Guest Experience Manager (Sales, Ops, CX)

The Guest Experience Manager role is an opportunity for an entrepreneurial person to help deliver the best end-to-end experience to VAWAAs global community and customers.

You will be part of the core team at VAWAA.com (Vacation With An Artist) building the first global marketplace to book apprenticeships with master artists and makers around the world – the fingerprints of humanity and agents of change.

Your work to bring delight to customers and turn them into evangelists will be at the center of the VAWAA experience. It will reach a global community of people driven by passion and purpose across 45+ countries.

You'll be joining an early stage startup founding team, led by a purpose driven founder, at a major inflection point in the growth of the company with a massive demand for travel as the world opens up. We've won the prestigious Webby Award for Best in Travel Websites, have 98% 5-star guest ratings and been featured in New York Times, Guardian, WSJ, National Geographic, Vogue, Conde Nast, Travel & Leisure, Artsy and many arts and design publications.

Why this role is unique

Build A Product and Community: Your work delivering end to end customer support and experience will be a major part of the product experience. You will work with a cross-functional team to build a revenue-producing product vs. be one of the many customer support personnel at a large organization.

Inside View of Transformational Experiences - The role is an interesting way to explore the world and learn about different art processes. You will get to learn from master artists, see across multiple cultures, and become a knowledge expert in frontier areas like transformation based experiences, creative wellness, startups, leadership, and growth in a very short period of time.

VAWAA Network: You will be plugged into VAWAA's global community of master artists/ makers and fascinating people from a variety of creative backgrounds.

What we're looking for

• 2+ years experience in B2C digital customer service and sales role at an early stage / fast growing startup.
• Deep understanding of guest needs and creative problem solving skills to support guests through international trip planning and logistics, decision making, personalization of the VAWAA experience, budget etc. via various digital channels.
• Persuasion skills to uncover objections and convert a guest from NO/ MAY BE to a YES and help them make their dreams come true.
• Strong operations mindset with experience in setting up automations, processes and operational efficiencies required to scale.
• International solo travel experience.
• Knowledge of global arts, design, crafts and culture.
• Experience working with customer service and CRM tools like Customer.io, Streak, Helpscout, Hubspot etc.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for English and non-native English speakers.
• You're ultra detail oriented, organized and can multitask like a boss - nothing gets past you.
• A strong independent work ethic. You strive for excellence and take pride in your work.
• You're naturally positive and a people person - we love making others happy.
• Company is running 7 days/wk and customer inquiries drive the business, so a willingness to cover when needed and commitment to delivering timely responses is required. We can work together to create a schedule or work structure that optimizes this and also allows for off time, for everyone.

What you'll do

• Understand the VAWAA community, build relationships and create long term loyal customers.
• Exceed and provide a delightful customer experience for all bookings. (We’re talking 20 on a scale of 1-10).
• Help customers through their travel decision process, providing personalized recommendations and follow ups.
• Accurately process, confirm and manage all customer bookings.
• Manage booking payments, refunds, rescheduling, cancellations, promo codes, gift cards.
• Manage customer and booking related communication with artists.
• Encourage and manage post-experience feedback, photos, and reviews.
• Identify opportunities to upsell.
• Generate loyal repeat customers and referrals.
• Work with the Marketing Manager to share customer stories.
• Monitor metrics, provide customer feedback and translate learnings with actionable recos to VAWAA team.
• Optimize booking flow to reduce friction and scale operations.
• Work with team to scale human and personalized aspects of customer interaction.
• Work efficiently with the tools we use daily to work: Slack, Streak, Customer.io, Google Documents, Trello, Mailchimp etc.

What you can expect

• We are here on a mission to lead the way for best experiences in our category. We will grow with urgency, but thoughtfully.
• You will be part of the core team that shapes VAWAAs future.
• We have a strong culture of curiosity, creative thinking, ALWAYS learning and being our best self. It allows us to deliver excellence and dedication.
• Our founder has a heart forward, purpose-driven leadership style. We make everyone feel loved, welcome and safe.
• We take ownership at all levels by leading with truth, optimism, tenacity & courage. We do not make excuses.
• Health and dental benefits.
  
• Working at VAWAA means one VAWAA experience every year - on us, plus swag.
• You will enjoy an immediate global community of master artists/ makers and fascinating people from a variety of creative backgrounds.
• Salary range based on experience and circumstances is 55K-65K and stock options. For candidates with significant experience, we can discuss additional equity compensation.
  
• We are based in New York, but open to remote applications from within the US.

Tip: Cover Letters that include a link to a short 5 min video explaining why you are the best person for this role will be given preference.

As a Equal Opportunity Employer, VAWAA will consider all qualified applicants regardless of color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital or family status, disability, gender identity or expression, veteran status, actual or presumed belonging to an ethnic group, or any other legally protected status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.