Museum Gift Shop Specialist

 At Children’s Museum of Atlanta, we know your visit doesn't have to end when you leave the museum. It can happen when kids get to bring a little piece of their play and discovery home—whether that’s a favorite toy, story they loved during Story Time, a sparkly jar of slime, or a game that keeps the fun going long after their visit. 

We’re looking for someone who’s just as fascinated by what makes children (ages 0–8) light up as they are by the behind-the-scenes work of keeping our shop running smoothly. If you love toys and tinkering with inventory, get curious about what families want most, and are driven to not just meet but exceed sales goals—all while upholding our high standards of excellence—you’ll fit right in with our playful, purposeful team. Keep reading for the full description of the Museum Gift Shop Specialist role and we hope to hear from you soon.

The position is part time, non-exempt, 20 hours/week, and $20-$22 per hour, DOE. We offer generous PTO, and at no cost to you: an EAP (employee assistance program), family museum membership and quarterly guest passes to the museum. The museum also offers museum store discounts, free parking and/or 20% discount for MARTA unlimited monthly. Optional benefits include: FSA, 401k, AFLAC supplementary plans.

The Museum Gift Shop Specialist's primary role is being responsible for the back-end management of the Museum’s retail store: buying, merchandising, inventory control and POS management. This position works cross departmentally to ensure that all items offered for sale reflect the Museum’s brand, mission, values, and standard of excellence. While this role does not directly supervise other team members, it does provide training and support on product knowledge to enhance the guest experience.  

Our mission is to spark every child’s imagination, sense of discovery, and learning through the power of play. And we do it by fostering communication, championing play, tending to community, and leading with integrity. 

Responsibilities:

• With Director set annual revenue goals and determine the purchasing budget to support those goals
• Purchase inventory on a schedule that integrates with the Museum’s operations factoring in the traveling exhibit schedule and seasonality as well as revenue goals
• Keep current with education and research around children’s learning; effectively research and evaluate products based on the Museum’s Brand, and customer profile.  
• Build and maintain relationships with sales representatives who handle toys and educational items
• Develop the merchandising plan for the store that rotates the stock on a regular basis and train the Front of house (FOH) team on restocking and maintaining the look
• Train and coach FOH team on product knowledge—particularly toys and educational items
• Maintain inventory controls including receiving, managing the POS, taking measures to prevent loss and managing a bi-annual physical count.
• Manage all consignment partnerships
• Manage all transfers of items to other departments
• Create monthly inventory and transfer reports for Finance
• Occasionally create & run themed pop-up store experiences
• Present a positive, energetic demeanor externally to members, guests and the community and internally to staff
• Other duties as assigned

Skills:

• Excellent computer skills –inventory control/ POS, Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Ability to see the world through the eyes of a child
• Excellent customer service skills
• Ability to multi-task
• Detail oriented
• Excellent problem solver

Education:

Associate’s degree in business or related field or equivalent work experience

Experience:

A minimum of 3-5 years’ experience in retail store operations, prior experience with children’s toys, books, or other children’s retail, preferred.