Front Desk Associate

Hands On Children's Museum•Olympia, WA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Hands On Children’s Museum (HOCM) is seeking a Front Desk Associate to join their team. This is a part-time position, requiring 25-30 hours per week, with wages ranging from $18.00 to $19.00 per hour. HOCM is a nationally recognized family learning destination located on the East Bay waterfront in downtown Olympia, attracting over 300,000 visitors annually. The museum's mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking through interactive learning experiences, with a strong commitment to accessibility for all children through initiatives like the Inspired Learning for All program. The facility boasts 150 indoor exhibits, an Outdoor Discovery Center, an Art Studio, a MakeSpace, a café, a gift shop, and various educational programs. The Front Desk Associate is the first point of contact for visitors, responsible for providing exceptional customer service, selling tickets, memberships, and merchandise, ensuring visitor safety, and communicating information effectively via multiple channels. This role models the museum's mission, vision, and values, and contributes to daily operations by adhering to policies and procedures and utilizing the museum's point of sale system. The position also involves potential support work for other departments and requires strong collaborative, communication, and problem-solving skills to adapt to a dynamic work environment.

Requirements

High School diploma required.
2 years of high-volume customer service experience.
Ability to work in a noisy, crowded environment for extended periods of time.
Must be reliable and detail-oriented.
Ability to work in a team setting with a high degree of daily communication required.
Ability to work with individuals from a wide variety of ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds.
Excellent cash handling and customer service skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Excellent initiative and problem-solving skills.
Excellent office skills including word processing; e-mail; record-keeping and multi-line phone system.
Weekend availability is required.
Ability to proficiently use museum POS system to sell tickets, merchandise, and memberships, and manage constituent records with a high degree of accuracy.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office software, including Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel.
Able to work independently with limited direction in a fast-paced environment with a great deal of flexibility.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree preferred.
Relevant work experience may substitute for a bachelor's degree.

Responsibilities

Serve as the first point of contact for museum visitors.
Promote exceptional customer experience.
Sell tickets, memberships, and store purchases.
Ensure visitor safety.
Effectively communicate information in person, via email, and over the phone.
Facilitate a welcoming and positive experience for visitors by modeling HOCM's mission, vision, and values.
Understand and follow museum policies and procedures.
Operate and maintain a strong working knowledge of HOCM’s point of sale system.
Perform department support work as time allows (e.g., brochure/pass preparation, filing).
Provide support for the museum café, store, or other departments as needed.
Collaborate respectfully as part of the HOCM team.
Respond quickly and effectively to a dynamic, changing work environment.