| About the University |
Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report. Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties. |
| About the Department |
The Bookstore supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.
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| About the Position |
The Bookstore Manager is responsible for the strategic leadership and operations of the WWU Bookstore. The Bookstore supports the educational mission of the University by providing academic resource materials for students and faculty using a competitive model that strives to provide affordable course materials and accompanying academic support materials as well as art, school and office supplies. The store plays a key role in promoting collegiate pride and connection to the university through sale of its branded apparel and merchandise.
The Manager is responsible for facilitating and promoting the store as a resource for students and faculty. Market analysis and strategic marketing of all store merchandise is a key priority. The Manager is responsible for implementation of new ideas and processes to strategically lead the Bookstore in a diverse and evolving market. They will utilize industry best practices and metrics to improve performance and service.
The Manager creates a team atmosphere among the staff and student employees, utilizing a collaborative management approach encouraging contributions from employees toward organizational goals, and the employees’ growth and development. The Manager practices a strong and clear communication style that engages employees and allows for transparent decision-making, while ensuring that there are open and continuous feedback and assessment opportunities.
As an independent campus store, the Bookstore actively works to control the price of materials while maintaining a self-supporting operation. In partnership with the Associated Students (AS), the Bookstore integrates feedback and recommendations regarding policies and services. Annual net proceeds are shared with the AS for student programs.
Approximately 60% of the $3.5 million annual overall gross sales are related to course materials. The Bookstore utilizes PrismRBS, Banner, Verba/VitalSource software to facilitate textbook adoptions, sales and operations in conjunction with Canvas, the University’s Learning Management System. The store is a resource to, and partners closely with, campus departments and faculty throughout the course material selection process to offer new and used materials, rentals, e-books, and inclusive access titles. The Bookstore currently has 11 permanent staff positions and averages about 20 student employees.
The store is situated within the student union building on WWU’s Bellingham campus and also serves distance learning and off-site programs, but has no physical satellite operations. Online sales are offered and store marketing utilizes social media. See Bookstore website: www.bookstore.wwu.edu
The Bookstore is part of the Division of Enrollment and Student Services, which includes the following departments: Academic Advising, Admissions, Athletics, Campus Recreation, Career Services, The Centers (Student Access, Community &Intercultural Engagement including Multicultural Student Services, Disability Access Center, LGBTQ+ Western), Child Development Center, Health Center, Counseling & Wellness, Financial Aid, New Student Services/Family Outreach, Registrar's Office, Student Life and , Student Success Initiatives, University Residences and Dining Services, the Viking Union, Student Activities, Associated Students, and Veteran Services. Division website: https://vpess.wwu.edu
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| Required Qualifications |
• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in management of a retail operation including supervision of full-time staff
*Three years of management experience within the college store or closely related industry. Management of a unit within a larger store is acceptable but must include sufficient personnel supervision, preferably at the scope of Assistant Manager level or higher, and similarly broad store leadership experience of a multi-level organizational structure.
• Knowledge of current college store industry trends and market initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, organize, motivate, develop, recognize, and set goals for staff in a collaborative team environment and to lead personnel through change.
• Demonstrated well-rounded experiences working effectively in highly diverse and inclusive environments.
• Experience with point-of-sale systems.
•Experience with inventory management systems including calculation of cost of goods sold.
•Experience with social media for marketing and promotions.
•Experience with website management (flow/messaging, not development)
•Demonstrated ability to evaluate and adopt new methods and technologies that drive results.
• Proven ability to forge positive, collaborative relationships with various constituencies, create a positive customer service environment, and to be responsive to a diverse set of needs within a campus community. • Demonstrated ability to collect & utilize relevant data and to analyze financial information for assessment & decision-making in order to achieve tangible results and measure progress toward goals.
• Strong oral and written communication skills with effective application in a leadership role.
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| Preferred Qualifications |
•Business related bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or other relevant advanced certification.
• Retail and/or college store industry training, development or industry certification. Involvement in college store industry related professional organizations.
• Knowledge and experience in college or university course material acquisition and management including multiple formats, sourcing, price points and related issues.
• Experience with college store software and associated online sales solutions.
• Skills and experience that demonstrates a proactive, creative, and market-responsive
approach.
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