The Patron Service Manager is part of the Customer Care team and responsible for providing personalized, concierge-level service to HGO’s donors, efficient management of donor ticket operations, as well as managing subscriber benefits across departments. This position works closely with the Philanthropy team and executive leadership to coordinate memorable and enriching experiences for high profile constituents. This is a primarily on-site role with some remote flexibility.
The ideal candidate is one who thrives in a growth mindset organization, challenges the status quo, excels at connecting people, and drives strong processes and results. They will be charged with contributing to a culture of high performance and operational excellence—all focused on delivering superior customer engagement.
Join Us!
We are looking for talented, passionate, and dedicated people who are eager to make contributions to our community and our mission. If you are excited about this position but your experience does not align perfectly, we encourage you to apply! You may be just the right candidate for this position or another role at HGO.
About the Houston Grand Opera
The mission of HGO is to enrich our diverse community through the art of opera. We do so by creating, curating, exploring, and producing outstanding experiences centered around the human voice. HGO has received a Tony Award, three Grammy Awards, and three Emmy Awards – we are the only opera company in the world to win all three honors.
Our strategic focus is two-fold: creating profoundly enriching experiences for our diverse audiences and clearly defining and positively promoting the HGO brand. We believe every team member enriches our organization by exposing a broad range of ways to understand and engage our community and discover, design, and deliver enriching experiences.
Compensation and Benefits
We offer robust benefits to full-time employees, including:
Comprehensive and affordable health benefits.
Generous paid time off.
403b retirement plan with employer match.
Flexible work schedule.
Professional development fund and opportunities.
Discounted parking in the Theater District garage and nearby lots, plus easy access to Metro transportation.
Free tickets to our mainstage and community productions and events.
Key Responsibilities
Ticketing Operations
Works closely with the Philanthropy team to provide expert-level ticketing services, benefits fulfillment, and related operational support to create memorable experiences for donors, prospective donors, and other institutional partners
Provides personalized, concierge-level ticket services for a portfolio of donor groups beginning at the Patrons Circle giving level. This includes subscription sales and renewals, single ticket sales, ticket exchanges, etc.
Responsible for maintaining a 92% or better subscription renewal rate for the Patron Services portfolio of accounts
Manages dress rehearsal ticketing operations for all qualified beneficiaries and company stakeholders
Prepares will call tickets for high profile constituents for personal handoff at valet or the box office
Manages ticketing operations for ticketed special events such as Opening Night Dinner and Concert of Arias
Supports the Office of General Director and Executive Leadership with special ticket requests
Manages the development and delivery of season tickets and related informational materials
Donor and Subscriber Benefits
Manages subscriber benefit programs and coordinates across participating departments to deliver enriching experiences for subscribers that drive added value and increased engagement across all points f the customer journey
Plays a critical role in driving a culture of continual, iterative improvement to current subscriber benefit programs, ideating new opportunities, piloting new concepts, and deploying newly added benefits
Manages operations for donor benefits such as donor valet parking, reserved self-parking, and rideshare partners
Other Duties
Maintains a strategic presence for the Patron Service team at Philanthropy events where Patrons Circle constituents will be present such as Opera Unwrapped, recitals, backstage tours, masterclasses, salons, etc.
Serves as a mentor and resource to members of the Customer Care team to foster professional growth, first-in-class service, and a concierge-style, customer-centric mindset
Develops and tracks financial budgets for the Patron Services team on a quarterly and annual basis
Monitors and tracks operational KPIs and performance against benchmarks for the Patron Services team
Implements a framework for continual evaluation and improvement through closed loop feedback systems, surveys, postmortems, and other voice of customer feedback mechanisms
Acts as an internal voice and advocate of various donor segments and provides insights into strengths, challenges, and opportunities
Advocates for innovation with a relentless drive to deliver ever-improving experiences
Champions strong internal systems and procedures to manage growth in both volume and complexity
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Hospitality or equivalent experience
4+ years of account management, relationship sales, fundraising, or operations with a demonstrated track record of strong customer outcomes
Experience mentoring or leading a team preferred
Experience managing budgets and tracking performance metrics
Comfortable working in a CRM; Tessitura experience strongly preferred
Must be available for evenings and weekends per performance/event schedule
Special Job Characteristics
Thrives in a collaborative, diverse team environment while maintaining the ability to work independently
Evaluates and executes calculated risks, identifies opportunities for improvement, and drives meaningful change
Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills
Embraces challenges, approaches problems creatively, and actively seeks opportunities to improve
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those we consider important for an employee to successfully perform essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Equal Opportunity
Houston Grand Opera is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at HGO are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV Status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws or regulations. HGO will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. HGO encourages applicants of all ages.
Deadline: 05/27/26
Location: Houston, TX
Website: https://www.houstongrandopera.org/about/employment-and-auditions