Manager, Tours & Visitor Experiences

About Us: 

Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a global Jewish human rights organization that confronts anti-Semitism and hate, defends the safety of Israel and Jews worldwide, and teaches the lessons of the Holocaust through awareness, advocacy, justice, education, and its Museums of Tolerance. With a constituency of over 400,000 member families since its founding in 1977, the SWC has an international footprint through its Museums of Tolerance, Moriah Films, and the Digital Terrorism + Hate Project.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, it maintains operations in New York, Chicago, Miami, Toronto, Paris, Berlin, Jerusalem, and Buenos Aires. It is an accredited Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Organization of American States, the Latin American Parliament, and the Council of Europe and maintains relationships with the highest levels of governments throughout the world.

In 1993, the Center opened the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles to worldwide acclaim. The Museum has served as the Center’s flagship educational arm, challenging visitors to confront bigotry and racism, and to understand the Holocaust in both historical and contemporary contexts. In addition, the Center developed Moriah Media to produce theatrical documentaries to educate global audiences. Moriah has produced 17 documentaries to date, two of which have received the Academy Award for best feature documentary, The Long Way Home and Genocide.

About the role:

The Manager of Tours & Experiences is responsible for leading the operational management, training strategy, facilitation standards, and continuous improvement of all on-site guided experiences at the Museum of Tolerance. Reporting within the Education department, this role ensures that visitor-facing educational programming is delivered with consistency, professionalism, pedagogical rigor, and operational excellence.

This position provides direct leadership to the Museum’s tour guides, ensuring that every visitor experience reflects the Museum’s core educational principles: inquiry-driven learning, emotional engagement, historical accuracy, and civic relevance. The role will oversee onboarding, training, coaching, scheduling coordination, performance management, and facilitation quality across a team of part-time educators. The Manager will work closely with the Floor Coordinators and broader Education leadership to strengthen systems, standardize processes, and support a high-performing visitor experience operation.

Responsibilities:

Team Leadership, Supervision & Staff Management

• Provide supervision, leadership, and training to part-time tour guides and visitor-facing facilitators 
• Partner closely with Floor Coordinators to support daily operations, staffing continuity, and visitor experience quality 
• Lead recruitment, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and retention efforts for tour guide staff 
• Establish clear expectations, accountability measures, and performance standards across the guide team 
• Conduct regular observations, coaching sessions, evaluations, and performance conversations 
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and professional team culture centered on continuous growth and learning 
• Support employee engagement, communication, and staff development initiatives 

Training, Facilitation Standards & Professional Development

• Design, implement, and oversee a comprehensive facilitator training and certification program for tour guides and volunteers 
• Create standardized onboarding materials, facilitation resources, and operational training processes 
• Lead ongoing professional development workshops, calibration sessions, and facilitation refreshers 
• Ensure all facilitators are trained in inquiry-based learning practices, visitor engagement strategies, classroom management, and Museum pedagogy 
• Partner with Education Content & Learning teams to align facilitation practices with institutional educational goals and updated content 
• Develop facilitation rubrics and quality assurance measures to support consistency across all tours and experiences 

Program Operations & Process Management

• Oversee operational workflows related to guided tours and visitor experiences 
• Collaborate with Floor Coordinatordinators on staffing schedules, coverage planning, and daily program logistics 
• Support the development of scalable staffing structures that align with tour demand, visitor volume, and budget considerations 
• Improve operational efficiencies, communication systems, and internal processes related to tour execution 
• Ensure seamless coordination between Education, Museum Operations, Visitor Services, and volunteer teams 
• Help maintain operational readiness for approximately 100 weekly tours and educational experiences 

Visitor Experience & Facilitation Quality

• Establish and uphold high standards for inquiry-driven, emotionally engaging, and historically grounded facilitation 
• Ensure all visitor experiences reflect the Museum’s educational philosophy, mission, and institutional values 
• Observe tours regularly and provide actionable coaching and developmental feedback 
• Monitor visitor feedback and identify opportunities for continuous improvement 
• Ensure facilitators are prepared to engage thoughtfully with diverse audiences and sensitive historical subject matter 

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work collaboratively with the Volunteer Coordinator to support meaningful volunteer engagement within the visitor experience model 
• Partner with Education leadership, curriculum teams, and content specialists to ensure guides are equipped with current materials and institutional messaging 
• Collaborate with MMOT and broader Education teams to align facilitation standards and best practices across programs 
• Serve as a key operational and communication partner across departments supporting visitor engagement initiatives 

Systems, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Develop and maintain systems for tracking tour volume, staffing metrics, visitor feedback, training completion, and facilitation performance 
• Use data and operational insights to inform staffing recommendations, training priorities, and process improvements 
• Identify opportunities to improve consistency, efficiency, and overall visitor experience outcomes 
• Support departmental planning efforts, including staffing models, workflow improvements, and long-term operational strategy 

Experience and Skills:

• 5+ years of experience in museum education, experiential learning, visitor engagement, or public-facing educational programming 
• Demonstrated experience managing educators, facilitators, docent programs, or visitor experience teams 
• Strong leadership, coaching, and staff development experience 
• Experience developing training programs, operational processes, or professional development initiatives 
• Excellent organizational, communication, and project management skills 
• Ability to balance educational quality with operational execution in a fast-paced environment
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate across multiple teams and stakeholder groups  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in Holocaust education, social justice education, civic engagement, or dialogue-based programming 
• Familiarity with inquiry-based learning, SEL frameworks, experiential education, or facilitation methodology 
• Experience managing part-time educator teams, volunteer programs, or distributed facilitation staff 
• Background in visitor experience operations or educational program management within museums or nonprofit institutions