Welcome Desk Associate

Jobless; San Diego, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 34,000 - 42,000; Part time

Job summary

The New Children’s Museum in San Diego is seeking a part-time Guest Services/ Retail Associate to provide welcoming, inclusive customer service and handle daily admissions, memberships, and retail transactions. You will use Lightspeed and Altru POS systems, stock merchandise, and assist visitors with information about programs and events.

Ideal candidates have a high school diploma, at least two years in customer service or retail, and a teamwork mindset.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Minimum of two years’ relevant experience in customer service, sales or retail.
• Ability to provide excellent customer service under pressure.
• Willingness to be certified in First Aid and CPR.
• Fluency in English; bilingual considered a plus.

Responsibilities

• Positively represent the museum with welcoming, inclusive customer service.
• Greet guests and contribute to a warm, creative community.
• Process retail sales and memberships at the Welcome Desk using POS systems.
• Stock merchandise and assist with daily admissions and memberships.
• Answer inquiries and route calls; manage donor and program information.
• Record visitor items and participate in team huddles and trainings.

Skills

Customer service

Sales skills

Retail experience

Team player

English fluency

First Aid CPR willingness

Education

High school diploma

Tools

Lightspeed POS

Altru POS

SQL

Job description

ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

The New Children’s Museum’s (NCM) mission is to spark creativity, exploration, and a sense of belonging through interactive art experiences. Located in downtown San Diego, the New Children’s Museum collaborates with contemporary artists to design and create art installations and educational programs for children. The Museum brings families together in a rich educational environment that fosters creativity and expression. 2.4 million guests have visited the downtown location since doors opened in 2008, including 232,386 visitors in 2022.

Our vision is to be the most innovative, most loved, most inspiring, and most sustainable children’s museum in the world. Our interactive art installations and hands‑on art programming provide creative and educational experiences for children and families. We work with artists to reimagine our spaces so that there is always something “new” to discover when you visit. As a nonprofit institution, we rely on daily admissions, memberships, and community support to fund our daily operations.

Our commitment is to provide a welcoming space for all families. We believe that diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are integral to fulfilling our mission and empowering children’s innate creativity through hands‑on exposure to art and the creative process. Last year, 69,455 visitors attended the Museum through access programs. Please visit: https://thinkplaycreate.org/ to learn more.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Positively represents the New Children’s Museum by providing welcoming, inclusive and consistent customer service to all visitors.
• Greets new and returning guests and contributes to the creation of a warm, welcoming, creative and playful community.
• Fosters a community valuing social justice and amplifying youth voice.
• Process retail sales in the gift shop and/or at the Welcome Desk using Lightspeed POS system.
• Restock retail merchandise.
• Greets guests and processes daily admission ticket purchases and membership transactions using Altru POS system.
• Suggests, sells and processes new museum memberships.
• May be stationed inside or outside to speak with visitors, members and potential members at the front desk, throughout the museum, or outside when there are lines or events.
• Data entry and generating reports from database.
• Respond to in-person customer inquiries.
• Answers and routes to the appropriate party, incoming museum mainline phone calls.
• Processes donation requests from community groups.
• Provides information on NCM programs and services, including but not limited to school visits, camps, events, and membership to visitors.
• Records any visitor items left on property into an internal tracking sheet and stores the items in a secure manner in back of house, daily.
• Participates in morning and afternoon team huddles.
• Participates in regular team trainings.
• Staffs evaluation stations as needed and supports evaluation collection with visitors and program participants as required.
• Other reasonable duties as assigned.

SCHEDULE REQUIREMENTS

Must be available a minimum of 3 days/week. Available during the hours of 8:00 am - 5:00 pm with some early morning and evening hours. Available to work peak holiday periods: November to January. Mandatory availability during summer months: May to September.

QUALIFICATIONS

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Minimum of two years’ relevant experience in customer service, sales or retail.
• The ideal candidate must be/have:
  • Ability to provide excellent customer service skills under pressure.
  • Desire to learn about/communicate the Museum's mission, installations, studios, and programs with guests
  • Positive attitude and excellent team player
  • Reliable, dependable, adaptable, and flexible
  • Willingness to be certified in First Aid and CPR.
  • Experience working with databases preferred.
  • Knowledge of SQL is a plus.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Bilingual is a plus.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

This position requires standing, walking, and moving throughout the museum gallery, welcome desk, and outdoor spaces for extended periods while engaging with visitors, processing transactions, and providing guest services. The role involves frequent interaction with visitors, members, and the public in active indoor and outdoor settings, including some outdoor exposure with shade provided. Employees in this position may be required to lift, carry, push, or pull objects such as supplies and materials weighing up to 25 pounds. The role requires close visual acuity and manual dexterity for operating point-of-sale systems, processing membership transactions, performing data entry, and generating database reports. Work is performed in a museum environment with moderate to high ambient noise levels. Early morning, evening, and weekend availability is required, including peak holiday and summer periods. The employee must be able to perform essential job duties with or without reasonable accommodation.

The New Children's Museum is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a team that reflects the diverse communities and families we serve. We welcome candidates of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law. Reasonable accommodations are available upon request.