THE ROLE The Patron Services Manager is a people-first leader responsible for building and leading a high-performing customer service team that delivers exceptional experiences across every Royal Winnipeg Ballet touchpoint.

Leading a team that supports Box Office, Front Desk, School Office, and Front of House operations, the Patron Services Manager creates a service culture focused on hospitality, accountability, continuous improvement, and results. This role empowers and develops staff, establishes service standards, and ensures patrons, students, families, donors, and visitors receive outstanding service at every interaction.

As a key member of the Marketing & Communications team, the Patron Services Manager also plays an important role in audience growth and earned revenue generation. Through subscription retention, group sales, patron engagement, and school registration support, this position helps strengthen patron loyalty, increase attendance, and support long-term organizational growth.

This is an exciting opportunity for a collaborative leader who enjoys coaching teams, improving systems, solving problems, and creating exceptional customer experiences within one of Canada's leading arts organizations.

RESPONSIBILITIES Leadership Lead the day-to-day operations of the Patron Services department. Supervise, schedule, train, and support full-time Patron Services Representatives, part-time Patron Services staff, and volunteers. Develop staffing schedules to ensure appropriate coverage across front desk, box office, school office, and performance needs, including evenings and weekends. Lead recruitment, onboarding, training, and performance management for patron services staff. Establish and maintain service standards, policies, procedures, and training materials to ensure operational consistency. Coordinate volunteer recruitment, scheduling, training, and onsite management for performances and events. Collaborate with internal departments to align patron services operations with organizational priorities and event needs. Front of House & Performance Operations Oversee Front of House operations for Royal Winnipeg Ballet performances, school showcases, and special events including scheduling, set up, merchandise, programs and more. Serve as FOH Manager or designate FOH coverage for onsite performances and events. Prepare and distribute Front of House memos and operational documents in advance of performances. Supervise pre-show, intermission, and post-show patron service operations. Coordinate patron accessibility, guest services, issue resolution, and incident response as needed, in collaboration with the Director of Marketing and Communications. Ensure strong communication between venue teams, volunteers, customer service staff, and internal stakeholders. Box Office & Customer Service Oversee daily Box Office operations, ensuring appropriate controls, service standards, and revenue procedures are in place. Support ticket sales operations, subscription campaigns, exchanges, and patron inquiries. Assist with customer escalations and complex patron service issues. Support Patron Services Representatives with ticketing, registration, and payment processing as needed. Operate and oversee multi-line phone and email systems, ensuring timely and professional responses. Ensure front desk operations provide a welcoming and efficient visitor experience. Sales & Audience Development Lead subscription renewal strategy and execution, including renewal timelines, patron outreach, reporting, and retention initiatives. Monitor subscription sales performance, renewal rates, and audience trends, identifying opportunities to increase retention and revenue. Lead Group Sales strategy, including prospecting support, pipeline tracking, lead management, reporting, and fulfillment oversight. Develop and monitor group sales targets in collaboration with Marketing & Communications. Collaborate with Marketing & Communications on ticket promotions, special offers, pricing initiatives, and audience acquisition campaigns. Identify opportunities to improve patron conversion from single ticket buyers to subscribers, donors, students, and repeat attendees. Analyze patron purchasing behaviour, attendance patterns, and customer feedback to improve retention and audience growth strategies. Support CRM best practices, patron segmentation, database cleanliness, and audience reporting initiatives. Recommend patron journey improvements across ticket purchase, event attendance, customer communications, and follow-up touchpoints. School & Group Sales Support Support school office operations including registration inquiries, student/family support, and seasonal peak periods. Coordinate and oversee Student Matinee logistics, school communications, order collection, and payment processing. Oversee Group Sales operations, including inquiry management, order fulfillment, relationship servicing, and reporting. Coordinate and improve School performance sales processes, School outreach workflows, communications, order collection, and payment processing. Assist the Marketing & Communications team with patron-facing sales and promotional campaigns. Administration & Operations Prepare and balance daily accounting batches and reconcile patron service transactions. Manage patron service-related purchasing, supply ordering, and inventory needs. Oversee lobby presentation standards, signage, merchandise coordination, and promotional material displays in collaboration with the marketing team. Coordinate building hours and communicate operational updates with internal stakeholders. Support systems troubleshooting by liaising with ticketing vendors, IT, and facility contacts as needed. Additional duties as assigned.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS Minimum five (5) years’ experience in customer service, box office, hospitality, retail operations, or a related field. Minimum one (1) to two (2) years of management experience. Experience scheduling staff, managing competing operational priorities, and working in fast-paced environments. Experience in Front of House, event operations, or volunteer management considered an asset. Familiarity with ticketing, registration, or CRM systems preferred. Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite. Basic knowledge of privacy legislation and payment handling procedures. Experience supporting revenue-generating functions such as ticket sales, subscriptions, group sales, membership, fundraising, or customer retention initiatives preferred. Experience analyzing sales or patron data and generating operational or revenue reports considered an asset. Experience with Tessitura, CRM, ticketing, or audience database systems strongly preferred. Clear Criminal Background Check and Child Abuse Registry Check required.

SKILLS AND SPECIFICATIONS Exceptional customer service and conflict resolution skills. Strong leadership, team-building, and staff coaching abilities. Highly organized with excellent time management and scheduling capabilities. Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills. Basic accounting and cash reconciliation proficiency. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to remain calm, flexible, and solutions-oriented in high-pressure environments. Passion for delivering exceptional patron experiences and supporting organizational growth. Strong analytical mindset with ability to interpret sales, attendance, and patron behaviour data. Understanding of customer lifecycle, retention strategy, and audience development principles. Revenue-oriented mindset balanced with exceptional customer service standards.

WORK SETTING The Patron Services Manager works in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment using standard office equipment and ticketing systems. Frequent interaction with patrons, students, families, donors, volunteers, artists, and staff is required through phone, email, and in-person communications. This role requires physical activity including standing for extended periods, navigating performance venues, and lifting/moving items up to 25 pounds. Work outside regular office hours is required, including evenings, weekends, and performance periods SALARY: $55,000 to $65,000 COMPENSATION & BENEFITS The Royal Winnipeg Ballet offers a competitive compensation package including: Employer-paid health & dental benefits Matching RRSP program Subsidized bus pass Complimentary and discounted tickets to RWB performances Discounts on Royal Winnipeg Ballet School programming where applicable Employee Assistance Program Professional development opportunities

HOW TO APPLY Ready to join our team? Tell us about yourself! Submit your cover letter and resume to peopleservices@rwb.org. While we’d like to connect with each applicant, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. As part of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet hiring process, successful candidates will be required to submit a satisfactory Criminal Background Check and Child Abuse Registry Check. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is committed to an inclusive and diverse environment that values, respects and supports all individuals. We aim to have a workforce representative of the diversity within our community, and welcome and encourage applicants from various backgrounds including women, Indigenous people, racialized people, disabled people, people of all sexual and gender identities and others who may contribute to further diversification endeavors.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is committed to providing accessible employment while ensuring our recruitment process is barrier free. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates participating in all aspects of the assessment and selection process. Requests for accommodation can be sent to peopleservices@rwb.org.