Senior Office Assistant

Michigan Technological University is an R1 technological research university founded in 1885 in Houghton. Our rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan's flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Research focus areas include defense, health, energy, automotive, environment, and aerospace.

The area's waters, forests, and snowfall support year-round recreation, including skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, and paddling. The University is an integral part of the region, supported by a friendly and welcoming community that takes pride in being a true college town. We embrace our size, climate, sense of adventure, and originality.

Michigan Technological University is seeking a Senior Office Assistant for our Merchandising Operations department. The Senior Office Assistant leads customer-facing retail operations for Michigan Tech's Merchandising Operations. The role is responsible for ensuring an exceptional customer experience, maintaining sales floor standards, and providing functional supervision to student employees during daily operations at the Campus Store and University Images. This position serves as a key on-floor leader, resolving customer issues, supporting merchandising execution, and ensuring efficient store operations.

Customer Experience & Leadership

• Provide outstanding customer service in a professional, friendly, and inclusive manner
• Serve as the primary point of contact for customer concerns, resolving issues independently, and elevating issues as necessary
• Lead daily floor operations, ensuring appropriate coverage and responsiveness to customer needs
• Open and close store locations in accordance with established procedures

Student Employee Supervision

• Provide functional supervision to student employees during shifts
• Offer real-time coaching and guidance to support performance and service standards
• Assist with onboarding support and reinforcement of training expectations

Retail Operations

• Operate point-of-sale systems, process transactions, and balance cash drawers
• Monitor and maintain cleanliness, organization, and visual standards of the sales floor and stockrooms Restock merchandise and ensure product availability on the sales floor

Inventory & Fulfillment

• Execute inventory transfers between store locations, including system entry and physical transport
• Assist with receiving, stocking, and organizing merchandise to ensure inventory is distributed appropriately
• Support e-commerce operations by preparing, packing, and shipping orders

Merchandising Support

• Audit merchandise and recommend items for markdown
• Execute approved markdowns, including system updates and tagging
• Maintain and support visual merchandising standards

Collaboration & Support

• Assist with inventory counts and operational projects
• Provide coverage for sales floor and operational needs as required
• Serve as departmental website backup, including, but not limited to, updating store hours, adding announcements, and promoting events.
• Assist with critical Auxiliary Business Services events and operational needs during non-peak times, providing cross-functional support across auxiliary venues and programs as directed

Continuous Improvement & Compliance

• Commit to learning about continuous improvement strategies and Lean practices and integrating them into daily retail operations. Actively engage in University continuous improvement initiatives
• Apply safety-related knowledge, skills, and practices to everyday work, and maintain confidentiality of sensitive information
• Perform other duties as assigned

• High school diploma or equivalent

• One year of experience in customer service or retail, office, or administrative support
• Advanced computer skills

• Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, sociology, or a related field (or an equivalent combination of education and experience)
• Experience operating point-of-sale systems and handling financial transactions
• Experience in a college or university bookstore environment
• Valid U.S. Driver's license and eligibility under University vehicle use requirements

• Excellent…