Support Specialist - Historical Clothing & Dress bei Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Who We Are

Founded in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a private, not-for-profit educational, historic, and cultural institution that owns and operates one of the largest and best-known museum complexes in the world. Our mission is “that the future may learn from the past” through preserving and restoring 18^th-century Williamsburg, Virginia’s colonial capital. We engage, inform, and inspire people to learn about this historic capital, the events that occurred here, and the diverse peoples who helped shape a new nation.  

Today, Colonial Williamsburg is the largest living history museum in the U.S. The Historic Area is the 301-acre restored colonial capital with 89 original buildings and 525 buildings reconstructed to how they appeared in the 18th century through extensive archaeological, architectural, and documentary research. The Historic Area is staffed by highly trained, historically dressed interpreters and expert tradespeople who bring the 18th century to life. The Foundation also owns and operates two world-class museums, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, The Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute, and a renowned research library, the John D Rockefeller Jr Library.

Additionally, Colonial Williamsburg is home to five world class accommodations at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge Autograph Collection, the Griffin Hotel, the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotels and Suites and the unique Colonial Houses in the Historical Area. Visitors may also indulge in food and drink at our many on site restaurants and taverns that blend a historically inspired dining experience with today’s evolved tastes. Each year over 5 million people visit Williamsburg and another 20 million engage with us digitally.

About the Position

The Historical Clothing & Dress Support Specialist works with the team to timely, accurately, and courteously perform all functions related to the department, including issuance, inventory, tracking, clothing intake and return, disposal, billing, and more.

Main Duties:

•Managing a multi-million-dollar inventory of over 60,000 historical clothing pieces, employing both electronic and manual systems for tracking their location. Works to ensure adherence to the Foundation’s Strategic Plan and ERHI’s Master Interpretive Plan. Strives to participate in and maintain a positive, inclusive, safe work environment and unit.
•Issues/loans clothing to designated employees in accordance with their approved allotments or requests. Ensures that all garments are correctly documented and assigned and that the recipient receives accurate and adequate instruction on care, responsibility, and liability of assigned Foundation property.
•Accepts and records payment (check, cash, and debit or credit card) for lost or misplaced items ensuring accurate processing and accounting. Processes and assists with rentals and billing of rentals and sales.
•Processes new HC&D inventory - creating control cards, barcoding items, and entering items in to garment management system as per Issuance/Inventory Manual. Creates name tags. Shelving and relocating stock as necessary. Replace worn or damaged bar codes as necessary.
•Maintains current and accurate physical and digital employee records of assigned HC&D property. Tracks care and location of allotted, providing reports as requested. Confirms terminated employee’s status with administrative staff and works to achieve the recovery of HC&D assets.
•Evaluates garments, new, existing, and returned based on current quality control standards and physical condition. Disposes of worn-out clothing and removes stock from inventory. Assists in the replacement process by coordinating the work with HC&D Operations staff to provide replacements in a timely manner, notifying employees when garments are ready for pick-up.
•Accurately matches garment control-card with returned garments and returns them to the appropriate stock location, after careful inspection and re-measuring of garments to ensure corresponding cards, computer information, and locations are accurate.
•Assists in filling HC&D work orders and dispensing of raw materials for HC&D tailors and volunteers, including kitting of garments, charging requisitions, and making size tags. Assists in keeping HC&D staff supplied with other necessary items. Assist with locating new supplies for HC&D staff and contractors. Assists supervisor with HC&D volunteer labor pool as requested.
•Assists in monthly and annual physical inventory of raw materials in HC&D Warehouse. Assists with monthly reports. Assists the supervisor in management of the computer system and all processes related to issuance, inventory, garment intake and return, and employee file maintenance. Reports problems, assesses their cause and recommends possible solutions to the supervisor.
•Acts as liaison to the customer and cleaning vendors- receiving, sorting, and dispensing garments to and from customers and cleaning vendors using computerized barcode system. Initiates problem-solving for customers/cleaning vendors/ HC&D concerns.
•Identifies items needing repair or special services to be performed by the Operations Team or contracted cleaning vendors, communicating those needs appropriately.
•Occasionally assists in simple repairs.

Required Education and Experience:
•Associate degree and at least 1 year working experience in inventory management, and/or related fields.

Preferred Qualifications:
•3 or more years’ customer service or inventory management experience.
•Experience in or knowledge of industry standard tailor shop operations
•Basic sewing skills and fabric content knowledge

Key Skills / Competencies:

•Knowledge and experience with Office 365 applications including Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
•Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
•Excellent mathematical skills.
•Excellent record keeping and tracking skills.
•Excellent customer service skills.
•Ability to understand financial responsibility and repercussion of errors.
•Ability to work independently and as a member of a team.
•Ability to maintain a high degree of flexibility and courtesy while maintaining standards, practices and procedures.
•Ability to adapt quickly to changing work priorities. Must be able to multi –task.
•Ability to communicate well orally and in writing.
•Ability to evaluate situations and exercise sound judgment.
•Demonstrated dependability and punctuality.
•Ability to stand for long periods of time.
•Ability to identify and differentiate between various textiles, materials, and costume articles.
•Ability to perform simple sewing and repair techniques.

Typical Work Schedule:  Monday-Friday, 40 hours a week

This is a non-exempt position, eligible to receive overtime in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This position may be subject to overtime during high peak times, etc. as directed and approved by the supervisor.