Guest Services Representative at Seattle Aquarium

JOB POSTING

Guest Services Representative

Posted:                  Open to internal and external applicants   
Reports to:            Guest Services Coordinator 
Status:                   Part-time, hourly, benefited position
Hours of work:      Shifts range from 6–9 hours between 9am and 6:30pm, with regular weekend and holiday work and occasional after-hours needs for events or projects.
Date needed:         Early December 2025
Posting expires:   Open until filled, priority given to applications received by October 31, 2025

Position description:  

The Seattle Aquarium, a leading marine conservation organization, is looking for Guest Services Representatives to join the Guest Services team. Water is life. Water connects us all. Join Seattle Aquarium in leading marine conservation and environmental stewardship. We are seeking Guest Services Representatives (GSR) to join our Guest Experience Team. This position requires a passion for fast-paced connections with diverse people, as we see guests from across the community and around the world. GSRs are responsible for selling admission, providing information, assisting with wayfinding, and serving as a first point of contact for the aquarium in person, online, and via telephone. Your role also educates about admission prices, memberships, education programs, exhibits, and events. As we work with people of all ages and backgrounds, the ideal candidate will exhibit experience handling difficult situations with grace, empathy, and a sense of humor. 

Strong preference will be given for proficiency in a second language: Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Lushootseed, or Japanese preferred.

Key functions: 

• Greet ticket holders and aquarium members each day creating a welcoming environment while providing an easy and smooth payment admissions experience.
• Provide operational support through crowd and line management, both inside aquarium entrances and outside on the pedestrian pavilion. 
• Receive payments from the public for admissions, events, programs, and online points of sale. Sell and renew Aquarium memberships. Educate guests on donation opportunities and encourage individual contributions to support the aquarium’s conservation work. 
• Operate Virtual Reality experience for Aquarium guests including selling tickets, assisting guests with headsets and pods, and cleaning between use. 
• Occasionally assist evening event rentals by greeting guests, providing navigation assistance for vendors, and answering guest questions. 
• Ability to process payments responsibly, accurately, and consistently. Make daily deposits and handle cash. 
• Wear Aquarium uniform, adhere to aquarium dress code, and keep work area clean at all times. 
• Participate in regularly scheduled cashier team meetings and general all-staff Aquarium meetings.
• Educate and orient school age youth, families, and other visiting groups about visit expectations, guidelines, and payment process.
• Perform other related duties of a comparable level/type as assigned. Examples: assist with data reconciliation projects, VR pod support, and ticket inventory.

Required skills and experience: 
We will consider various combinations of relevant experience and education to meet minimum requirements. Candidates will be evaluated on the full range of their lived and learned experience and core competencies. The successful candidate will demonstrate the following:

• Experience in a similar ticket/admissions-based organization. 
• Six months customer service and point of sale experience.  
• Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. 
• Service-oriented — Actively looking for ways to help and engage people so that they feel welcome and interested in our services and mission.
• Communication — Communicating and providing resources to others to convey information effectively and ensure they have a safe and positive experience at the aquarium. 
• Multi-tasking – Ability to balance customer service and engagement while multitasking sales such as prices, joint tickets, and memberships, and be able to advise guests on making the best choices. 
• Sales and Promotion - Drive to provide quick and accurate selling and promoting of products or services. Calculating total purchases, receive and process cash or credit payment while maintaining accurate financial records. 
• Technological use - Experience with mobile technology, especially iPod/iPhone and iPad.
• Ability and passion to work well with a diverse team environment.

Working conditions:

• Sitting and standing for long periods; moving/lifting (25 pounds); consistent keyboarding/manual dexterity required 80% of time. 
• Clear diction and acute hearing are necessary for effective communication with guests and coworkers. Comfort with high-volume communication with a diverse public including children, elders, multilingual people and the general public via telephone, email, and in person. 
• Must be able to use excellent judgement and deal with customers who may be at times verbally or physically inappropriate, disoriented, or frustrated.
• Must be flexible to work variable hours, including holidays and weekends. Occasional evening events as needed by team. 

Salary and benefits: $ 20.85/Hourly Dependent on experience. Please include pay expectations in your materials. Part-time staff are eligible for the Seattle Aquarium’s part-time benefits package, which includes paid sick time, medical, vision, an employer-funded health reimbursement account, a flexible spending account, an Aquarium Family Plus membership and access to a subsidized ORCA pass.

How to apply: The Seattle Aquarium is committed to expanding a diverse, equitable, and inclusive conservation movement. We are invested in building an Aquarium with a wide variety of backgrounds, identities, languages, cultural ways of knowing, and life experiences. We know research shows that society has conditioned communities of color, trans and gender non-conforming people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and other marginalized candidates to more frequently not apply to a job because they don’t feel that they meet all of the qualifications listed even if they are qualified. If you meet some of the requirements and you are passionate about our mission and our ocean, we encourage you to apply and look forward to learning more about you. 

Interested candidates should upload a résumé to our online application to be considered. Application review will begin immediately.   

SeattleAquarium.org/careers  

Please let us know if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for this job by emailing us at [email protected].   

Note: If offered the position, candidates must pass a background check. Conviction record is not an automatic disqualifier; we are a second chance employer.   

About the Seattle Aquarium: The Seattle Aquarium is a respected authority on Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and the world’s one ocean. Our team increases awareness and drives the change needed to preserve and protect our marine environment by providing excellent care and wellbeing for over 5,000 animals to create an inspiring visitor experience, offer engaging daytime and evening events, conservation education programs for people of all ages and backgrounds, community outreach to marginalized populations, research that advances understanding of animals in our care and their counterparts in the wild, advocacy and policy work, an award-winning volunteer program, high-impact marketing and communications, and more.   

Our values, developed in conjunction with our staff, include commitments to adopting and promoting sustainable practices, creating awe-inspiring experiences, constantly learning and improving, fostering an inclusive community, maintaining scientific credibility through evidence-based practices and honoring our unique place by using our location and history as a lens for larger understanding.   

Proudly accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, we’re among the top 10 aquariums in the U.S. by attendance, and we welcome over 1 million people each year guided by our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment. Learn more at SeattleAquarium.org.  

Timeline:

We anticipate the following recruiting schedule for those candidates who are selected for consideration. The following dates are preliminary and subject to change. We will work with candidates to set interview dates. If hired, relocation assistance is not available. 

• Application deadline: November 7, 2025 
• Priority given to applications received by October 31, 2025
• Interviews completed by mid-November 2025
• Start date: December 1, 2025.