Sivertson Gallery Manager
Job posted May 15, 2021
Introduction
Sivertson Gallery is a destination art gallery in Grand Marais, Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Superior. We welcome a new Gallery Manager to our team of friendly, smart, fun, diverse, and hard-working staff who delight in selling and serving the art community of Grand Marais and the greater North Shore. Your daily experience will be surrounded by the best art of the region and by art from far north Alaska and Canada. Working with the valued and committed customers of Sivertson Gallery is a privilege and a pleasure. The many visitors to this region along with our local residents make for a great working clientele!
While not at work, you can enjoy the fabulous recreational assets the area is known for: miles and miles of excellent hiking, biking and ski trails; the best downhill ski area in the Midwest, Lutsen Mountains; canoeing, fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, skating, and swimming in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Areaa (BWCA); or fishing, sailing and swimming in the “big lake” of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world. The experience of living in Cook County is first class, one of the safest places in the world, and cozy and friendly. Although the shopping and dining opportunities are limited in this small town, they are some of the best the North Shore has to offer.
Overview of position
Available immediately. Full-time, year-round position. Must be friendly, flexible, available to work weekends and holidays (nights not necessary), and love working in a happening, enthusiastic environment with delightful coworkers. $48,000-$60,000/year salary depending on experience in retail management and background. Benefits include health insurance stipend, employer-matching simple IRA program, and paid vacation. Start date by July 1, 2021.
Minimum qualifications: High school diploma; bachelor’s degree in business administration or similar is preferred. Ten years professional experience in a customer service role, preferably retail. At least 4 years of experience managing employees, preferably in a retail setting. Background in the arts, including fine art appreciation, is preferred. A willingness to learn with ongoing education in classes such as sales, management, and fine art processes.
Specific job requirements for Gallery Manager position
In general, the Gallery Manager is responsible for creating and maintaining an enthusiastic, motivated culture of good sales with friendly, competent service in the gallery (from greeting customers to closing the sale). Our Gallery Manager will also oversee the Sivertson frame shop, print shop, and website. The Manager administers company policies and procedures; carries out the vision and goals for the overall strategic business plan; and reviews/understands financial data, operational costs, and inventories in order to ensure company profits and a sustainable (happy and healthy) staff/team.
Responsible for recruiting, hiring, retaining, training, disciplining, and firing of Gallery staff. This team includes the management staff of Siiviis (our sister gallery in Duluth, Minnesota); the frame shop; the print shop; and the Sivertson.com website. Gallery Manager is responsible for:
- Daily staff management of Sivertson Gallery, Siiviis and Sivertson.com.
- Competently scheduling the sales staff of Sivertson Gallery by balancing the strongest salespeople on the floor during the busiest times, with the ideal number of staff to match expected sales for the day. Managing the entire sales team to sustain healthy and happy employees and avoid burnout.
- Overseeing scheduling of frame shop and print shop production personnel to fulfill the gallery’s sales, while sustaining healthy and happy employees and avoiding burnout.
- Overseeing Siiviis staff schedules.
- Organizing tasks and assigning staff to accomplish goals.
- Evaluating staff based on performance (and work toward creating performance-based metrics).
- Setting targets and criteria for sales staff in the gallery and production staff in the frame and print shops.
Responsible for Sivertson Gallery products and giclee prints inventory. Gallery Manager is responsible for:
- Creating an inventory purchasing plan each year, in partnership with the gallery owner, for having the ideal inventory in the galleries at the right time for best sales (at its highest in midsummer and at its lowest by the end of the calendar year, without sacrificing excellent sales through the holiday season).
- Managing artist and vendor relationships by initiating in-person meetings and regular communication; placing orders; requesting new work as needed; managing, overseeing, and delegating the Sivertson Gallery Artist Buddy System.
Responsible for Sivertson Gallery customer relationships and retail marketing. Gallery Manager is responsible for:
- Creating ongoing relationships with customers in both brick and mortar stores and online store with friendly, consistent, trustworthy, and professional communications.
- Creating and maintaining gallery displays and store designs to facilitate sales while customers experience the most delightful, unique, and adventurous shopping.
- Directing and developing consistent social media content, and encouraging customer engagement on these platforms.
- Strategically using the Sivertson.com online platform to generate sales and campaigns throughout the year; writing “News of the North” blog posts; and analyzing daily, monthly and yearly Woo Commerce sales reports to increase online revenue moving forward.
- Directing and developing email marketing campaigns to generate sales throughout the year using Campaign Monitor email software.
- Gathering customer contact information including maintaining and growing customer lists within the email software platform.
Sivertson Gallery operations. Gallery Manager is responsible for:
- Organizing and managing Artisan Point of Sale (POS) software system.
- Taking special orders and custom orders.
- Managing and providing artist information to customers (artist biographies and original art certificates of authenticity).
- Managing all order fulfillment operations.
- Managing online and in-store orders to ensure customers’ purchases ship out accurately and arrive safely.
- Ordering and evaluating shipping supplies and vendors, and managing the supplies budget.
- Managing gallery’s cash register change on hand and supplies for sales team.
- Managing gallery for best presentation of products; designing gallery walls, gifts, and sculpture displays.
- Keeping gallery clean for shoppers.
Skills and qualifications. Gallery Manager shall have:
- Understanding of budgets and financial statements. Be proficient in creating and managing budgets, and have financial management skills.
- Background and skills in retail marketing with an understanding of how to attract and retain customers. Be able to direct advertising agencies, graphic designers, and other creative services vendors to create relevant marketing materials, sales campaigns, and print materials used at the gallery.
- Professional customer service skills, with the ability to teach these skills to sales team.
- Excellent communication skills to motivate and inspire sales team. Long-term relationships with customers, artists, and vendors is a hallmark of Sivertson Gallery’s business, and these special relationships require care and people skills.
- Knowledge and education in basic fine art processes (printmaking, painting, photography, etc.) or willingness to learn them. A wide variety of art and artists is represented at the gallery and a manager must understand the nature of making art.
To apply for Gallery Manager position:
To apply for the Gallery Manager position, please send a letter of introduction and a resume to Jan Sivertson at jan@sivertson.com or to Sivertson Gallery, 14 W Wisconsin St, Grand Marais, MN 55604.
Please, no phone calls or drop ins to the gallery inquiring about the position.
