Director of Guest Experience (Ref: 196993)

Title: Director of Guest Experience

Industry: Sports & Entertainment

Location: New York

Salary: $120,000 - $150,000 + Benefits

Contact: benjamin.hutchison@forsythbarnes.com

Forsyth Barnes have partnered with a leading sports and entertainment organization seeking a Director of Guest Experience to lead the next evolution of its guest journey strategy and operational delivery. This is a unique opportunity to help shape the future of a world-class venue experience, building a best-in-class guest experience function during an exciting period of transformation.

The ideal candidate is an experienced guest experience, hospitality, or venue operations leader who can operate strategically while remaining hands-on. They will have a proven track record of building and elevating guest experience programs, developing frontline teams, and creating service strategies that deliver exceptional experiences for diverse audiences.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the overall guest experience strategy across multiple venues and live events.
• Build and evolve guest experience programs, processes, and service standards.
• Develop strategies to capture, analyze, and utilize guest feedback to drive continuous improvement.
• Partner cross-functionally with operations, ticketing, hospitality, events, facilities, and other departments to enhance the full guest journey.
• Oversee guest-facing operations including guest services, admissions, ushering, and frontline teams.
• Develop training programs, operational procedures, and service standards to support consistent delivery.
• Lead, mentor, and develop supervisors and large hourly employee teams.
• Create staffing strategies and operational plans to support both daily operations and large-scale events.
• Champion accessibility, ADA compliance, safety, and inclusive guest experiences.
• Use data, insights, and industry best practices to identify opportunities and improve the overall customer experience.

Key Requirements

• Proven experience leading and developing guest experience, hospitality, customer experience, or venue operations programs.
• Strong background managing frontline teams, supervisors, and hourly staff in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience building processes, training programs, and operational frameworks from the ground up.
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams and build strong relationships across an organization.
• Experience within sports, entertainment, hospitality, cultural attractions, or live events.
• Comfortable working onsite during live events and high-volume operational periods.