Head of Operations, US

About Bonhams

Bonhams is a global auction house with an 18th century heritage poised for transformative change. Our global operations are based in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong where we sell in over 60 categories, including motor cars, paintings, jewelry, and entertainment memorabilia.

Our employees are passionate about their work, and we pride ourselves on a bespoke approach that aims to make every client feel important. It is an exciting time for our business and our global leadership team of art world professionals are now ready to for a People focused team to help them develop their talent strategy, strengthen our people brand globally, build organizational capability and drive process improvement.

Bonhams is an Equal Opportunity Employer. As part of our commitment to fight for equality, we work to ensure a fair and consistent interview process. We celebrate diversity and we are committed to an inclusive work environment.

Overview

The role of the Head of Operations, US will be accountable for the management of all ongoing business and project related operations of Bonhams for the US region. The role will be expected to deliver on strategic transformation plans driven by regional and global leadership.

As a member of the US Senior Management Team, the Head of Operations will work collaboratively in close partnership with the regional management and stakeholders. In addition, a close working relationship with the relevant functional heads at head office level is expected to ensure the regional needs are met.

They will be the standard bearer for client service within the US, ensure the consistent and efficient execution of viewings, auctions and day to day operations across the salerooms, regional offices and other managed spaces.

They will actively enhance the ways of working for Bonhams across all their areas, working collaboratively with other teams to develop new systems and processes to drive value and efficiency with financial control; managing both P&L and CAPEX budgets. The role will provide strong leadership for all operational staff and support Specialist Departments and functional teams to deliver the best overall result for the company.

The role should contribute to any global strategies, whilst always communicating and championing the critical needs of the US region.

Key Areas of Accountability

Leadership & Team Management

• Provide a consistent management of the US Operations team through regular communication, group meetings on a regular basis, and providing regular updates and feedback.
• Develop and maintain relationships with Specialist Departments, support team peers and the US Senior Management team - be a visible presence for the US business alongside Regional MD.
• Support and engage with all saleroom and office location across US region.
• Represent US Operations in available forums (i.e. Head of Department meetings, US Town Halls etc). Use them to raise awareness of Operational initiatives, best practices and for opportunities for improvement.
• Encourage and maintain an overview on hiring across all operations functions, with focus on maximizing internal opportunities for progression or lateral movement. Work with Department Heads to ensure open vacancies are at a minimum and quickly filled without any risk to the day-today support of the business.
• Ensure a consistent approach to performance management with clear goal setting cascaded down, ensuring staff receive regular and constructive feedback with a culture of ongoing development.
• Work to maintain a high and ever improving level of employee engagement. Set clear goals and targets for Department Heads and focus on recognition, working environment and empowerment to demonstrate a strong annual engagement score.
• Work and co-ordinate with peers in UK, EU & APAC for Operations – contribute to the development of global operations strategy. Work to translate global strategy into local operational reality, while ensuring these align with any unique regional needs.

Client Service

• Deliver exemplary standards of client services at all times while seeking out opportunities to further enhance the client experience.
• Ensure the Client service group are operating efficiently and all staff scheduling/planning is focused on maximize client focus pre-sale and auction sale performance.
• Ensure sharing of knowledge across the Service team to maximize awareness of sales, categories, Bonhams’ selling locations and services and a confident knowledge of the digital offering.
• Partner with Legal and Compliance teams to ensure KYC processes are being followed.
• Identify any service failures and work with the Department Head to develop long-term solutions.
• Be a consistent champion of the client voice and the Bonhams service standard across the business, identifying any opportunities to improve the client focus.
• Work with Client Service management to review KPI tracking and client service data (call handling, abandonment rates, live chat, email resolution) to challenge performance issues and drive improvements. Identify other opportunities to measure service delivery and implement as appropriate.
• Be the guardian of front of house standards, from saleroom and front of house to staff dress and behavior, creating culture of service standards amongst client facing teams.
• Act as a key stakeholder / supporter of the NPS program and ensure client feedback is reviewed and improvements made where possible.

Logistics & Warehousing

• Oversee US logistics strategy with objective of driving cost effective but efficient, scalable solutions for property storage and site to site transfers.
• Ensure a consistent focus on property management in terms of both care and security of lots but also continuous flow of goods and minimal build-up of ‘static’ property post-sale.
• Ensure process compliance, scanning and stock accuracy in all stock storage locations with a focus on maintaining systems accuracy and to be inventory ‘audit ready’.
• Direct an efficient collections and delivery standard in all saleroom and warehouse locations, ensuring clear audit trail for inbound and outbound objects.
• Match space management planning for lot volume growth, with recommendations on increase/reduction in warehousing as appropriate in timely manner.
• Drive commercial opportunities for the sales programme to manage unsold or static sold lots, with a view to engaging with clients to clear lot volume and reduce operational burden.
• Oversee training for the Operations team on art handling and key processes and manage 3rd party logistics handling standards in order to manage risk and to comply with local legislation.                                                                

Shipping 

• Work with Shipping to endure pre-sale compliance and adherence to required controls around import, TA, CITES, tax liabilities etc.
• Maintain and evolve the post-sale shipping proposition for buyers through internal and external resources, setting a clear shipping strategy that matches Bonhams’ client service objectives.
• Take feedback on pre and post-sale shipping, maintain SLAs and challenge external suppliers on performance and service.
• Oversee internal freight routes and shippers to optimize site to site and pre-sale shipping with a focus on speed and cost management.
• Provide oversight and leadership with regards to 3rd part contacts and relationships in shipping, including reviewing KPIs, SLAs with regular frequency.

Facilities and Property Management

• Be the guardian of front of house standards, identifying opportunities to improve or maintain the galleries, client spaces and building interiors and exteriors.
• Support space planning for employees, ensuring space is optimized and employee numbers are matched by basic seating/working capacity. Proactively identify creative opportunities for improved space usage and upcoming need for additional space or property.
• Identify capital spend requirements for key areas (health and safety, leasehold improvements, opex savings, etc) and feed into global Operations capex plans. Work with Regional MD to identify business needs and secure appropriate investment from global budgets.
• Ensure any cleaning and security services are managed and delivered as required. Collaborate on opex impact through services, operating supplies and general PPM costs for the US locations.
• Be an active participant in the global ESG programme to support initiatives around sustainability, energy, ethics and people; be a contributor for external reporting as required by Bonhams’ equity owners/shareholders or their partners.
• Manage negotiations / contracts with key suppliers around facilities maintenance cleaning, security. Manage the balanced approach between cost and service standards. Ensure contracts, records and compliance standards (i.e. AML) are maintained at all times.
• Run regional Health & Safety Committee meetings every quarter and ensure issues are actioned promptly, feeding into the global forums.
• Manage any 3rd party SLAs through a regular schedule of performance management meetings, specifically with cleaning and security partners.
• Support employee engagement through continuous improvement of employee working environment.
• Manage regional budget allocation for capex and track spend and collaborate with Finance as required to ensure accurate processing of capital spends and depreciation allocation.
• Collaborate with Regional MD, CSO, Finance and Legal to provide an accurate real estate portfolio and strategy with a view towards a long-term property plan for all salerooms and office locations.

Auction Management

• Oversee standards of views and auction execution, identify opportunities to refine processes, costs or standards.
• Manage the overview of the sales schedule for US, working with the Business Director, Department Heads and wider Operations Management team to ensure the schedule matches market activity without creating obvious internal / external clashes, avoids activity peaks and once agreed is shared to the relevant stakeholders.
• Work with US Specialist Leadership to deliver a sales schedule with a minimum 50/50 split of live/online sales.
• Champion digital sales activity and adoption of the sales matrices, providing a constructive challenge to any live sales and actively seek out opportunities to drive more online activity.

Photography

• Ensure in house and freelance photography teams are delivering to Department deadlines, with consistent adoption of style guides.
• Ensure 3rd party suppliers for photo editing are performing to standard, adhering to KPIs and that editing costs are being managed, in partnership with Business Directors.
• Ensure team scheduling is efficient, working to sale deadlines and work allocation is being managed efficiently with minimal downtime, workload peaks and with a focus on keeping non-photographic workload to a minimum.
• Work to support digital sales through delivery of added value imagery, such as 360 videos and scaled images, whilst ensuring photography cost of sales are managed within budgets.
• Ensure transparency of cost tariffs, working with Business Directors on costs and process of chargeback for photography.
• Ensure photography hardware and studios are maintained in good working order and any spends required to maintain efficiency are communicated to ensure capex investment.
• Be prepared to communicate and manage Department issues around missed deadlines, communication or excessive demands to ensure overall deadlines are met and productivity is maintained.

What We Offer

In addition to an active and progressive work environment, Bonhams offers a competitive benefits package to encourage work/life balance, including:

• Salary: $120,000-150,000 with an annual salary review
• Shortened work week: Standard workday is 7.5 hours and work week is 37.5 hours
• Excellent medical, dental and vision insurance – HMO, EPO, PPO with FSA and HSA
• 16 days paid time off (PTO)
• 12 paid holidays and holiday break from Christmas to New Years Day
• 16 weeks fully paid parental leave and flexible work arrangements
• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution
• Life insurance with AD & D
• Short- and long-term disability
• Paid cellphone and data service
• Tuition reimbursement
• Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
• Employee assistance program (EAP)
• Professional development: free online training and expansive content library
• Onboarding buddy: 90 day mentor to welcome and orient new joiners
• Employee resource groups: social club, diversity committee, mentorship program
• Sponsored socials: annual staff art exhibition, annual summer and holiday parties, monthly birthday treats, weekly breakfast

Salary : $120,000 - $150,000