Senior Manager, Visitor Operations & Services/Gestionnaire principale ou gestionnaire principal, ...

Overview Ottawa Tourism's vision is to be one of Canada's most visited, sustainable, vibrant, and valued urban destinations and the tourism authority for key economic development and city-building decisions in Ottawa. Ottawa Tourism's mission is to market and sell Ottawa as a compelling leisure and business destination and lead or participate in initiatives that improve Ottawa's visitor experience. We contribute to the broader economic development objectives of the city and the success of our stakeholders and, by doing so, enrich the quality of life for all Ottawa residents. Reporting to the Director, Destination Development, the Senior Manager, Visitor Operations & Services provides strategic leadership, governance, and oversight for the Ottawa Visitor Centre. The role is responsible for setting the ongoing direction and priorities for the Ottawa Visitor Centre, maintaining consistent service excellence over time, and establishing the operational standards, structures, and accountabilities that guide daytoday operations. Overseeing the Manager, Visitor Services and other part-time staff, the Senior Manager ensures that operational execution aligns with Ottawa Tourism's priorities, service standards, and risk management requirements. This position is based out of downtown Ottawa (a mix of Ottawa Tourism's office and the Ottawa Visitor Centre), aligned to strategic and operational needs; occasional weekend and public holiday work may be required. Key Competencies • Ability to communicate professionally (written and spoken) in both English and French • Ability to prioritize and effectively manage multiple ongoing tasks and projects • Ability to work effectively as part of a team • Demonstrated leadership experience in public-facing service environments • Demonstrated ability to provide strategic direction and translate priorities into clear operational expectations and governance • Demonstrated ability to provide people leadership through coaching, performance feedback, and staff development, in alignment with organizational policies and leadership oversight. • Ability to manage risk, escalation, and issue resolution in a public-facing operational environment • Strong stakeholder and partner management skills, including relationship-building, negotiation, and alignment across internal and external teams • Ability to use data and insights to inform decision-making, identify trends, and guide continuous improvement and performance reporting • Capable of exercising sound judgment to independently assess issues, resolve problems effectively, and determine when escalation is required, providing clear recommendations as appropriate. Primary Areas of Responsibility • Provide strategic leadership, governance, and oversight for the Ottawa Visitor Centre, in alignment with Ottawa Tourism's priorities and risk management requirements. • Set the ongoing direction and priorities for the Ottawa Visitor Centre, ensuring consistent service excellence and a clear focus on continuous improvement. • Establish and maintain operating standards, service expectations, escalation pathways, and risk controls that guide day-to-day operations. • Lead the evolution of visitor servicing models and visitor experience improvements, informed by best practices and changing visitor needs. • Define and oversee staffing approaches and workforce models (paid, seasonal, and/or volunteer, as applicable), including role clarity, training standards, and performance expectations. • Provide day-to-day people leadership support for Ottawa Visitor Centre staff, including coaching, performance feedback, and staff development, in alignment with HR policies and with Director involvement in key decisions. • Serve as the primary escalation point for higher-risk operational, reputational, or people-related issues, providing recommendations and ensuring appropriate escalation to the Director when required. • Set the strategic approach for visitor-facing programs, partnerships, and ancillary offerings (e.g., retail/programming models, partner integration), and oversee implementation through the operating model. • Lead the data and insights approach for the Visitor Centre, including what is tracked, reporting cadence, and how insights inform operational decisions and visitor experience improvements. • Provide strategic guidance and oversight to the Manager, Visitor Services, ensuring alignment between daily operations and longer-term priorities. • Other duties as assigned. Desired Qualifications • Fluently bilingual in both English and French, including fluency in both written and spoken components of each language • Post-secondary qualification in a related field (office administration, business, communications, etc.) • Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in a public-facing service environment (e.g., visitor services, customer experience, tourism/hospitality, retail operations, or a comparable customer-focused setting), with experience overseeing day-to-day service delivery. • Experience in a supervisory or lead capacity, including providing performance feedback and supporting staff development. • Demonstrated experience with service standards and operational oversight in a customer-facing environment (e.g., implementing procedures, supporting consistency, and maintaining quality expectations). • Strong judgment and decision-making capability, including assessing issues, resolving problems effectively, and recognizing when escalation is required with clear recommendations. • Experience using data and performance information (formal or informal) to identify trends, support reporting, and inform service improvements. • Business-level proficiency with Microsoft Office 365 and comfort working with digital tools used in service environments. Assets • Knowledge of or experience with the tourism industry, or in a member-based association or non-profit • Knowledge of Ottawa's attractions and activities • First aid training The Hiring Process • Initial Phone Screen • In-Depth Interview • Peer Interview • Reference checks • Offer How we Hire The decisions throughout the hiring process are made by Ottawa Tourism's hiring team; Ottawa Tourism does not include any use of AI through the hiring process. This process complies with privacy and employment laws across Canada. Vacancy Reasoning This role is a newly created role. Compensation Range The expected salary for this position is $83,251. Land Acknowledgement Ottawa Tourism is located and operates on the traditional and unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin people, who have travelled and inhabited these lands for millennia. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement We place great value on the importance of diversity in our workforce, and we value inclusivity, trust, innovation and encourage applications from individuals who are members of under-represented or marginalized communities. We foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization. We connect with Indigenous communities; we care about the planet our people and our industry, and we want our city to be accessible to all. To that end, we are committed to an objective hiring process which is free from discrimination based on any of the protected grounds as stated in Ontario's Human Rights Code. In an effort to ensure that the selection process is as objective as possible, applicants are invited to consider removing any indications on their application that might suggest age, place of origin, ethnic origin, disability, race, or any other protected ground. For example, applicants might choose to include the names and classification of degrees granted (i.e. Diplomain Project Management, with Honours),while excluding the name or location of the school. Accessibility Statement All applications will be considered as longas the applicant can demonstrate that theymeetthe essential qualifications as described in the job posting. Further to this, if you would like to request any additional accommodations based on one of the Code's protected grounds, we will be happy to help accommodate you. DEADLINE TO APPLY: Wednesday June 17th at 4pm APERCU La vision de TourismeOttawa est d'etre l'une des destinations urbaines les plus visitees, les plus durables, les plus dynamiques et les plus appreciees au Canada, et d'etre l'autorite touristique en ce qui a trait aux decisions cles liees au developpement economique et general de la ville d'Ottawa. La mission de TourismeOttawa est de commercialiser et de vendre Ottawa en tant que destination de loisirs et d'affaires attrayante et de diriger ou de participer a des initiatives qui ameliorent l'experience des visiteurs d'Ottawa. Nous contribuons aux objectifs plus larges de developpement economique de la Ville et a la reussite des parties prenantes et, ce faisant, nous enrichissons la qualite de vie de tous les residents d'Ottawa. Relevant de la directrice, Developpement de la destination, le gestionnaire principal, Operations et Services aux visiteurs, assure un leadership strategique, une gouvernance et une supervision pour le Centre Infotouriste d'Ottawa. Le titulaire de ce poste est charge de definir l'orientation et les priorites a long terme du Centre Infotouriste d'Ottawa, de maintenir une excellence constante du service au fil du temps et d'etablir les normes operationnelles, les structures et les responsabilites qui guident les activites quotidiennes. Sous sa supervision, le gestionnaire, Services aux visiteurs, ainsi que d'autres membres du personnel a temps partiel, le gestionnaire principal veille a ce que la mise en uvre operationnelle soit harmonisee avec les priorites, les normes de service et les exigences en matiere de gestion des risques de Tourisme Ottawa. Ce poste est base au centre-ville d'Ottawa (a la fois dans les locaux de Tourisme Ottawa et au Centre Infotouriste d'Ottawa), pour harmoniser les besoins strategiques et operationnels; il peut etre necessaire de travailler occasionnellement les fins de semaine et les jours feries. Competences cles • Capacite a communiquer professionnellement (a l'ecrit et a l'oral) en anglais et en francais. • Capacite a etablir des priorites et a gerer efficacement plusieurs taches et projets en cours. • Capacite a travailler efficacement au sein d'une equipe. • Experience averee en matiere de leadership dans des environnements de services en contact avec le public. • Capacite averee a definir une orientation strategique et a traduire les priorites en attentes operationnelles claires et en principes de gouvernance. • Capacite averee a diriger des equipes au moyen de l'accompagnement, de la retroaction sur le rendement et du developpement du personnel, dans le respect des politiques organisationnelles et sous la supervision de la direction. • Capacite a gerer les risques, la transmission a des echelons superieurs et la resolution des enjeux dans un environnement operationnel en contact avec le public. • Solides competences en gestion des parties prenantes et des partenaires, notamment en matiere d'etablissement de relations, de negociation et d'harmonisation entre les equipes internes et externes. • Capacite a utiliser les donnees et les perspectives pour eclairer la prise de decision, cerner les tendances et orienter l'amelioration continue ainsi que la production de rapports sur le rendement. • Capacite a faire preuve d'un jugement sur pour evaluer de maniere independante les enjeux, resoudre efficacement les problemes et determiner quand une transmission a un echelon superieur est necessaire, en formulant des recommandations claires le cas echeant. Principaux domaines de responsabilite • Assurer le leadership strategique, la gouvernance et la supervision du Centre Infotouriste d'Ottawa, en harmonisant ces elements avec les priorites de Tourisme Ottawa et les exigences en matiere de gestion des risques. • Definir l'orientation et les priorites a long terme du Centre Infotouriste d'Ottawa, en garantissant une excellence constante du service et en mettant resolument l'accent sur l'amelioration continue. • Etablir et maintenir des normes operationnelles, des attentes en matiere de service, des procedures de transmission a un echelon superieur et des controles des risques qui guident les operations quotidiennes. • Diriger l'evolution des modeles de service aux visiteurs et l'amelioration de l'experience des visiteurs, en s'appuyant sur les pratiques exemplaires et l'evolution des besoins des visiteurs. • Definir et superviser les strategies de dotation en personnel et les modeles de main-d'uvre (salaries, saisonniers ou benevoles, selon le cas), y compris la clarte des roles, les normes de formation et les attentes en matiere de rendement. • Fournir un soutien quotidien en matiere de leadership aux membres du personnel du Centre Infotouriste d'Ottawa, notamment de l'encadrement, de la retroaction sur le rendement et du perfectionnement professionnel, en harmonisant les politiques des ressources humaines et en impliquant la personne directrice dans les decisions cles. • Servir de point de contact principal pour les enjeux operationnels, de reputation ou lies au personnel presentant un risque eleve, en formulant des recommandations et en veillant a ce que celles-ci soient transmises au directeur lorsque cela est necessaire. • Definir l'approche strategique pour les programmes destines aux visiteurs, les partenariats et les offres complementaires (par exemple, modeles de vente au detail/programmation, integration des partenaires), et superviser la mise en uvre au moyen du modele operationnel. • Diriger l'approche en matiere de donnees et d'analyses pour le Centre Infotouriste d'Ottawa, y compris les elements suivis, la frequence des rapports, et la maniere dont les perspectives eclairent les decisions operationnelles et les ameliorations de l'experience des visiteurs. • Fournir des conseils strategiques et assurer la supervision du gestionnaire, ...

Want to see how well you match this job?