Temporary Sales Associate

About the role

Responsible for providing exceptional sales and customer service throughout the retail shops. This position requires the ability to engage our diverse Museum Shop customer by communicating the features and benefits of our unique merchandise. The role also provides excellent front-line service to MFA visitors by answering Museum-related questions and enthusiastically promoting the Museum.

Responsibilities

• Use register to ring in basic transactions including regular sales and membership sales, including asking each customer if they have a membership.
• At point of sale, offer to prepare customer’s purchase with protective materials (tissue, bubble wrap, boxes) to ensure safe transport.
• Complete any training updates of the P.O.S system offered.
• Register shortages and overages must not exceed $5.00 per month on average over a 3-month period.
• Greet all customers warmly, enthusiastically, and sincerely at the register and on the selling floor.
• Always wear a name badge and be approachable to customers while on the selling floor.
• Engage customers to assist them as needed.
• Adapt quickly to changing business needs and process large volumes of customers and transactions expeditiously and accurately while maintaining high service levels.
• Work in three different shops; occasionally all three in one day.
• Communicate features and benefits of items that may interest the customer.
• Ask questions to determine customer needs and suggest products to fulfill them.
• Suggest complementary items and mention specials or promotional products.
• Answer routine and higher-level questions; escalate to a supervisor if needed.
• Maintain a customer list, call customers about new or restocked items, and take phone orders.
• Assist with checking in and putting away merchandise, restocking the floor, and filling in merchandise in all store areas.
• Support Floor Merchandisers in stocking and re-merchandising as necessary.
• Use merchandising skills to create displays and integrate new merchandise under direction.
• Replenish supplies at the beginning of each shift and keep the work area neat.
• Straighten merchandise when there are no customers and tidy the store at the end of the day.
• Maintain store standards by cleaning glass, dusting shelves, straightening, and restocking merchandise.
• Know the general layout of the store, merchandise locations, and products related to the Museum’s collection.
• Communicate features and benefits of product lines to customers.
• Know store and Museum hours, admission policies, pricing, and special exhibitions.
• Direct visitors to popular Museum areas and provide knowledge of gallery locations.
• Properly “hand-off” visitors to other staff or departments when necessary and accept hand-offs from associates.
• Suggest “can’t miss” pieces of the collection and relate specific pieces to products where appropriate.
• Apply basic art history knowledge.
• Organize and prepare for inventory and instruct newer associates on inventory procedures.
• Maintain a clean, organized back stock and stock room area.

Requirements

• Must be able to work nights and weekends.
• Outgoing, enthusiastic, and must enjoy sales and customer service.
• Able to maintain high sales productivity levels, with strong interpersonal and closing skills.
• Organized and knowledgeable about the products being sold.
• Supportive ally in the Museum’s efforts and commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA).
• Able to interact with diverse audiences in terms of age, economic status, and cultural background.
• Strong ability to make add-on sales and sell MFA memberships.
• High School diploma required; college degree preferred, plus two to three years of related experience.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or associates.
• Ability to calculate figures such as discounts, tax, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume.
• Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.
• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Physical Demands

• Regularly required to stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle, or feel, and talk or hear.
• Occasionally required to sit, climb or balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• Must regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Pay

Temporary Hourly, $21.84 per hour.

Schedule

The Shops are open from 10 am - 5 pm on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, and from 10 am - 10 pm on Thursday and Friday. Candidates must be able to work two to four shifts per week for 15-25 hours, including weekend and/or evening shifts. Assignment may begin as early as 9/2/2026 and conclude as late as 12/6/2026.