Visitor Experience Assistant

Visitor Experience Assistants (VEAs) welcome visitors to the Museum and engage with children and families in the exhibits, facilitating positive play-based learning experiences. Visitor Experience Assistants provide customer service throughout the Museum floor through their knowledge of daily programming, Museum exhibits, ticketing/membership offerings, and wayfinding. VEAs take the lead in engaging with visitors in the Food & Family exhibit and Carousel operations, and providing age-appropriate exhibit engagement opportunities that create memorable experiences for children and their families.

Anticipated Schedule: Thursday – Monday or Wednesday – Sunday

Salary: $17.00/hour

This position is part of the AFSCME Local 397 bargaining unit.

Essential Functions:

• Greets and orients all visitors, provides wayfinding, and communicates daily happenings to visitors with a positive, friendly, and engaging disposition.
• Support Museum Learning programs and guides experiences that encourage Families to discover, imagine, get curious, and learn through play together in the Museum’s exhibits.
• Operates Museum’s Carousel; ensures safety procedures are being followed by all visitors.
• Facilitates play-based experiences for families in the Museum’s Food & Family grocery store exhibit, including restocking props throughout the day.
• Assists Admissions with processing tickets, membership sales and wayfinding.
• Assists Museum Learning and Admission staff in maintaining daily opening/set up and closing/clean up procedures.
• Ensures that each visitor receives outstanding service by providing a friendly environment, including greeting, and acknowledging every guest, maintaining outstanding standards, solid product knowledge and all other components of visitor service.
• Ability to detect, assess, identify, and observe surroundings to make sound judgments, along with the ability communicate verbally, comprehend, and decipher information accurately, using a two- way radio and telephone.
• Models exemplar customer service, discretion, and professionalism in all interactions with visitors and staff.
• Maintains a positive Museum environment by enforcing Museum policies and procedures, communicating any potential or active problems to the appropriate Museum staff and security through the approved channels, and providing basic first aid if needed.
• Interested and curious about history, play-based learning, and sharing knowledge to diverse audiences.
• Support group admissions as needed.
• Write clear, detailed incident reports and related documentation as needed.
• Knowledgeable about Museum membership and actively promotes memberships.
• Maintains a good standing attitude and work ethic while providing excellent visitor service and strives to maintain harmonious relations with staff.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, Museum Education/Museum Studies, Hospitality.
• At least 2 years’ experience in customer service.
• Equivalent combination of experience and/or education that has led to the development of comparable skills, abilities, and perspectives.
• Ability to independently critically think about issues and problem solve and in a fast-paced environment.
• Cashier experience preferred.
• Excellent time management skills, proven ability to multi-task, can independently execute a task from start to finish with little or ambiguous instructions, attention to details.
• Must be comfortable and proficient speaking in front of large and small groups of both children and adults.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills required. Experience effectively speaking with children and families from diverse backgrounds.
• Flexible, can easily adapt to new policies and procedures.
• Ability to read and comprehend instructions, short correspondences, and memos.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• CPR and First Aid Certified preferred.
• Bi-lingual preferred.
• Availability to work on weekends, evenings, and holidays in addition to weekdays.
• Ability to embrace and demonstrate the Museum’s Mission, Values, and DEIBA Commitment.
• Must have PA Act 153 clearances (PA criminal history, FBI fingerprints, and PA Child Abuse) completed prior to hire.
• All employees are required to have COVID-19 vaccination, COVID-19 booster, and flu vaccination, as a term and condition of employment.

Physical Requirements & Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

PHYSICAL

• Is regularly required to use hands.
• Must be able to reach with hands and arms.
• Must be able to use hands and fingers continuously.
• Able to remain stationary for extended periods of time.
• Is frequently required to stand and walk for long periods of time; will frequently be required to move from one position to another.
• Ability to perform the physical requirements of the position, i.e., pushing, pulling, reaching, bending, squatting, kneeling, and climbing.