Visitor Experience Assistant

The mission of the Houston Botanic Garden is to enrich life through discovery, education, and conservation of plants and the natural environment. HBG is a recently completed botanic garden that strives to inspire all people to love plants and be good stewards of the natural world. The gardens include a global garden with arid, sub-tropical, and tropical plants; a culinary garden with permanent and seasonal displays; a family garden centered around a lagoon; a woodland event garden; wetlands; and a coastal prairie on a 132-acre site.

The Garden is seeking a full-time Visitor Experience Assistant who will report to the Visitor Experience Manager. The ideal candidate is passionate about customer service; guest engagement; has experience in vendor relations and retail sales; demonstrates strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills; and desires to work in a dynamic organization in a stage of rapid growth.

Main Job Responsibilities:

• Greet and welcome visiting members, public, volunteers and guests.
• Processes transactions for items at HBG including, but not limited to, general admission, memberships, classes, events, and merchandise.
• Perform general clerical duties and light cleaning of the ticketing and shop area as needed.
• Assist with routine inventory counts
• Act as a positive ambassador for the garden at all times, maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for all visitors.
• Communicate daily schedule of events within the Garden.
• Respond to visitor and member questions, managing tickets in our ticketing software, answering voicemails, and in-person questions.

Requirements:

• High school diploma or GED required, some college preferred.
• Minimum of 1 year of proven work experience in retail or customer service.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a variety of audiences.
• Must be comfortable working with crowds.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Ability to remain calm in stressful situations and help resolve event conflicts with tact and courtesy.
• Must be able to work in outdoor weather conditions.
• Experience with point of sale software a plus.
• Flexibility to work in the evenings and/or on weekends.
• Position subject to passing a criminal background check.

Physical Demands:

• Must be able to move throughout the 132-acre Garden property, as needed.
• Must be able to lift event items (chairs, boxes, signs, etc.) up to 40 lbs.
• Must be comfortable working in immediate proximity to the general public in a safe and friendly manner.
• Must be able to sit, stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crawl, reach, push, pull, lift, grasp, feel, and utilize repetitive motions for prolonged periods of time.

Schedule and Salary:

• Full-time, hourly position.
• Weekends and some evenings.
• Hourly wage of $14/hour.

Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, retirement savings, disability, paid time-off, employee discount, EAP and more.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $14.00 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person