Ecommerce Associate

Organization Description

Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, community, and hope. We envision a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

DuPage Habitat for Humanity (DHFH) is a locally run affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing organization that makes the dream of home ownership possible for low-income families. By creating an affordable mortgage, typically much less than average rental rates in the market area, we provide stability and an increase in disposable income by 20-30% or more. That increase results in outcomes that most average and above income makers take for granted. These outcomes include: the ability to adequately feed the household; having safe and healthy living conditions; providing for a supportive educational environment that leads to increased rates of high school graduation and college degrees; having health care coverage; being involved in the community; and ultimately providing an increased sense of hope. This game changer is the best method to break the cycle of generational poverty. DHFH is seeking to make a long-term impact on the supply of affordable housing in DuPage County, Chicago South Suburbs, and the lives of Habitat homeowners.

Since 1995, DHFH has partnered with people in our community to help them build or improve a place they can call home. DuPage Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. With your support, DuPage Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and for their families.

ReStores are thrift stores that sell used, over-stock, discontinued, and slightly damaged building materials, appliances and furniture with a primary goal to provide a revenue stream used to support the construction of homes for Habitat’s housing ministry. An additional goal is to help the environment by repurposing household items and construction materials that would otherwise be thrown out and end up in a landfill.

Job Description

The E-Commerce Associate is responsible for performing a variety of duties to achieve our common goal of selling items online from our donated and purchased goods inventory. This position plays a key role in generating revenue to support Habitat home builds. Some travel within our local trade area may be required.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Maintain established productivity goals for the department without a loss of quality of work

• Work with the flow of goods through the sales cycle: receiving, processing, photography, listing, stocking, shipping, etc.

• Respond to customer service inquiries through email, chat, or phone and follow-up to ensure customer satisfaction

• Using the internet, published guidelines and consultation with experts, research potential merchandise to be placed online for sale, determining information such as the type and function of the item, fair market value, eligibility for vintage/antique status, brand, potential buyers, whether items are genuine, and other details in order to make an educated assessment as to the item’s salability on our online markets

• Write persuasive sales copy about each item

• Take clear and accurate photographs of items, in such detail and number to provide the potential customer with enough information about the item’s appearance, condition, size, color, shape, composition, brand, model, size, and other descriptive detail

• Responsible for daily order fulfillment including proper packing, labeling, and on-time delivery

• Quickly and efficiently process goods across all product categories as directed

• Track production output as well as product levels and records on appropriate forms

• Maintain work areas in a neat and orderly manner with clean-up activities performed throughout the day

• Record assigned metrics and complete daily reports

• Audit inventory to ensure accuracy

• Protect goods from damage or theft

• Purge items as needed

• Quickly and efficiently enter goods into software programs across all product categories as directed

• Coordinate and communicate with store management and E-commerce Representatives as necessary regarding items sent from that store

• Maintain and adhere to all agency policies and procedures

• Train and cross train associates as needed

• Operate equipment including pallet jack, shipping equipment and other items as needed

• Ability to travel within our local trade area as needed

• Other duties as assigned

Marketing & Sales:

• Ensure software is up to date for the department to create listings

• Enter product data accurately entered into e-goods software

• Create item titles using keywords relating to the product

• Focus on loss prevention

• Advanced customer service

• Quality Assurance in e-goods

• Advanced data entry

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience:

• High school diploma or equivalent

• A minimum of 3+ years of related experience preferred

o E-commerce or a retail environment, like eBay or Amazon

o Online sales including online sales tools and sites

• Experience managing inventory

• Volume shipping experience, or equivalent knowledge from personal experience

Competencies/Skills:

• Strong organizational skills, ability to work well with others at multiple facilities

• Strong communication skills, especially written

• Knowledge of general arithmetic (adding/subtracting) required

• Microsoft Office proficient

• A strong drive to succeed every day

• Ability to work independently with little or no supervision

• Ability to understand and adhere to policies and procedures

• Ability to continually provide feedback for process improvements

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

This position requires the ability to lift merchandise up to 30 pounds in weight, to push and/or pull merchandise up to 200 pounds using warehouse equipment and the ability to work in a warehouse environment with exposure to various temperature extremes (hot in summer, cold in winter), moderate dust and noise.

Some travel between stores in the market may be required.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

DuPage Habitat offers a competitive benefit package including medical, dental, vision, life, short term disability, 403(b) and a generous paid time off package.

Note

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbents will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” relationship.

The job duties listed in this job description may not be inclusive of all requirements of this position; other duties may be assigned

Habitat for Humanity is an international organization serving over 1 million people annually around the world. It is an federated network of locally run affiliates each with its own volunteer Board of Directors and staff. DuPage Habitat is one of 8 affiliates in the Chicagoland area. Habitat for Humanity has been named Brand of the Year in the social services nonprofit category based on the 2016 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Equity Score. This is the second consecutive year the global nonprofit has been recognized for its strength in brand equity. In addition, Habitat for Humanity earned the distinction of being named the Most Loved and Most Trusted brand within its category this year.

DuPage Habitat for Humanity is a locally run affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing organization. Habitat for Humanity "Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat brings people together to build homes, community and hope. Our vision is "A world where everyone has a decent place to live." We build homes that are sold to qualifying families with a price structure so that no more than 30% of their household income is used for their mortgage payment.

DHFH introduced first ReStore in a facility located in Addison in 2011 and is currently in the top 5% of performance for ReStores nationally. In late 2018, the Aurora ReStore started to integrate into DHFH operations as well. In 2019, we began to partner with Chicago South Suburbs Habitat for Humanity. The ReStore is staffed with a combination of paid employees and volunteers.

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