Sales Assistant chez Huntingtonlibrary

About Us

At The Huntington, we believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices working together will enable us to support and promote the appreciation of the humanities, the arts, and botanical science. The Huntington is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law.

The Huntington

Founded in 1919, The Huntington is a collections-based research and educational institution open to the public, housing world-class library, art, and botanical collections. Its mission is to support research and promote education in the arts, humanities, and botanical science and to display and interpret its extraordinary resources for diverse audiences.

The Culture

Here we are committed to the highest of standards in all that we do – from preserving and protecting the collections, to exhibitions, educational and scholarly programming, visitor and reader services, and beyond.  Achieving excellence across these pursuits requires a diversity of perspectives, expertise, experience, and methodologies. 

At The Huntington, our organizational Culture is shaped by the following core values: Intellectual curiosity, Collaboration, Stewardship, Belonging, and Integrity.

• Intellectual Curiosity: Knowledge, lifelong learning, and a spirit of inquiry are at the core of our mission and organizational culture.

• Collaboration: Teamwork and a collaborative attitude are important at all levels of The Huntington. We foster relationships internally among our departments and externally with organizations throughout the community.

• Stewardship: We are committed to the care and development of our collections, our financial and physical resources, our staff, and our community.

• Belonging: We strive to attract and maintain a workforce of individuals with diverse talents, backgrounds, and perspectives. Our organizational culture promotes a sense of welcome, inclusion, and connection.

• Integrity: We value respect and honesty, working to fulfill our mission with honor and ethical principles.

Job Description

About the Role

Working under direct supervision, the Huntington Store Sales Assistant provides sales support and customer service by greeting and assisting guests, finding and suggesting merchandise, cashiering and packaging purchases, and helping maintain store inventory and appearance.

This is a part time position 20-26 hours per week. Must be available to work weekends and occasional evenings and holidays.

S/he/they will demonstrate a background of working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, using a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible approach.

Essential Duties

• Greet customers and offer courteous and inspiring customer service.

• Become familiar with merchandise in order to answer customer questions, and also find and suggest items.

• Operate Point of Sale system in order to process customer purchases accurately and efficiently.

• Utilize non-peak hours to help maintain merchandise displays and general store appearance.

• Assist in loss prevention by remaining aware of customer activity in the Store, reporting missing or damaged merchandise, and participating in inventory counts as required.

• Inform Retail Manager and/or Supervisor on Duty of safety or security concerns as well as customer issues and requests.

• Must be available weekends and some evenings and holidays.

• May be required to lift boxes, books and heavy or fragile items.

• May perform other related duties as assigned

Candidate Requirements and Experience

Knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• Must have a high level of integrity dealing with money and merchandise.

• Exhibits excellent customer service skills; approachable, friendly, helpful and polite.

• Good communications skills in order to articulate information clearly and effectively.

• Must learn the Point of Sale system and process customer purchases with accuracy and efficiency.

• Is able to handle heavy customer traffic while remaining accurate, composed and courteous.

• Is expected to keep aware of the Huntington collections, exhibits, events, and culture.

• Must be available weekends as well as some evenings and holidays.

Preferred:

• A working knowledge of literature, history, art history, botanicals and tea culture is helpful.

• Previous cash handling and retail sales experience is preferred.

Working Conditions  

• Extensive face to face interaction with customers and other staff in a sometimes crowded environment.

• Long periods of standing, walking, some bending, reaching and lifting of objects of various weights.

• Occasionally working outdoors

• Pay Rate: $18.50/hr.

• Discounts for staff in The Huntington Store and restaurants 

• Free admission to various museums and cultural institutions 

• Free passes each month to welcome family and friends to visit the grounds