Director of Retail & Ancillary Revenue

LOCATION: New York, Miami or Los Angeles, primarily hybrid. Must live within an easy commute of one of our museums

DEPARTMENT: Operations

REPORTS TO: Chief Operating Officer

KEY PARTNERS: Marketing, Creative and Design, New Museum Openings, Brand Standards & Excellence, Learning & Development, Regional Directors of Operations, General Managers, Finance, Supply Chain

SUPPORT: HQ Operations

EMPLOYMENT: Full-time, exempt

COMPENSATION: $140,000 to $160,000 base, based on market, plus annual bonus and stock options

Who We Are

Museum of Ice Cream is an inclusive & immersive brand, designed to captivate your sweetest fantasy and sugar-filled daydreams online and IRL. At Museum of Ice Cream, we invite you to believe in the magic of creativity, to remind you that inclusive spaces do exist, and to show you that childlike wonder is worth savoring. In our world, ice cream is the agent of change and the vehicle to ignite the creative spirit that lives in all of us.

Fueled by the power of imagination, MOIC is a universe of possibilities with tons of room for you to explore.

About The Role

Retail at Museum of Ice Cream is part of the show. The shop is often the first and last room of the museum, the thing guests take home, and one of our biggest levers for growth. Everything else a guest can buy around the visit, from coat check to photos to games, is another. Today both are underbuilt.

We are looking for a Director of Retail & Ancillary Revenue to build that business from strategy to shelf. You start with data and consumer insight, set a strategy that is unmistakably MOIC, and turn it into product, assortment, services and an in-museum experience that sells.

You look at every square foot and every step of the guest journey and ask how it can earn more while making the visit better. You decide where we go next, including e-commerce, wholesale, licensing and partnerships.

We expect significant impact in your first quarter, not a strategy deck in your first year.

WHAT YOU OWN

• Retail and ancillary strategy: Categories, positioning, channels and growth targets, aligned to the brand
• Holistic assortment: The right product for every guest who walks in.
• Ancillary revenue: Every service or experience we can monetize that adds to the visit, such as coat and stroller check, photos, gaming and redemption, and birthday and celebration add-ons
• Space and fixtures: Visual merchandising standards, fixtures and layouts that make the most of every shop and every underused space
• Multi-channel: The business case and build for e-commerce, wholesale, licensing and partnerships, including how we sell to birthday and celebration guests before and after their visit
• Retail and promotional calendar: Drops, collaborations, promotions and launches, tied to the marketing calendar
• Inventory: Planning, open-to-buy, allocation by site, replenishment, markdowns and inventory management standards
• Category results: Retail and ancillary revenue, per-cap spend, gross margin, sell-through and inventory health across all sites. Regional Directors of Operations and General Managers own execution in their sites; you own the strategy and the numbers it is measured by

PRODUCT: BUILD WHAT GUESTS WANT TO BUY

Every product decision starts with what the data and our guests tell you.

• Build a clear picture of the retail guest: who buys, what they buy, when and why. Use POS data, conversion and attach rates, guest surveys, reviews and social
• Build the assortment architecture: hero products, exclusives, site-specific product, collaborations and a price ladder that works for every guest, from toddlers to adults
• Partner with Creative and Design on product development from concept to sample to launch
• Walk every shop and the full guest journey with a retail lens. Challenge where product, services and add-ons show up, and what fixtures each space needs
• Turn underused space into revenue with little or no added headcount, such as redemption games and claw machines that extend dwell time
• Build celebration offerings across channels, so a guest celebrating a birthday, wedding or milestone with us can buy before, during and after the visit
• Evaluate e-commerce, wholesale, licensing and partnerships with a real business case: revenue, margin, investment, risk and what it does to the brand. Recommend, and build what we approve
• Cut what does not sell. Every SKU and every service earns its space

PROFIT: MAKE RETAIL AND ANCILLARY MAKE MONEY

You know the numbers by site, by SKU and by service, and you act on them weekly.

• Grow retail and ancillary revenue, per-cap spend, conversion, units per transaction and average unit retail
• Roll out proven ancillary revenue, such as coat and stroller check, to every site where it fits, and track it weekly
• Set pricing and promotion strategy that protects margin and the brand
• Own open-to-buy, inventory planning, allocation and replenishment. Hit turn targets and keep aged inventory down
• Source and negotiate with vendors and partners, and own costing through landed cost
• Run markdown and liquidation with discipline, not as an afterthought
• Partner with General Managers and Supply Chain to reduce shrink
• Report weekly on performance by site, SKU and service, and change course fast when the numbers say to

PROCESS: BUILD THE PLAYBOOK SITES RUN ON

Your strategy only matters if it shows up the same way on every shop floor.

• Build the retail and ancillary rollout playbook with Regional Directors of Operations and General Managers: planograms, fixture plans, visual standards, launch kits, product training and selling guidance
• Partner with Brand Standards & Excellence and Learning & Development to set retail standards, train site teams and audit execution
• Create a launch process with timelines, gates and owners across Design, Marketing, Supply Chain, New Museum Openings and Operations
• Partner with New Museum Openings so every new museum's shop, fixtures and ancillary spaces are designed to sell from day one
• Set inventory management standards for receiving, counts and replenishment, and make sure sites follow them
• Stand up a weekly retail and ancillary dashboard that site leaders and the executive team actually use

PEOPLE: LEAD ACROSS THE COMPANY

You lead through influence. Site teams do not report to you, so your results depend on how well you bring people with you.

• Work as a true partner to Marketing and Design, sharing one calendar and one set of priorities
• Earn the buy-in of Regional Directors of Operations, General Managers and site teams, and hold the standard when execution slips
• Build selling capability at every site through training, tools and incentives
• Manage vendors, manufacturers, licensing and ancillary partners
• Build the retail team over time as the business case supports it

Museum of Ice Cream is an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Must haves

• 8+ years in retail merchandising, buying, product or commercial strategy, including 3+ years leading a retail business or category with P&L accountability
• Retail experience in experiential, entertainment, theme park, museum, hospitality or consumer brand environments
• Experience growing ancillary or non-ticket revenue, such as photo, games, services or add-ons
• A track record of growing revenue and margin, with numbers to show it
• Product development experience with design teams, plus vendor sourcing and costing
• Strong merchandise planning skills: open-to-buy, allocation, replenishment and inventory systems
• Visual merchandising and fixture planning experience
• Obsessed with data and consumer insight. You are fluent in Excel or Sheets and POS reporting, and you turn data into decisions
• Experience building or evaluating e-commerce, wholesale or licensing
• Proven cross-functional partner to Marketing and Creative
• Lives within an easy commute of one of our museums in New York, Miami or Los Angeles, and comfortable on the floor and traveling to sites

Nice to haves

• Family entertainment, attractions or theme park ancillary revenue (photo, games, redemption)
• Birthday, party or celebration programs
• Collaboration or licensed product programs
• Multi-site retail rollouts and new store openings
• Direct-to-consumer brand experience

This is not the role for you if

• You make product decisions on taste alone, without the data
• You need a large team in place before you can deliver
• You see retail as a gift shop instead of a growth business & core part of the customer experience

HOW WE HIRE

Our process includes a case study. You will build and present a holistic product and ancillary revenue strategy for one of our museums.

THE GOOD STUFF

• Medical, dental and vision insurance
• 401(k)
• PTO, plus an additional week off and a stipend after five years
• Pre-tax commuter account
• Stock options
• Annual Pink Ball (yes, it is pink-tie themed)
• Unlimited ice cream and break room snacks
• 16 free museum tickets per year for friends and family, and free entry for you
• 50% off retail products