We’re hiring a Shop Manager!

We’re looking for a new team member to manage the back end of the Val Marie Paper shop! Interested? Please read the following description and then click the “apply” button at the bottom to fill out our application.

VAL MARIE PAPER’S PURPOSE

We invite women who are starving for more into the Val Marie Paper family–a place where they can be trained in prayer free from judgment and encounter God in a real way that transforms their lives, their homes, and their communities. Since we know the power that lies on the other side of their response, getting this right is a great responsibility.

THE ROLE

• Our Shop Manager should be someone who has a passion for prayer and for people, who views each package, not as a job to get done, but as a potential tool for transformation to be used by the Lord in the recipient’s life. 
• Margin is a must for all of our team members. In reading through the following description, if this will not fit into your current season and will cause stress, we ask that you refrain from applying.
• This is considered to be a leadership role. Our Shop Manager will oversee the back-end of the shop with guidance from Val and Kara, implement new systems to maximize efficiency, make suggestions for the growth of the company, and supervise seasonal team members.
• This position is very physical as it involves lifting boxes of products and packages. Candidates should be able to lift 10-20 lb without issue.

LOCATION

Candidates must be local to Lafayette, Louisiana as they will be hands-on with products and shipping out of our office space. Computer work and some packaging (if convenient) may be done at home.

HOURS

Typically, our Shop Manager will work 10-20 hours per week. We currently ship every Tuesday/Friday (we’re also open to Monday/Thursday), although we ship more frequently around launches, sales, and holidays. Other days of the week will involve answering emails, inventory management, and checking Voxer at least once per work day for new messages from the team.

This is a very seasonally influenced position, so we are looking for someone who has the flexibility to work according to our shipping calendar. Below is an estimate of what can be expected in each season.

• Mid January-June: This is typically the slower season for our shop. Approx. 5-10 hrs per week.
• July – Our annual sale takes place with the goal of clearing out our old collection. Approx. 10-20 hrs per week.
• August: The shop is closed during the launch of our spiral journals. There is little to no shipping to be done during this month. Besides being available for launch day, this is an especially good opportunity for our Shop Manager to schedule a vacation, though not limited to this month. 5-10 hrs per week.
• September: Our full 2023 collection launches and there is a lot of packaging and shipping to be done. Preparations are also happening for our upcoming spiral shipping. Approx. 15-20 hrs per week.
• October/November: This is when our spiral prayer journals arrive and the Shop Manager oversees (along with Val) a team that hand-checks and ships out approx. 3,000 pre-orders over the course of a couple weeks. Up to 30 hrs a week for this 2-week period, otherwise 10-20 hrs per week.
• November-mid January: Shipping out holiday and new year’s orders. We prioritize family time on Thanksgiving Day and the week leading up to Christmas. The Shop Manager should be available Cyber Weekend to oversee inventory and ship orders. After Christmas, we typically begin shipping again December 26 and ship near daily through December 31. Approx. 15-25 hrs/week.

TASKS

• Inventory Management: Ensuring the shop is well-stocked, Having a working knowledge of the quantity of products we need in the shop during each season of the year (i.e. July sale, Cyber Weekend, Christmas, etc.).
• Ordering: Placing orders with our local print shop or online printers for products and marketing materials. This also includes placing orders for cover paper for journals and packaging supplies (i.e. cellophane envelopes, packing peanuts, boxes, etc.)
• Packaging: This typically means putting finished journals into cellophane envelopes with a “how-to” and current promo cards.
• Shipping: Printing labels from ShipStation, putting together customer orders and mailing them out by arranging a time for pick up with the postal service.
• Customer Service: Graciously answering customer emails within 48 business hours. Being available on our spiral launch day in August to answer emails and take a shift to work our live customer chat.
• Team Meetings: We meet once a month for two hours as a team via Google Meet to recap the past month, discuss upcoming events, map out logistics, and brainstorm ideas. While everything we talk about won’t pertain to the back-end of the shop, we value our Shop Manager’s thoughts and participation in all aspects of the business.

PAYMENT

We will have a 90-day training period, where the rate will be $15/hour. It will be a chance for us to train the candidate on all the tasks and have a bit of time to see how well we work together. At the end of the training period, if we are a good fit, the hourly rate will be set at $16-17/hour based on performance. We also usually do at least one bonus a year for as much as $1000 as well as other incentives depending on how we meet our sales goals.

APPLY HERE