While adventures at Brookfield Zoo may leave a guest hungry or thirsty, it may also inspire some shopping at the Coast Gift Shop located by the Living Coast home to vibrantly colorful fish, corals, sharks and more. Shopping at Coast Gift Shop offers an eclectic assortment of treasures for guests to facilitate fond memories of their visit to Brookfield Zoo. As a conservation organization, the store even carries the Zoo's largest selection of Fair Trade and eco-friendly products. Proceeds from merchandise sales help to feed and care for our animals - what a fantastic way for guests to show their support! You can too!

As the Assistant Manager, Merchandise at Coast Gift Shop you will ensure exceptional guest service is being provided to all guests by scheduling staff for Society-wide customer service training, leading and improving Merchandise training, continuous observation, retraining, as needed, and follow up, as appropriate. You will utilize your prior supervisory experience as you perform daily management functions to ensure proper cash handling procedures, cash accounting, system and inventory controls are in support of programs and procedures established in conjunction with Cash Control, Finance and Security Departments. This also includes monitoring the financial performance of locations and implementing corrective action in controllable areas, such as labor, to maintain budgeted expenses; and, assuring compliance to Society policies and procedures, including Life Safety policies, Government Job Safety regulations, and Labor Laws. You will also assist in the preparation of the location staffing plan and daily staffing schedules to support budgetary goals, including executing onsite operating adjustments in response to the needs of the guests and operation and, as needed, assign crew to assist in other areas to create efficiencies within the institution. As Assistant Manager, Merchandise, you will assist in training and supervising over 40 seasonal crew members, including observation, evaluation, recognition, and corrective action, as appropriate, following established guidelines as well as support Society-wide customer service programs. Making use of your solid communication skills, you will maintain effective communications among various managers, crew and guests; and, respond to requests from other departments in a timely manner. You will assist in managing the Merchandise point of sale system including working with the vendor support staff, Merchandise Buyers and Information Services Department to resolve urgent software and related hardware issues; assist in updating departmental procedures relating to customer service, up selling, cash handling, reporting, and location standards; and, perform frontline functions as needed. Drawing upon your solid organization skills, you will ensure locations are stocked with necessary inventory and operating supplies; perform inventories of locations to ensure sufficient onsite supply levels are met and submit supply orders to General Manager; ensure all location signs are correct and properly displayed; and, recommend and order appropriate signage as needed.

Position Requirements and Specifications
This is a temporary position. The minimum starting wage for this position is $14.25 per hour.

The requirements for this position include:

• High School diploma or equivalent combination of training and/or experience required.
• Minimum of two years supervisory experience required, or equivalent combination of supervisory experience and direct frontline experience.
• Must have computer proficiency including experience with Microsoft Excel, Outlook, and Word.
• Strong customer service orientation required.
• Solid organization and communication skills required.
• Must be able to interact positively with the public.
• Incumbent must have ability to work non-standard hours including evenings, holidays, and weekends. Work schedules are based on the needs of the operation and may be adjusted due to weather conditions.

The desired/preferred qualifications include the following:

• College coursework in relevant business, management subjects or other relevant subject preferred.
• Prior experience with cash handling and working in a customer service environment preferred.
• Ability to operate a Point of Sale system preferred.
• Multilingual ability, Spanish fluency a plus.

Additional Information
This requisition is to actively recruit for a temporary opening for 2015.

Additional requisitions will be posted as additional opportunities become available. Please "Arial","sans-serif""> continue to visit our CZS Career Center for these
future opportunities .

The Chicago Zoological Society is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer - Minorities / Women / Veterans / Disabled.