Vendor Program Lead

About the role

As Vendor Program Lead, you'll make the Vendor Center a place vendors want to be: reliable, respectful and welcoming. This is a hands-on role. You'll be in the Vendor Center every day greeting and supporting vendors, and you'll own how the Center runs, including the standards, training and systems that help everyone do their best work. You'll also train vendors to grow their sales and help bring new vendors into the community.

This role is not supervisory. You'll set the standard, model it and train others in it, and you'll work closely with the Deputy Director, who supervises the team

About Real Change

Real Change exists to provide opportunity and a voice to low-income and homeless people while taking action for economic, social and racial justice. For over 30 years, we have been a trusted hub for community, journalism, and economic opportunity in Seattle. Our Vendor Program offers immediate, low-barrier work to people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Vendors are self-employed, earning income by selling the weekly, award-winning Real Change newspaper. Vendors are the heart of our organization, and centering their voices, agency, and success guides every department and every role at Real Change. We meet people where they are, without judgment, and support one another in reaching personal and professional goals. All Real Change staff are expected to bring this commitment to their work, actively welcoming vendor engagement, supporting vendor participation across the organization, and advancing our mission of economic, social and racial justice.

What you'll do

• Support vendors in the Vendor Center every day, and back up all Center operations, including the sales desk
• Keep the Vendor Center clean, organized, stocked and safe
• Model great hospitality and customer service, and train staff and volunteers in our Vendor Engagement Standard
• Prevent conflict through clear, consistent systems, and support the team in de-escalating when situations arise
• Manage and sometimes lead vendor trainings that help vendors increase their sales
• Keep the vendor incident log and spot patterns that lead to improvements
• Build strategies to grow and retain the vendor community, including keeping in touch with community partners by phone and email

What you bring

• A deep commitment to social and economic justice and to Real Change's mission
• 2+ years of experience working with people experiencing homelessness and/or low incomes
• Strong hospitality and customer service skills, and experience training others
• Experience with conflict management and de-escalation
• Familiarity with mental illness, substance-use disorders and other disabilities
• Clear, objective and non-judgmental communication, in person and in writing
• Comfort with databases and computers (FileMaker Pro, Excel, Google Workspace)

People with lived experience of homelessness or poverty, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color, are strongly encouraged to apply. If this role excites you but you don’t meet every qualification, we still want to hear from you.

Schedule and working conditions

• Full-time, 40 hours/week, on-site at the Vendor Center during operating hours
• A busy, sometimes loud, open-door drop-in environment
• Must be able to lift 15 pounds repeatedly, including during the weekly newspaper truck unload

Compensation and benefits

$27.30 to $28.61/hour (non-exempt). Benefits include health and dental coverage, 3 weeks of vacation, 2 weeks of sick time, 11 holidays, a 403(b) retirement plan with a 4% Real Change contribution, and professional development funds. This position is represented by IBEW Local 89.

Real Change is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.

Full Job Description

Vendor Program Lead

The Vendor Program Lead is a full time, 40 hours/week, non-exempt Union position reporting to the Deputy Director. This is a working role with functional ownership of the Vendor Center. The Lead takes part in daily Vendor Center operations and serves as backup for all of them. The Lead also makes sure the Center is a safe, welcoming, clean and organized space, and that Vendor Program systems and structure are applied consistently. We treat every vendor as both a valued customer and a partner in our mission. The Lead models the Vendor Engagement Standard and trains others in it. This position trains and develops vendors to increase their sales, documents and communicates vendor incidents, and leads strategy to grow and retain the vendor community. The Vendor Program Lead has no direct reports and does not supervise staff; concerns about staff are brought to the Deputy Director. This position requires patience, sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to stay calm and solution-focused in a busy, fast-paced environment.

Primary roles and responsibilities:

Vendor Center Operations and Daily Support (30%)

• Staff the greeting and general support desk daily to keep the two-staff minimum in the Vendor Center for safety
• Serve as backup for all Vendor Center operations, including the sales desk
• Own the readiness of the Vendor Center: keep it clean, organized, stocked and safe, following the Opening, Closing and Wednesday (new paper day) SOPs
• Make sure vendors have reliable access to facilities and resources; report facilities issues to the Deputy Director and follow up until they are resolved
• Track supply and resource needs and recommend purchases to the Deputy Director
• Participate in weekly newspaper truck unload

Vendor Engagement: Hospitality and Customer Service (15%)

• Deliver service that meets the Vendor Engagement Standard, so that vendors experience the Vendor Center as their space: reliable, respectful and welcoming
• Get every transaction right: accurate paper sales, correct resource referrals, and follow-through on every request
• Greet vendors as they arrive, learn and use their names, and notice and respond to needs before being asked
• When something goes wrong, follow the service recovery steps: acknowledge, apologize, fix, follow up and document
• Maintain the Vendor Engagement Standard, gather vendor feedback, and recommend updates to the Deputy Director annually
• Train Vendor Center staff and volunteers on the Vendor Engagement Standard

Systems, Structure and De-escalation (15%)

• Serve as subject matter expert for Vendor Program SOPs: identify when an SOP needs updating or is missing, provide the content needed to write it, and review drafts prepared by the Deputy Director
• Make sure the Authorized Vendor Guidelines and program rules are applied consistently across all shifts and staff
• Identify patterns behind recurring conflicts and incidents, and propose changes to systems that prevent escalation
• Support Vendor Center staff in de-escalating situations when they occur, using restorative justice practices; bring in the Deputy Director or emergency services when needed

Vendor Training and Sales Development (15%)

• Own the vendor orientation curriculum, based on the Authorized Vendor Guidelines, so orientations are delivered consistently
• Lead ongoing vendor trainings on sales skills, customer engagement, selling-post etiquette, digital payments and the Venmo process
• Coach individual vendors on reaching their paper sales goals
• Share sales tips and vendor success stories across the vendor community

Incident Documentation and Communication (10%)

• Maintain the vendor incident log, and make sure all Vendor Center staff document incidents promptly, accurately and objectively
• Communicate incidents and follow-up to the Deputy Director and relevant staff
• Report incident trends to the Deputy Director on a regular basis
• Bring observed concerns about staff conduct to the Deputy Director

Vendor Growth, Retention and Outreach (15%)

• Develop strategies and targets to increase the number of active vendors
• Use FileMaker Pro and circulation data to track active, lapsed and new vendors
• Lead re-engagement efforts with inactive vendors, and recommend incentives or program changes that improve retention
• Until the Outreach Coordinator position is filled, maintain existing retail and referral partner relationships and respond to community and customer concerns by phone and email
• Report vendor growth and retention to the Deputy Director monthly
• Attend all staff and department-specific meetings as needed
• Perform other tasks as assigned

Required Skills:

• Passionate commitment to social and economic justice and Real Change's mission
• 2+ years of experience working with homeless and/or low-income populations
• Strong hospitality and customer service skills, and experience training others in them
• Experience in conflict management and de-escalation
• Familiarity with mental illness, substance-use disorders and other disabilities
• Ability to break down how work is done so it can be written into clear procedures
• Ability to communicate verbally and in writing in a clear, objective and non-judgmental way
• Computer proficiency and database experience with programs such as FileMaker Pro, Excel, Word and G Suite
• Flexibility to succeed in a busy, sometimes loud workspace
• Ability to lift 15 pounds repeatedly

Benefits include health and dental coverage, 3 weeks of vacation, 2 weeks of sick time, 11 holidays, a 403(b) retirement plan with a 4% Real Change contribution, and professional development funds. This position is represented by IBEW Local 89.