Museum Shop Sales Associate

Museum of Fine Arts•Boston, MA

About The Position

The Museum Shop Sales Associate provides sales and customer service in the Museum’s retail shops and front-line assistance to Museum visitors. The associate describes merchandise features and benefits, helps customers find products, suggests complementary and promotional items, processes sales and membership transactions, and responds to visitor questions about the Museum. Associates may work in three different shops, potentially moving between them during a shift. The role also includes receiving, stocking, and merchandising products; preparing for inventory; keeping the sales floor, work area, and stockroom clean and organized; and supporting newer associates with inventory preparation procedures. Associates should be familiar with shop merchandise, Museum hours and admission policies, exhibitions and gallery locations, and collection highlights, and should direct or hand off visitors to other staff when appropriate. These are part-time hourly positions scheduled for two to four shifts per week, with varying hours that may include evenings and weekends. The shops operate Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The position is affiliated with the United Auto Workers’ Union. The work environment generally has a moderate noise level.

Requirements

High school diploma; a college degree is preferred.
Two to three years of related experience.
Must be able to work nights and weekends, with availability for two to four shifts per week at varying hours.
Outgoing and enthusiastic, with an interest in sales and customer service.
Ability to maintain high sales productivity and demonstrate strong interpersonal, closing, and add-on sales skills.
Organized and knowledgeable about the products being sold.
Ability to interact with audiences of diverse ages, economic statuses, and cultural backgrounds, and to support the Museum’s inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility efforts.
Ability to read and interpret safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals; write routine reports and correspondence; and speak effectively to groups of customers or associates.
Ability to calculate discounts, taxes, proportions, percentages, and measurements, and apply basic algebra and geometry.
Ability to use common-sense judgment to follow written, oral, or diagram instructions and resolve problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
Regularly stand, walk, use hands to handle items, reach, and talk or hear; occasionally sit, climb or balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, and taste or smell.
Regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
Vision abilities include close, distance, color, and peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Nice To Haves

College degree.
Basic art history knowledge.

Responsibilities

Process regular sales and Museum membership transactions using the register, asking customers whether they have a membership.
Offer protective packaging for purchases and complete point-of-sale system training updates.
Greet customers warmly, engage them on the selling floor, identify their needs, explain merchandise features and benefits, suggest complementary or promotional products, and support add-on and membership sales.
Process a high volume of customers and transactions accurately and efficiently while maintaining strong customer service.
Answer routine and higher-level customer and visitor questions, seeking supervisor assistance when needed.
Maintain customer lists, contact customers about new or restocked items, and take phone orders.
Check in, put away, restock, and fill in merchandise throughout the shops; assist floor merchandisers with stocking, re-merchandising, and displays.
Replenish supplies, keep work areas and back stock organized, straighten merchandise and stores, and clean glass and dust shelves.
Provide Museum visitor information, including directions, hours, admission policies, exhibitions, and gallery locations; hand visitors off to appropriate staff when needed.
Relate Museum collection pieces to shop products where appropriate and suggest notable collection pieces when asked.
Organize and prepare for inventory and instruct newer associates on inventory preparation procedures.
Keep register shortages and overages within the stated average limit of $5 per month over a three-month period.