Youth Programs Assistant & Community Support Specialist

Position: Youth Programs Assistant & Community Support Specialist 

Reports to: Youth Programs Manager 

Type: Part time, approximately 15-20 hours/week. Works weekdays, evenings, and weekends. 

Rate: $18/hour 

Start Date: As soon as possible 

Hugo House Mission: 

Hugo House is a nonprofit literary arts organization located in Seattle with a 20-year history as the city's hub for writers. In the fall of 2018, Hugo House moved into a new facility in the heart of the city, which has enabled dramatic growth in classes and event programming. One of the nation’s leading community-based centers for the literary arts, Hugo House has a vision to open the literary world to anyone who loves books or has a drive to write. Hugo House offers year-round creative writing programming for adults and youth, including everything from single-day classes to year-long workshops, readings and events, open mic nights, and summer writing camps. 

Position Overview: 

Hugo House is looking for a Youth Programs Assistant & Community Support Specialist to help in planning, coordinating, and ensuring the success of our creative writing programming for youth.  The Youth Programs Assistant & Community Support Specialist will also help run Hugo House’s front desk, providing outstanding community support both in-person and virtually. The role will be a mixture of weekdays, evenings, and weekends for a total of 15-20 hours a week. This is an in-person position and cannot be done remotely, though there will be increased flexibility over time. 

Responsibilities: 

Youth Programs Assistance 

The Youth Programs Assistant will work closely with the Youth Programs Manager in planning and coordinating Hugo House events from start to finish, including: 

• Selecting, planning, and implementing youth programming, including Scribes Camps, workshops, Cohort, and Scribe-o-rama. 
• Managing youth email inbox, corresponding with teachers, students, and peer organizations. 
• Providing on-site and virtual assistance for youth programs. 
• Handling all youth programs registration. 
• Coordinating class logistics, payment process, and rosters with youth teachers. 
• Managing and selecting all Young Writers Cohort participants. 
• Collecting scholarship, registration, evaluations, and revenue data. 
• Running youth Instagram account. 

Community Support Services 

The Community Support Specialist will provide excellent customer service to students, teachers, members, and all House visitors; assist with event and class production, as well as administrative needs; and maintain Hugo House’s COVID safety measures and ensure visitor comfort. 

• Complete 2-4 shifts a week at Hugo House’s front desk. 
• Greet visitors and speak to the mission and resources of Hugo House. 
• Answer phones and conduct customer service requests via phone, email, and in-person interactions. 
• Maintain building security and appearance, including daily opening and closing of Hugo House. 
• Set up classroom technology and provide tech assistance for teachers and students as needed. 
• Liase with registrar, operations team, and other team members to complete daily tasks. 
• Serve as office contact for those working from home. 

Position Qualifications: 

• Experience in customer service. 
• Experience in planning and coordinating programs or events. 
• Familiarity with K-12 education a plus. 
• Self-directed working style. 
• Comfortable working with the public. 
• Comfort in Microsoft Office, including Excel. 
• Entrepreneurial mindset, adaptability, creativity, and innovative thinking. 
• Capacity to work effectively with highly collaborative staff. 
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills. 
• Share Hugo House’s commitment to building an antiracist organization. 

Job Conditions: 

This position must be conducted in-person, requires expertise with computers, ability to lift 20-35 pounds, and navigate stairs. 

We encourage applications from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) and other people underrepresented in literary arts administration. Hugo House is committed to becoming an antiracist organization and strives to remove barriers that might discourage any person from working here. It is Hugo House’s intent to maintain a diverse work force that represents our community. Our approach to diversity is intended to provide not only equal employment opportunities to minorities, women, and persons with disabilities, but also to recognize and value people with ethnic, cultural, and other differences, such as religion, ancestry, language, national origin, culture, age, gender, sexual orientation, and marital status.