Duty Manager (Hub Sleaford)

Job Description and Application Pack

Location: Hub, Sleaford

Discipline: Arts, Culture, and Commercial Operations

Job Type: Permanent, Full-Time 39 hours per week, 9am-5.15pm usual working hours (7-day rota, including some evenings and weekends)

Salary: From £29,751.23

Reports To: Centre Management Team

Responsible For: Café Team, Visitor Experience Assistants, and Cleaners

Closing Date: 9am Wednesday 22nd July

Interviews will be arranged on a rolling basis

About the Hub & GLL

The Hub is a nationally renowned centre that delivers an inspiring programme of creative arts & cultural experiences in Sleaford, across North Kesteven and beyond. Home to the national centre for craft and design, our celebrated exhibitions showcase contemporary artists and makers from around the world. Our shop stocks an ever-changing collection of handmade craft objects and design gifts, and our CaféBar is a great place to enjoy locally sourced specialty food and drink.

The Hub offers a dynamic programme of high quality visual arts and dance opportunities including workshops, talks, masterclasses, competitions, events, and performances for all people, ages and abilities. We deliver creative activities in schools, community and care settings; and we work with our communities and partners to coordinate participatory arts projects, events, festivals, celebrations and public commissions. 

In 2025-26 the Hub attracted over 140,000 visitors. Every year our Centre and our CafeBar get busier and opportunities to bring visitors into our gallery spaces and participants to public programmes increase. 

The Hub is owned and funded by North Kesteven District Council and is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England. The Centre is operated by Better who is part of GLL; a charitable social enterprise and the UK’s largest public leisure operator.

As the UK’s largest leisure operator and charitable social enterprise, GLL offers a range of careers for everyone in our local communities. We manage over 400 facilities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including public sport and leisure centres, elite sporting venues, libraries and children’s centres. Our people are from the communities we serve and help us make real changes in their local area.

The Role

We are looking for an ambitious and dynamic individual who is passionate about the power of art and creativity to inspire, transform, and unite communities. 

As Duty Manager, you will play a pivotal role in the success of the Hub, leading a multi-disciplinary team to deliver a high-quality visitor experience and exceptional customer service.

This role manages the day-to-day operational functions of the Hub—including the CafeBar, retail shop, and front-of-house teams—with specialist responsibility for overseeing building health, safety, and contract maintenance. As part of the management team, you will contribute to the strategic development of the venue as a vital local creative hub and an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO).

Key Responsibilities

Daily Operations & Visitor Experience

• Shift Leadership: Act as the primary operational lead on a 7-day rota basis, opening, setting up, and securely locking down the building.

• Service Excellence: Maintain a welcoming, professional image, using customer feedback to enhance the visitor experience and handle queries calmly under pressure.

• Presentation: Ensure all areas of the Centre (CafeBar, shop, galleries, toilets, and public areas) are maintained to the highest standards of cleanliness, safety, and security.

Health, Safety & Compliance Lead

• Statutory Compliance: Act as the Hub’s designated Health & Safety representative.

• Safety Systems: Ensure all statutory and non-statutory requirements are met, including fire safety, daily equipment logs, risk management, and environmental standards.

• Incident Management: Administer First Aid and deliver critical incident management and building evacuations when required.

• Records: Accurately maintain and update all operational records, incident logs, and health and safety documentation.

• Environmental reporting: for Arts Council funding compliance

CafeBar & Retail Management

• Commercial Quality: Oversee daily operations of the CafeBar and Shop to ensure a diverse, high-quality offer that meets customer expectations and dietary regulations.

• Financial Controls: Manage inventory stocktakes, ordering, and stock levels to maximise profitability, minimize waste, and track purchasing trends.

• Promotional Activations: Maximise commercial and promotional opportunities around key annual retail and food events/celebrations.

• Hygiene Standards: Enforce strict food hygiene legislation, cleanliness standards, and daily logging across the café team.

Team Leadership & People Management

• Supervision: Allocate, monitor, and supervise work standards of the front of house and café teams, ensuring staffing levels match the event programme.

• People Procedures: Manage day-to-day people procedures, including onboarding, shift scheduling, absence reporting, appraisals, and discipline.

• Development: Provide leadership, mentoring, and motivation to staff and volunteers, ensuring high performance and continuous professional development.

• Business Planning: Work with the wider team to deliver the business plan, contributing to future plans meeting the priorities of the local authority, Arts Council England and other funders.

Person Specification & Behaviours

Duty managers are fast-thinkers, calm under pressure, responsible and a natural with people from all walks of life. 

This role demands the following blend of knowledge, skills, experience and behaviour (all are essential, unless shown otherwise, and will be assessed by Application Form and / or Interview / Assessment):

Core Behaviours (The GLL Difference)

BELIEVE: Demonstrates self-belief, shows integrity, and is committed to service excellence.

ACT: Continuously developing, results-driven, with a positive can-do attitude that makes a difference.

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