Banista (Banana Attendant) for Northwest Center Services @ Amazon

Northwest Center is Hiring a Banista (Banana Attendant)!! 


A key customer and corporate partner of Northwest Center, the Amazon partnership started in 2003. Amazon opened Seattle’s first Community Banana stand in late 2015 as a public service. Bananas are seen as a healthy, fully compostable, and affordable snack. Northwest Center supports this operation by staffing Amazon’s community banana stands with “Banistas.” The Banista position provides professional 5-star customer service and experience at all times; and often serves as the first in-person contact that visitors and community members have with Amazon. Banistas proactively greet all visitors to the stand, restock inventory, track daily metrics, and are responsible for timely communication of issues needing immediate attention. Banistas engage the community and provide a warm, friendly interaction. Banistas are solution providers and are committed to assisting Amazon with any request.

The position may require working at any or all of the banana stand locations as needed between the hours of 6:30AM - 3PM Monday through Friday with occasional weekend, evening or offsite events. Banistas are also provided projects and other assignments in the event the stands are not available and are therefore cross trained to reception duties.

Learn more about the Amazon Banana Stand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bObPwETly8E

Location: Crystal City, VA and Great DMV Area
When: Full-time - Monday through Friday 6:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Wage: $18.50 per hour 
Benefits: 

• Competitive and affordable Medical (including hearing & hardware coverage!), Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life insurance  
• Generous Paid Time Off benefits
• Additional Floating Holidays, Parental Leave, Paid Compassion Leave and Paid Holidays
• Retirement 401(K) with a company match
• Employment Assistance Program (EAP) including six free therapy sessions per year
• Gym & Fitness Reimbursement Program
• Student Loan Repayment Program

Check out the entire list of benefits Northwest Center has to offer here: http://www.nwcbenefits.com/ 


**Please submit a resume with your application**

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES / ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Arrive to the banana stand ready to work at scheduled time in provided Banista uniform.
• Assist with daily set-up and/or tear down of stand, ensuring all banana stand related items are placed in appropriate locations.
• Greet and engage every visitor to the stand in a friendly, warm, professional and courteous manner. Banistas are required to provide a 5-star impression at all times.
• Select work appropriate music to play during operating hours.
• Unload bananas from boxes into banana stand crates while separating bananas into individual pieces.
• Remove plastic or other material from the banana bunches.
• Keep the banana stand crates full and plentiful for the duration of operating hours.
• Sort any bruised or damaged bananas out and place them in the compost bin.
• Ensure the banana stand is organized and clean at all times.
• Monitor the compost bin and facilitate emptying when full.
• Track daily metrics in tracking software on distribution, compost, carry-over cases, and additional areas as specified by leadership and/or Amazon Global Real Estate and Facilities (GREF).
• Track all comments, general inquiries, and public response to identify common themes and emergency situations needing attention.
• Learn FAQ’s and banana facts to share with visitors.
• Decorate the stand for holidays and/or special events with approved designs.
• Communicate issues needing supervisor attention immediately, i.e. unexpected media on scene, etc.
• Create and submit posts for PR approval to the Banana Stand Twitter account.
• Follow structured timelines and accommodate unexpected requests.
• Interact with the public and discern security issues if they arrive, ability to follow security escalation requirements.
• Ability to work at various banana stand locations (including some offsite locations) between 7:15am and 4:00pm Monday through Friday, including occasional after hours requests and weekends.
• Cross training on all reception duties including but not limited to: hanging posters, covering desks, lunch hand out, distribution of supplies.
• Perform other duties as assigned for needed duration.

NEEDED EXPERIENCE & REQUIREMENTS

Education

• GED or high school diploma required.

Experience

• Minimum 1 year customer service experience.

Demonstrable Skills

• Ability to perform subtraction, multiplication and division for equations up to 3 digits.
• Ability to remember training content and recall daily trends in banana distribution.
• Must be proficient with MS Windows, Excel, and Outlook e-mail.
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate with leadership, co-workers, and visitors.
• Ability to understand, interpret and follow Northwest Center (NWC) and Amazon Policies and Procedures. 
• Strong conflict resolution and problem solving skills.

WORKING CONDITIONS & PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Must be able to frequently carry and lift a backpack containing a laptop and other supplies, up to 50 pounds.
• May need to carry supplies to other buildings.
• It is a combination of desk and actively visiting several Amazon buildings so the ability to walk consistently within a 1.5 radius is required.
• Ability to read, write, speak and comprehend the English language.
• Ability to see both distance and details at close range, within a few feet of the observer (with or without corrective lenses).
• Ability to identify and understand the speech of another person (with or without a personal auditory hearing device).
• This is a dog friendly environment with over 1000 dogs on campus. Individuals with dog allergies or those who do not particularly care for dogs may not be the best fit.

Specific to Banista role

• Must be able to stand and/or sit outdoors in all weather conditions above 35 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4 hours at a time and up to 8 hours for the day.
• Must be able to handle bananas and/or various food products without allergic reaction.
• Could be conditions below 40 degrees for up 3 hours.
• Must be able to lift bananas and stack boxes up to 50 lbs repeatedly.

If you need any assistance with the application process, please send us an email at jobs@nwcenter.org and include the title of the role in the subject line.

At Northwest Center, we value and accept diversity and inclusion. We promote this by encouraging our employees to participate and contribute to our various employee resource groups. Some examples of the groups include Black Affinity Group (BAG), PRISM (LGBTQIA Group) and our Equity Committee. These resource groups promote diversity and inclusion, provide resources to employees, and play an important role in creating a community at Northwest Center! Our culture is encouraging, promotes growth and believe that our strength lies within our diversity and the forward motion towards a day when people of all abilities can learn and work together. Northwest Center is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, including disability and veteran’s status.

At Northwest Center, we do not just accept diversity and inclusion — we celebrate it, support it, live it, and flourish in it to benefit our employees, the community, and our clientele. We believe that our strength lies within our diversity and the forward motion towards a day when people of all abilities can learn and work together. Northwest Center is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, including disability and veterans status.