Visitor Centre Manager (Tap Room, Beer Garden & Tours)

Macaloney’s Distillery & Twa Dogs Brewery

Visitor Centre Manager (tap room, beer garden & tours)

Are you passionate about beer & whisky sales? Are you passionate about building and developing great teams? Do you enjoy using social media to promote fun and entertaining events? Ideally, you’ve been a brewery or distillery retail store manager, or bar manager, with well-developed digital media marketing skills, who wants to follow your passions with a World Award Winning distillery & brewery - one that is also host to 5-star brewery-distillery tours, part of the BC Ale Trail, the hub for the Northwest Whiskey Trail, and the only Greater-Victoria brewery-distillery on the Alaska Cruise-ship itinerary?

The Visitor Centre (VC) Manager is responsible for providing leadership to our VC sales & tour host staff in our bar, beer garden/tent & retail gift shop. This includes staff supervision & scheduling, recruitment & onboarding, and job training. As manager you’ll coordinate with the cruise-ship ShoreEx companies & other tourism partners to promote & coordinate tours.

You will be front of house, working alongside your VC staff team. The position encompasses overseeing guided tours of our production area and our Custom Whisky Cask Program which incudes 10% commission on sales. As the only brewery-distillery in Saanich (Van Isles largest municipality), you will also have the opportunity to demonstrate your creativity in developing and promoting via paid & passive social media, a program of customer-engagement events. Processing of online sales orders is also a responsibility for your team.

With a passion for learning about whisky and beer, you will have the opportunity to share this knowledge via fun and engaging experiential tours and with locals in our 10 beer-tap bar. Our Head Brewer & Master Whisky Maker will train you on how our beers and ‘Worlds Best’ whiskies are made and how their flavours are created.

Given that direct sales to locals and tourists are an important revenue stream for Macaloney’s Distillery and Twa Dogs Brewery, excellent customer service and organizational skills are imperative. Providing leadership to staff while presenting a fun, confident, welcoming and helpful outlook is critical for this position. This position reports to the President & Whiskymaker. It is a full-time position eligible for tips, sales commissions and a bonus leading to a total remuneration in excess of $80,000. This is a full-time position encompass both week-days and rotational weekend work, as well as some evening work. There are also generous perks, excellent medical-dental- vision benefits, and a potentially lucrative share-ownership grant program (up to 15,000 shares) whereby you become a part-owner of our brewery-distillery.

Applicants must have prior brewery tap room, distillery Visitor Centre or pub management experience, have excellent social media marketing experience, and possess a SIR certification. If you wish to work in a booming industry in Victoria on the beautiful West Coast and make an impact on growing sales within a ‘World’s Best’ distillery-brewery & tourist destination, please send your CV and cover letter before 1st December.

Responsibilities:

• Management & leadership of VC staff including recruitment, shift scheduling, onboarding and job training.
• Manage and promote our custom cask program. This is a program which allows for customers to buy 30L and full casks of custom designed casks. VC Manager will be responsible for marketing the cask program and communications with existing cask owners.
• Market, manage, and deliver 2-day whisky-craft beer academy. This premium, paid experience for whisky enthusiast’s (complimentary for investors & trade staff) runs during fall, winter and spring. It includes brewery, distillery and warehouse tour, lectures, tutored tastings, cask sampling and blending class.
• Management of marketing & promotions: Conceptualize and implement a program of engaging events to attract locals. Work with VC staff on social media & paid social media advertising, and news media to promote tap room events and newsworthy coverage. Coordinate and manage relationships with tourism partners and manage the N.W. Whiskey Trail. Manage internal and external VC events, including coordination of music and entertainment. Coordinate and chair fortnightly meetings with PR Agent and company marketing staff.
• Manage, via staff, the inquiries to the company email and phone messages, and social media channels.
• Establish inventory tracking with minimum reorder quantities to manage beer, whisky, food, merchandise and barware stock inventory.
• Handle all Doc 60 liquor transfers from production to the VC.
• Be front of house, leading by example a warm welcome, engagement, and selling to locals and tourists:
• Promote and up-sell the distillery’s products to guests.
• Serve customers alcoholic beverages and food at the bar and tasting areas.
• Process payments and operate a cash register.
• Diligently re-stock product to maintain a wide retail selection for customers and create a professional looking gift shop.
• Conduct guided tours of brewery-distillery.
• Daily opening and closing of the distillery according to scheduled shift.
• Assemble promotions and displays within the Visitor Centre/gift shop.
• Answer customer questions regarding our products and the brewing / distilling processes, while also suggesting merchandise in a professional way.
• Work with our Admin group to track and report sales progress, social media performance, and impact of various events and tourism strategies.
• Participate with other managers in weekly Senior Leadership Team meetings.
• Other activities as required by management.

Skills / Requirements:

• Previous management experience in alcoholic beverage sales.
• Experience with social media advertising and promotion. Strong creative writing skills.
• Great team-building/leadership, organizational and planning skills
• Comfortable presenting to groups.
• Confident, friendly, outgoing & engaging personality.
• Strong work ethic with a passion for customer service and entrepreneurial success.
• Willingness to develop a working knowledge of whisky and beer production & tastings.
• Flexible schedule.
• Attaining a ‘Serve it right’ and ‘Food Safe BC’ certificate will be required for employment.
• Fluent in English. Other languages would be an asset.
• A passion for single malt whisky & craft beer.

Job Type: Full-time

Over $80,000 p.a. comprising salary of $45,000, tips, commissions, and bonus.

Benefits:

• Paid time off (3 weeks vacation growing to 4 weeks after 3 years time served)
• Company ownership: 3,000 shares granted per annum for 5 years for a cumulative total of 15,000 shares, with a 4-year vesting period. Shares are currently selling for up to $10.70/share with anticipation of healthy appreciation subject to market and company performance.
• Company events
• Dental, Vision & health care and Employee Assistance Program
• On-site parking
• Other perks including store discount

Schedule:

• 37.5 hours per week, day’s, evenings, and weekends scheduled between team

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: $45,000.00-$80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental care
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Extended health care
• On-site parking
• Store discount
• Vision care

Flexible Language Requirement:

• French not required

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• On call
• Overtime
• Weekends as needed

Supplemental pay types:

• Bonus pay
• Commission pay
• Tips

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Victoria, BC V8Z 6P7: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (preferred)

Experience:

• Management: 1 year (preferred)

Work Location: In person