customer service across all activity.
- Brand Experiences: Working closely with Development, Marketing and Experience, evolve our commercial approach to brand experiences, partnerships and collaboration to increase income and audience/ brand reach.
- Customer Insight: Use key market and customer insight to drive a strong customer and product strategy, helping shape ranges and high-value initiatives (both short and long term), identifying where V&A competitive advantage lies.
- Analytics: Lead analytics on data sets to drive insights and inform initiatives, working with the Research & Insights teams in Marketing and the Technology team.
- Executive Board (EB): a pivotal member of the EB team, acting collaboratively to drive the organisational strategy.
The above job description is intended to be an outline of the duties and responsibilities for this role. This is not exhaustive, and it is likely to change over time. You may be expected to undertake other duties that are commensurate with this role.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Job Specific
- Commercial Expert: Extensive experience leading and delivering commercial businesses and propositions, and driving return and customer value for organisations, ideally working with traditional and iconic ‘bricks and mortar’ retail brands expanding their omnichannel capability.
- Digital Innovation: Deep expertise in digital innovation, digital product/ portofolio development and developing digital and eCommerce businesses.
- Entrepreneurial Mindset: Proven ability to drive income, grow businesses and realise new opportunities and partnerships, with an entrepreneurial flair.
- Experienced Leader: Excellent leadership skills, with proven ability to lead and manage a high performing team and successfully manage change.
- Strategic Thinker: Strong and sharp strategic thinker, able to think clearly under pressure, as well as grasp and communicate V&A’s core messages to a range of stakeholders & audiences.
- Relationship Manager: builds strong and collaborative working relationships. Strong interpersonal skills and a proven ability to work with and advise senior level staff, shaping and influencing their strategies.
- Communicator: Strong presentational skills and ability to craft and deliver well-written and convincing materials for senior staff, trustees and broad range of media.
- Solutions-focused Multitasker: Ability to look and think ahead, and spot new ideas, opportunities and partnerships – able to plan and juggle multiple projects simultaneously.
- Thrives on Change: Someone unafraid of fast-paced, constantly changing environments, with clarity of vision and a high level of drive.
- Culture Lover: Strong interest in the arts and culture (prior professional experience in this sector not required).
Behaviours
- Respects others’ expertise, time, perspectives and contribution.
- Takes responsibility for delivering on actions, achieving high-standards and learning from mistakes.
- Open to change, new ideas and suggestions; looks for opportunities for improvement and self-development.
- Works with others outside their own department in a collaborative, understanding, and, engaging way.
- Actively leads and manages others, taking ownership of corporate decisions and role models positive behaviours.
Position in the team
Equal opportunities at the V&A
At the V&A we strive to ensure that opportunities to work and develop at are open to all. We treat all job applications equally, regardless of age, disability, gender identity or gender expression, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other equality characteristic. We particularly encourage applications from disabled people and people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, as these groups are currently under-represented in the cultural sector. At the V&A we have a good gender balance however in certain departments, such as IT, we welcome female applicants and, in our exhibitions, or development teams, we welcome male applicants.