Director of commercial

Deadline for applications: 9am on Monday 17 March 2025

Salary: £50,000 per annum

Working hours: Full-time (37 hours) although flexible working will be considered including compressed hours, reduced hours (minimum 29.6 hours), and flexible start and finish times

Location: Hybrid working options available

Interviews: Will take place on Wednesday 2 April 2025

We are looking for an entrepreneurial and inspiring individual to join our Executive Team and lead our trading subsidiary company, The Hepworth Wakefield Enterprises.

The Hepworth Wakefield has welcomed over 3 million visitors since opening in May 2011 and is now established as one of the most successful public art galleries in the UK, attracting critical acclaim and audiences from around the world.

You will have a proven track record of delivering innovative and ambitious plans to maximise commercial income, outstanding senior management skills and a collegiate approach to working collaboratively across the organisation. This is a critical role to the long-term success and profitability of The Hepworth Wakefield, which comes at an exciting time of digital transformation and expansion of our visitor offer.

Responsibility

The role has responsibility for ensuring profitability in all areas of the commercial business and finding ways to grow income by identifying new opportunities and ways of working.

THWE has many strands including: retail (online and in-store); artist editions; hospitality (Gallery café and Garden café, as well as event catering); venue hire (including filming and photography, conferences, corporate events and weddings); publishing (in partnership and in-house); licensing; car parking; our fairs & markets programme and paid-for public events.

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Extensive commercial experience, including retail and catering, in the arts, museum or heritage sectors, preferably at a senior management level
• Experience of managing a multi-disciplined team
• Proven experience of generating sales and developing new income-generating streams
• Financial management including budget management. A track record of setting and delivering performance targets
• Proven track record in developing e-commerce growth and increasing online sales
• Excellent communication skills; confidence, tact and maturity to liaise with a wide range of stakeholders and customers
• Strong administrative and organisational abilities with meticulous attention to detail
• Excellent leadership and entrepreneurial skills, with experience managing multi-disciplined teams, including digital and e-commerce colleagues
• Demonstrable ability to maximise the potential of digital systems (including eCommerce platforms and CRM systems), developing new revenue-generating digitial initiatives and online engagement
• Strong knowledge of SEO, paid media, social commerce, digital marketing, with the ability to analyse and use data-driven decision making
• Solid understanding of customer experience (CX) and user journey optimisation
• Ability to prioritise, manage, and decide between, conflicting interests, pressures and influences
• Ability to influence others, set out a vision and take others along with it as a team
• Ability to work collaboratively
• Dedicated to the continuing professional development of the department and themselves
• A commitment to anti-racism, diversity & equality in the workplace
• Commercial marketing approaches, with an understanding of digital trends in museums, cultural commerce and online retail
• Strong interest and empathy with art and artists, and in the activities and policies of THW

We are committed to improving diversity within our organisation and welcome applications from candidates who are under-represented within the arts sector.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.