About Friends of Waterfront Seattle

Friends of Waterfront Seattle (“Friends”) is a non-profit partner to the City of Seattle, established to help fund, steward, and activate a new 20-acre park along the downtown shoreline from Pioneer Square to Belltown. Construction of Waterfront Park will be fully complete in summer 2025. Friends is a new cultural hub in partnership with local nonprofits to deliver a full suite of free arts, recreation, and education programs at Pier 62. We are a safe and welcoming public space created through active programming, 24/7/365 on-site safety staff to support positive activity and discourage crime, and by compassionately connecting people in need to social services and resources. During the summer of 2022—in partnership with 41 community organizations—Friends hosted 75,000 visitors at 120 different events and programs, with 80% BIPOC representation.

Land Acknowledgement

Waterfront Park is situated on the land of the Coast Salish peoples, who have resided here since time immemorial and continue to thrive. With respect and humility, we acknowledge the history of the waterfront, the dispossession of land from the Coast Salish people, and, most importantly, the strength and resilience of Native people and their culture through this history and to the present.

Equity Commitment

Friends recognizes and acknowledges historic and existing systemic racism embedded in our city. We are committed to becoming an anti-racist organization by prioritizing racial equity within the organization and in the public spaces we operate.

The Role

Seasonal Park Operations Assistants provide the onsite support and stewardship of the Waterfront Park. They act as public-facing ambassadors and work to ensure that the park is safe, welcoming, inclusive, and clean. This role supports all day-to-day Waterfront Park operations. During the summer months, there are several events per week that accommodate thousands of visitors. This means that time management and work efficiency are a must for this role.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

• Contribute to an inclusive workplace culture while collaborating cross-departmentally; adhere to and help evolve Friends’ Community Agreements.

• Engage in training and meetings related to DEI and People & Culture.
• Ensure Friends’ diversity, equity and inclusion values are upheld and advanced in the daily operations of the park.

Daily Park Operations & Facility Maintenance

• Perform daily operations tasks which can include opening and closing of Pier 62, setting up recreation activities (games and sporting areas), maintenance of public restrooms, graffiti removal, wiping down tables and chairs, and routinely checking on the general cleanliness of Waterfront Park and other duties as assigned.

• Perform other operations tasks along the entire Waterfront Park.
• Ensure the safety of all guests, performers, and personnel through physical presence at the park – standing and walking for an extended period and working in outdoor environmental conditions.
• Inspect various park locations that require traveling a minimum of 1 mile of waterfront property.
• Assist with inventory and organization of supplies at Pier 62 and storage facilities.
• Uphold Friends' standard operating procedures, safety protocols, and performance standards.

• Install and move tents, sporting equipment, and site barricades as directed by supervisor.
• Attended mandatory meetings and trainings as assigned by the Onsite Facilities Operations Manager.

Park Ambassador and Guest Experience Support

• Park Ambassador Duties including, but not limited to, picking up litter, patron assistance, customer service and wayfinding

• Ensures the safety of all guests, performers, and personnel within this position’s areas of responsibility.
• While on site, adhere to Friends’ public safety protocols which may include contacting leadership, law enforcement, and other community safety partners.
• Establish high quality of service and execution standards when working with the public, partners, and colleagues.
• Work to ensure welcoming and inclusive guest service and incorporate a community-centered approach to being a park ambassador.
• Daily/Weekly reporting of departmental check lists and forms, such as end of event reports, alert media reporting, end of shift reports and others as assigned.

• Daily monitoring of specific applications, such as Asana, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, DTN Weather Ops, TeamUp, AlertMedia and others as assigned. Current knowledge of these software tools is not required. Friends will provide training on these tools, but applicants must be comfortable using computers, sending emails, working with various apps and online forms.
• Complete necessary training and certifications as assigned by the Onsite Facilities Operations Manager, Director of Park Experience & Operations, and Assistant to Director of Park Experience.

Qualifications and Competencies

Minimum Qualifications

• An interest in propelling diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism to the forefront of your work.
• Knowledge and interest in public space operations, event operations, and nonprofit work.
• An interest in community-centric public programming, outdoor arts and culture, recreation, and environmental stewardship.
• Flexibility to work at various hours of the day, including nights and weekends.

• Comfortable using computers, sending emails, working with various apps and online forms.
• Efficient communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
• Time management and adaptability – the ability and willingness to change tasks in a moment’s notice.
• Ability to answer questions from the general public as a park ambassador.
• Comfortability with working conditions provided below.

• This position is contingent on passing a background check.

Desired Qualifications

• Lived experience and cultural competency with underrepresented communities, including Black, Indigenous, Latine, disabled, and/or LGBTQ+ communities, and the ability to bring this lens to conversations about anti-racism, anti-oppression and embedding equity in all aspects of work.

• Experience working in a public-facing role at a nonprofit and/or a public space.
• Experience with the Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Teams, Excel) and virtual meeting software (Teams, Zoom).

Compensation and Benefits

This is a seasonal position with flexibility of hours up to 40 hours per week. Please indicate your preferred number of hours and schedule availability in your application. The hourly pay for this role will be between $25-28 per hour. Benefits include employer paid medical, dental, life, and vision insurance [if working at least 30 hours per week], paid time off, ORCA card, and an optional 3% retirement account match.

Working Conditions

• This position is an in-person role with responsibilities being performed at the downtown Waterfront Park – mostly Pier 62.
• We staff the park from morning until dusk, 7 days per week. The schedule for our Park Operations Assistants may include evenings, weekends and holidays.
• All employees must have full COVID-19 vaccination status. Friends follows King County Public Health guidelines.

The physical requirements of this role listed below are representative of those that may need to be met by an employee in this role:

• Moving around Pier 62 and the Waterfront Park for several hours at a time – sometimes in very high or very low temperatures and other varying weather conditions such as sun, wind, rain, snow, etc.
• Ability to work in an environment with a fluctuating noise level – Pier 62 can have a moderate to high noise level. Friends adheres to local laws regarding noise levels and regularly measure it.
• Lifting and moving up to 50 pounds; however, assistance with lifting or moving items can be provided.
• Cleaning surfaces using a variety of cleaners, rags, towels, and similar tools.

• Ability to answer questions from the general public as a park ambassador.

Friends is committed to improving hiring practices to be more inclusive and anti-ableist. We have reviewed the job requirements and only include physical abilities when completely necessary. During the interview process, we email the panel questions ahead of time. We are also able to provide captioning and/or interpretation (e.g., ASL) if requested. If you need specific assistance and/or accommodation during the application or recruiting process, please let us know by emailing our People & Culture team at dei@waterfrontparkseattle.org.