South Street Seaport Museum invites applications for the full-time position of Shopkeeper.

The South Street Seaport Museum—a fifty-four-year-old cultural institution dedicated to telling the story of the rise of the New York port—engages visitors through interactive experiences with its fleet of historic ships, historic buildings and galleries, 19th-century letterpress shops, and an extensive collection of artifacts. The Museum provides visitors the opportunity to appreciate the contributions of the Port of New York to the city, state, nation, and world and to understand the current role of New York Harbor as a natural resource and a gateway to the world. On a path to full recovery and sustainability after several serious challenges, the Museum has an ambitious plan to restore and reconfigure its buildings, complete the restoration and stabilization of its fleet of ships, broaden its programmatic reach, and establish an endowment for long-term sustainability.

The Seaport Museum’s Bowne & Co. are 19th-century letterpress printers operating as a program and shop within the Museum. Our brick-and-mortar stationery shop, located in a former cast iron stove warehouse built-in 1839, is a community fixture like no other in New York City. We proudly offer paper goods, gifts, and more, many of which are sourced from small-batch, eco-friendly, and local makers. We also maintain a working collection of historic printing equipment, which we use to make products sold in our shop. (Learn more at www.bowne.co)

We are seeking a Shopkeeper to perform the duties of a neighborhood shopkeeper. Enthusiasm, community engagement, and product knowledge are the main focus. Reporting to the Art Director and Operations Manager, you will be part of a small, collaborative team that runs the stationery shop and a historic letterpress printing operation. An ideal candidate is passionate about the critical role that small businesses play in our communities and is energized to learn and share all that our shop has to offer with the public.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The essential functions include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Engage customers by demonstrating passion and ownership about our shop, our merchandise, and our neighborhood
• Develops a broad understanding of South Street Seaport Museum programs, tours, and exhibitions and communicates effectively about them to our visitors
• Conducts product research, orders merchandise, and manages logistics
• Maintains inventory, restocks displays, and performs general cleaning tasks
• Assists in fulfilling orders from our online shop
• Utilizes a POS retail system and handles cash
• Actively seeks new challenges and increased responsibility

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS* (KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES)

• Passion and curiosity about stationery, New York history, maritime history, graphic design, or another related field
• Excellent communication skills with both the public and team members
• Thrives in a dynamic environment with busier times and slower times and enjoys working independently
• Previous experience working in retail, food service, or customer service
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Weekend availability is a must
• Experience with visual merchandising a plus

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

The physical demands described here represent those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

Physical Demands: Regularly required to be on your feet for much of the day o Often required to climb stairs or ladders, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl o Lift up to 25 lbs. regularly

COVID-19 Protocols: In the interest of providing and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace, South Street Seaport Museum has implemented a mandatory vaccination policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination for all employees. For purposes of this policy, “vaccinated” is defined as having received a full course plus booster of either the Moderna, Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer COVD-19.

This is a full-time position offering company subsidized medical benefits, dental and vision, HRA account, vacation, sick, and personal leave. Eligible for employee-contributed retirement and pension. The work schedule is generally Wednesday to Sunday.

Salary range $45,000–$50,000

The Seaport Museum strongly encourages applications from members of groups underrepresented in careers related to museums; we seek to foster a collaborative and respectful work environment with a staff as diverse as New York City and our audience.

Email cover letter with resume with “Shopkeeper” in the subject line to: careers@seany.org

**Applications without a cover letter will not be considered***

No phone calls, please.

The position is open until filled, with priority to applications received by March 28th

South Street Seaport Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer