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About Us

As Kansas City’s Botanical Garden, Powell Gardens plays a vital role in the community as a space for release, rejuvenation, and the celebration of the fleeting nature of nature itself. Visitors enjoy themed display gardens, nature trails, seasonal festivals, rotating exhibitions, and exceptional architecture. Established in 1988, Powell Gardens is a public garden, maintaining over 700 acres of lush, rolling hills and windswept meadows, with more than 175 acres and a large collection of plants open to the public for education, exploration, and recreation. With the addition of our second location, Colonial Farms, we offer a new way to advance our mission of education, community engagement and spreading our love for plants.

We at Powell believe that our team members are our most important asset. By building strong relationships with each other, we can ensure that our guests have the best possible experience. We are looking for a strong team player who is passionate about our mission and providing an unforgettable experience for our guests ! Is customer service a main priority for you? Are you committed to creating exceptional guest experiences through consistency ensuring every guest receives the highest level of service during every visit? If this sounds like you, we would love to speak with you!

Summary

The Manager, Visitor Experience’s primary focus will be to lead the daily guest experience at Powell Gardens, ensuring welcoming, efficient, and consistently guest-ready operations across admissions, retail, food and beverage, and visitor services. This role also manages the administrative and guest-facing staff members of the department, oversees the Retail, Food & Beverage team and related processes, and ensures all internal processes and procedures of the Visitor Experience department run smoothly. This position will work closely with the Director, the department team, festival, exhibition, education, volunteer management, membership, development, campus services, and administrative staff to ensure that systems, technologies, procedures, and facility needs are in order, for events and daily activities to operate successfully. They will maintain a high level of communication with internal team members who focus on external, or guest-facing functions. The Manager sets clear expectations, anticipates needs, makes timely decisions, develops staff, and follows through on commitments in support of the Gardens’ mission and values.

Essential Functions

Daily Operations & Guest Experience

Own daily opening readiness and service standards: verify staffing, technology, admissions, visitor spaces, wayfinding, and coordination of lighting and grounds readiness with Facilities before opening.
Provide visible, dependable leadership at the beginning of the operating day, including regular pre-opening walkthroughs and staff readiness checks; establish trained backup opening and closing coverage for scheduled evenings, weekends, and time off.
Monitor guest feedback, resolve escalated service issues, and implement practical improvements to hospitality, accessibility, flow, and operational efficiency.

Department Administration

Directly supervise the Retail Specialist, Food & Beverage Specialist, and Visitor Experience Representatives, including assigned part-time and seasonal employees; lead hiring in partnership with HR, onboarding, coaching, performance evaluations, and timely accountability.
Own and maintain proficiency in daily and festival staffing schedules, staffing models, coverage plans, and timekeeping oversight; publish schedules on time, approve changes, address gaps early, and train qualified backups.
Lead clear, consistent training and operational communications for staff, volunteers, and festival teams, using concise procedures, checklists, and measurable expectations.
Communicate priorities, decisions, owners, and deadlines clearly; complete commitments without repeated reminders and escalate significant risks promptly.
Empower staff and Specialists to make routine decisions within defined authority; address missed deadlines, performance concerns, and recurring problems promptly.
Work with the volunteer management team to develop event staffing plans and manage the volunteers while on-site for events.
Make sure the department has the technology and supplies it needs to be successful.
Maintain ongoing vendor relations and contracts.
Troubleshoot mid-level customer and employee issues and complaints.
Work Manager-On-Duty or register shifts to assist the department.
Other duties as assigned by Director, Visitor Engagement.

Systems, Financial Controls & Reporting

Serve as the operational owner and primary escalation point for Altru ticketing and Lightspeed POS, including configuration oversight, access, data quality, troubleshooting, and documented backup coverage.
Collaborate with Membership/Volunteer leadership and Xtrulink partners to maintain accurate member access, benefits, ticketing workflows, and guest communications.
Act as the primary Visitor Engagement contact with Accounting; oversee deposit accuracy, cash-handling controls, reconciliation documentation, invoice follow-up, and timely exception resolution, maintaining separation of duties where required.
Provide accurate, concise attendance, sales, revenue, staffing, and operational reports with clear findings, risks, and recommended actions.
Maintain guest-facing safety, cash, system, and service procedures in partnership with the appropriate department owners.

Retail, Food & Beverage & Events Leadership

Lead Retail and Food & Beverage Specialists through defined goals, inventory controls, budget accountability, guest service standards, and regular performance reviews; Specialists retain routine purchasing, inventory, merchandising, and beverage execution responsibilities.
Partner with the Director and Specialists on short- and long-term retail and food and beverage plans, including three-year growth priorities, guest experience, stewardship, and earned revenue.
Lead assigned visitor-focused experiences such as Mother’s Day programming, teas, and brunches, coordinating scope and responsibilities with the Programs and Private Events teams.
Partner with Programs, Education, Facilities, Marketing, and Membership/Volunteer teams on festival readiness, staffing, visitor communications, and operational execution.

Technology and Ticketing

Subject matter expert of the organization’s primary ticketing software and point of sale technology, including software and hardware.
Perform the necessary actions for setting up events and tickets to be sold to the public.
Maintain an accurate and updated inventory of department assets.
Ensure that vital equipment is functioning for sales and troubleshoot as needed.
Understand the functions of the phone system to train the department lead for use in guest-facing functions.
Perform routine maintenance checks of technology equipment.

Experience/Education

High School Diploma or GED Required
2+ years of retail or related similar experience preferred
Bachelor Degree in hospitality, business, nonprofit management, or related field preferred, or equivalent experience Preferred

Knowledge

Strong operational judgment, initiative, follow-through, time management, and practical problem-solving.
Clear, concise written and verbal communication; ability to translate complex processes into usable training and actionable direction.
Competence in staffing/scheduling, customer recovery, inventory oversight, financial reporting, cash controls, and system administration; Altru and Lightspeed knowledge preferred.
Collaborative and approachable leadership; willingness to learn, receive feedback, coach others, and make decisions without unnecessary escalation.
Commitment to Cultivate Wonder, Practice Stewardship, Extend Hospitality, Build Connections, Grow Together, Pursue Excellence, and Own Outcomes
Must be able to communicate professionally and maintain amicable relationships with co-workers, volunteers and visitors.
Valid driver’s license.

Physical Requirements/Work Environment

This full-time position requires a flexible schedule based on operational needs, including regular early-morning leadership coverage and designated evenings, weekends, holidays, festivals, and special events. The Manager is expected to provide on-site leadership during high-volume periods while maintaining a sustainable schedule and trained backup coverage. Work requires movement across a multi-building garden campus and periods of standing and computer work. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals to perform essential functions.

Benefits

Medical/Dental/Vision
Retirement Plan with match
Employer Paid Life Insurance
Employer Paid Short Term and Long Term Disability Insurance
Generous PTO Plan with 11 paid holidays per year

To Apply

Applicants interested in this position must submit the following to hr@powellgardens.org.

Cover letter
Resume
Three references: professional, academic, and/or personal

To view the full job description, please go to https://powellgardens.org/careers-at-powell-gardens/

Equal Employment Opportunity & Employment Disclaimer

Powell Gardens is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to creating an inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Powell Gardens is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and employment process. If you require an accommodation to complete an application, participate in the interview process, or perform the essential functions of the position, please contact Human Resources.

The duties, responsibilities, and qualifications described in this job posting are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, or skills required. Duties and responsibilities may change at any time to meet organizational needs.

Employment with Powell Gardens is contingent upon successful completion of all applicable pre-employment requirements, which may include reference checks, background screening, verification of work authorization, and other job-related requirements, as permitted by law.

This job posting does not constitute an employment contract or guarantee of employment. Employment with Powell Gardens is at-will, meaning either the employee or Powell Gardens may terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without notice or cause, except as otherwise provided by applicable law.

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