Guest Experience Specialist

Guest Experience Specialist

STASH Cannabis Co. | Rockville, Maryland

Company: STASH Cannabis Co. (Gold Star Logistics, LLC)

Location: 1470 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852

Reports To: General Manager

Employment Type: Full-Time, Non-Exempt (Hourly)

Wage Range: $19 – $23 per hour (see Compensation & Benefits below)

About STASH Cannabis Co.

STASH Cannabis Co. is a Maryland Cannabis Administration–licensed dispensary on Rockville Pike serving both registered medical patients and adult-use customers. We are building a retail experience grounded in three things: product knowledge people can actually use, a store that runs clean and compliant every single day, and a team that treats every person who walks in — certified patient, first-timer, or long-time consumer — with the same respect.

We are hiring our founding retail team. If you want to help set the standard for how a dispensary should operate rather than inherit someone else's, this is the room to be in.

Position Summary

Read this part carefully, because it's the part that makes this job different.

The Guest Experience Specialist is a licensed dispensary agent who performs every duty a Dispensary Agent performs — consulting with patients and customers, verifying eligibility, ringing transactions, handling inventory, staying compliant — and who additionally owns how the room feels when things get hard.

Retail cannabis draws a wide public. Most days are easy. Some days someone is angry about a price, impaired, having a mental health crisis, refusing to accept that their ID won't work, or arguing in the parking lot. On those days, you are the person the team looks to. You read the floor, catch a situation before it builds, and talk it down. You stay level when other people aren't. You deliver a “no” that someone doesn't want to hear and keep it from becoming a scene.

If staying calm while someone yells at you is not something you can do — or not something you want to do — this is not the right role, and the Dispensary Agent posting is a better fit.

This is a hospitality and de-escalation role, not a guard role. It is unarmed. You will not be asked to physically restrain, detain, pursue, or remove anyone, and you will not be asked to protect the premises or property from intrusion. Your tools are presence, calm, clear communication, judgment about when to disengage, and knowing exactly when to involve the General Manager or call 911.

All STASH retail team members must be registered with the Maryland Cannabis Administration and must obtain and display a valid MCA agent identification badge before performing any work on the licensed premises.

Key Responsibilities Guest Safety & De-escalation

• Maintain situational awareness across the check-in area, sales floor, and entrance throughout your shift.
• Recognize early signs of agitation, intoxication, confusion, or distress and intervene calmly and early.
• Use verbal de-escalation to resolve conflicts with upset or aggressive individuals — lower the temperature, give people space and choices, avoid escalation triggers.
• Support other team members during difficult customer interactions, including stepping in to take over a conversation when a teammate needs relief.
• Deliver difficult messages with composure: refusals of service, purchase-limit enforcement, ID rejections, and requests to leave the premises.
• Respond to situations in the parking lot and immediately outside the store by observing, communicating, and summoning help — never by pursuing, confronting, or physically engaging.
• Disengage and involve the General Manager or law enforcement whenever a situation exceeds what verbal de-escalation can resolve.
• Document incidents accurately and promptly using STASH incident reporting procedures.
• Support customers experiencing a medical event or acute distress by summoning appropriate help and keeping the area calm and clear.
• Help maintain safe, orderly queuing and flow during high-volume periods.
• Participate in emergency preparedness drills and training.

Customer Experience & Sales

• Greet every customer promptly and create a welcoming, judgment-free environment.
• Consult with customers on product selection based on their stated preferences, experience level, desired effects, and budget.
• Explain product categories, potency, terpene profiles, dosing considerations, onset times, and consumption methods in plain, accurate language.
• Communicate the difference between adult-use and medical patient purchasing, including patient discounts, purchase limits, and available medical-designated inventory.
• Never provide medical advice, diagnose conditions, or make therapeutic claims about any product.
• Support attachment sales through genuine product knowledge, not pressure.
• Handle customer concerns and product complaints professionally; escalate to a manager when appropriate.

Compliance & Regulatory

• Verify customer identification and age (21+ for adult-use) at every transaction using approved ID-scanning procedures.
• Verify medical patient status and certification for patient transactions.
• Enforce daily purchase limits and personal-use quantity restrictions in accordance with Maryland law.
• Follow all STASH standard operating procedures for sales, returns, waste, security, and record keeping.
• Ensure all product movement is accurately reflected in the point-of-sale system and, through system integration, in METRC seed-to-sale tracking.
• Wear your MCA agent identification badge visibly at all times while on the licensed premises.
• Refuse service where required — including to visibly impaired individuals, individuals unable to produce valid identification, and suspected diversion or straw-purchase attempts.
• Immediately report compliance concerns, discrepancies, or safety incidents to the General Manager.
• Complete and maintain MCA-approved Responsible Vendor Training (RVT), STASH de-escalation training, and all STASH-assigned training modules.

Point of Sale & Cash Handling

• Operate the Sweed point-of-sale system accurately and efficiently.
• Process cash, debit, and other approved payment methods; maintain an accurate drawer.
• Complete opening and closing drawer counts and reconciliation.
• Apply discounts, promotions, and loyalty credits correctly and only as authorized.

Inventory & Product Handling

• Support receiving, labeling, stocking, and merchandising of product.
• Participate in daily, weekly, and cycle inventory counts; report discrepancies immediately.
• Pull and stage online and pre-order transactions accurately.
• Follow proper handling, storage, and waste-disposal procedures for all cannabis and cannabis products.
• Monitor product freshness, packaging integrity, and label accuracy.

Store Operations

• Maintain a clean, organized, and professional sales floor, back-of-house, and vault area.
• Follow all access-control, alarm, and video-surveillance procedures.
• Support opening and closing procedures.
• Assist across all store positions as scheduling requires, including front desk / check-in, sales floor, order fulfillment, and door.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the General Manager.

Required Qualifications

• Must be at least 21 years of age.
• Must be able to satisfy all Maryland Cannabis Administration requirements for agent registration and badging. STASH submits agent registrations on behalf of its employees through the Maryland OneStop portal — individuals cannot apply for an agent badge on their own. Registration requires State (CJIS) and FBI criminal history record checks, including fingerprinting, which are completed after a conditional offer of employment is extended.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain an MCA agent identification badge for the duration of employment.
• Must complete an MCA-approved Responsible Vendor Training (RVT) program within the required timeframe.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States.
• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Demonstrated ability to stay calm, patient, and professional with upset, agitated, or confrontational people.
• Sound judgment about when to keep talking and when to step back and get help.
• Availability to work a flexible retail schedule, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, as the schedule requires.
• Reliable, punctual, and able to maintain consistent attendance.
• Strong verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
• Comfort with technology — point-of-sale systems, tablets, ID scanners, and basic computer applications.
• Accuracy and attention to detail, particularly with numbers, inventory counts, and cash handling.
• Professional appearance and adherence to STASH dress code and personal presentation standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Formal de-escalation or conflict resolution training.
• Experience in a role requiring regular de-escalation — hospitality, hotel guest services, event or venue staff, healthcare, behavioral health, social services, education, transit, or customer-facing public service.
• Prior experience as a dispensary agent, budtender, or cannabis retail associate.
• Prior experience in retail, food and beverage, or pharmacy environments.
• Current First Aid / CPR / AED certification.
• Naloxone (Narcan) administration training.
• Existing active Maryland cannabis agent registration.
• Existing MCA-approved Responsible Vendor Training certification.
• Working knowledge of cannabis product categories, cultivars, terpenes, and consumption methods.
• Experience with Sweed POS, METRC, or comparable cannabis retail systems.
• Bilingual or multilingual ability.
• Familiarity with Montgomery County and the greater Rockville market.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand and walk for the majority of an 8-hour shift.
• Ability to move quickly across the sales floor and to the store entrance as situations require.
• Ability to walk the exterior of the property and parking lot periodically, in a range of weather conditions.
• Ability to lift and carry up to 30 pounds.
• Ability to bend, reach, kneel, and stoop to stock and retrieve product.
• Ability to operate a computer, tablet, and point-of-sale terminal.
• Manual dexterity sufficient to handle small products and packaging.
• Ability to communicate clearly with customers and team members in a moderately noisy retail environment, including in stressful conditions.

Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this role.

Compensation & Benefits

Wage Range: $19 – $23 per hour, based on experience and qualifications.

Benefits:

• Health coverage
• 56 hours of accruing paid time off per year, usable for vacation, personal time, illness, and family care
• Paid Responsible Vendor Training and MCA agent registration fees covered by STASH

Our Commitment

STASH Cannabis Co. is a Maryland social equity licensee. We believe the people most affected by cannabis prohibition should have a real path into the legal industry.

STASH Cannabis Co. is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or Montgomery County law.

Consistent with the Montgomery County Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Law, we do not ask about criminal history on our application and do not conduct criminal background screening until after a conditional offer of employment has been extended. A criminal record does not automatically disqualify any applicant. Final eligibility for this role is determined by the Maryland Cannabis Administration's agent registration standards, and we evaluate each applicant individually.

How to Apply

All applications are accepted online. Apply on Indeed.

Please do not include information about criminal history in your application.

Pay: $19.00 - $23.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 per week

Benefits:

• Paid time off

Work Location: In person