Changing Hands Bookstore

At Changing Hands Bookstore and First Draft Book Bar, we have a passion for the written word and believe that books can change lives. We take pleasure in being independent and locally owned. We value the opportunity to bring together books, community, beer, wine, coffee, and people in a friendly atmosphere. We offer a wide selection, good value, and friendly customer service. We serve our community through our support of education and the arts and through charitable contributions to other organizations and institutions that serve our local community and human rights throughout the world. We are an equal opportunity employer and make hiring decisions based on the qualifications of our applicants. As a community bookstore, we welcome a broad applicant pool that reflects the community in which we operate. For this reason, we encourage members of all historically underrepresented or marginalized groups—including BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ persons—to apply for employment at CHB/FD. All applicants will receive equal consideration.

We are also committed to the youngest members of our community. Recognizing the importance of reading and its impact on a child's development, we seek out enthusiastic booksellers with an affinity for children's literature. Our children's departments are designed to be a welcoming environment where kids and teens feel at home in a space created just for them.  The work here is highly customer-oriented, very detailed, and often physically demanding. To be successful at CHB/FD everyone must possess a passion for the written word and for our community. We highly value teamwork and communication.

We serve our customers in person, online, and on the phone.  At least one weekend day is required of all frontline booksellers, as the weekends are our busiest times.

Changing Hands / First Draft has a benefits package, which includes a staff discount, holiday and sick pay, a medical plan, and a retirement plan. Other benefits to working here are less tangible, but apparent to book lovers. We operate with a participatory management style that encourages and expects involvement and communication with all employees. 

Thank you again for your time and interest in Changing Hands/First Draft. Should a position become available that combines your interests and qualifications with our specific needs, you will receive a call from us. When applying for a part-time position, please note our hours of operation. Changing Hands/First Draft hires for full and part time positions.  Part time positions must work a minimum of 20 hours a week.  We do not have any summer seasonal opportunities. During November – December, we hire  temporary seasonal part time positions.

→ DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS - Phoenix / Tempe Location

Changing Hands Bookstore is seeking a Director of Operations. This is a full-time position, 40+ hours per week. As an integral part of our executive management team, the Director of Operations oversees finance and accounting; human resource (HR) activities such as payroll, administrative, and compliance functions; and assists with professional development, the IT department, facilities management, and legal matters, including leases. The Director of Operations, who reports directly to the CEO, plays a pivotal role in helping to shape the company’s vision and strategy, thereby helping to set the company’s priorities and direction. This position is based out of our Tempe location, and will spend time at both locations.

Changing Hands Bookstore (CHB), established in 1974, has two Arizona locations—Phoenix and Tempe. In its combined 20,000 square feet, it carries new, used, and sale books, plus a large assortment of gifts. CHB hosts author and community events. The combined staff totals approximately 80 employees. CHB also has a location at Sky Harbor Airport through a licensing agreement. The airport location and staff are not managed by CHB.

Salary range: $70-$85K. Salary depends upon experience. The benefits package will include store discounts, paid time off, and access to company partially-subsidized health, vision, dental and other insurance options. Simple IRA contributions with company contributions of up to 3% matching funds.

To apply, email a letter of interest and resume to join@changinghands.com. Deadline - open until filled.

Job Description:

Job Requirements:
Finance and Accounting Leadership

• Working with Accounting Manager and CPA, audit accounting activities, ledgers, and reporting systems, ensuring they adhere to the appropriate Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and regulatory requirements. Coordinate with the accounting team to monitor financial activities and produce and analyze monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements.
• Share insights from financial analysis with senior leadership, presenting reports, including monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements. Identify trends, track growth (or lack thereof), and recommend actions when necessary.
• Along with the CEO, co-monitor cash reserves and advise on investing funds not required for operations.
• Maintain internal control and safeguards for receipt of revenue. Monitor costs, budgets, and expenditures of funds.
• Draft and oversee applications for grant opportunities and proposals (RFPs) for sales contracts.

Team Leadership

• Coordinate, communicate, and align with other team leaders, offering guidance in enhancing internal communications with personnel at all organizational tiers, and establishing and advocating for a positive, high-performing, and nurturing work atmosphere.
  • Help identify, formulate, and execute business strategies, plans, and processes.
• Contribute to a high-performing, customer-centric, engaging, and nurturing environment for employees. Look to create systems that continually improve efficiencies.
• Acting as a senior leader of the frontline operations, the DOO co-creates standard procedures and protocols for consistency in operations across both locations to ensure profitability, sustainability, and a workplace with positive staff morale.
• Assist in ensuring cross department and cross store communication.
• Assist with overseeing facility management to ensure store managers are able to stay on top of facility issues. Report to ownership/leadership on issues regarding maintenance, repairs, and adjacent community issues.
• Meet with department managers to discover new opportunities and improve current systems.

Human Resource Responsibilities

• Oversee, update, and implement professional development for new employees and employees advancing into management positions.
• Supervise or assist when creating and rolling out various short and long-term projects (e.g. software implementations, systems updates, certain promotional initiatives, etc.) to help ensure that the responsible parties complete the work correctly and on time.
• Work with the payroll team to monitor processing of the bi-weekly payroll via a third-party payroll service.
• Review and oversee administration of employee benefits.
• Assess and submit for Board approval all legal documents, including but not limited to leases, employment contracts, independent contractor agreements (1099s), benefits such as employee insurance coverage, and unemployment claims.
• Manage and assist with any HR claims.
• Oversee and ensure that staff files for employees are utilized and updated. Manage HR systems for optimal employee engagement. Ensure that managers administer the 45 and 90-day check-ins and annual reviews for the teams that they manage along with daily upkeep and logging.

IT Responsibilities

• Work with the IT department to ensure that IT issues are being resolved promptly, that our IT infrastructure is up to date and serving our needs, and that our POS, internet, servers, ethernet, WiFi, workstations, peripherals, phones, security systems, IndieCommerce Website Platform, anti-virus, and cloud backup systems are working.

Facilities and Legal

• Supervise outside facilities management (e.g. landlords or rental agents) who are responsible for building maintenance for each location. Monitor leases and scrutinize their renewal conditions, annual rental increases, percentage rent charges, and Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges. Report your findings on leases to ownership. Engage legal or other professional help with approval of ownership, as needed.

Qualifications

• A proven leader with 5+ years of overseeing accounting and finance operations, managing the IT needs of a retail establishment (preferred), and working on legal aspects of a for-profit business including lease execution and renewals. Candidates will preferably have experience as an Operations Director or COO.

Additional qualifications

• Possesses personal attributes of trustworthiness, and a steadfast dedication to the mission of Changing Hands Bookstore and First Draft Book Bar.
• Exhibit the capability to organize and prioritize competing daily and long-term demands.
• Proactive, hands-on strategic thinker with sharp analytical, organizational, and problem-solving abilities that facilitate strategic data-driven solutions.
• Possess robust interpersonal and communication skills with experience in effectively conveying key data.
• Demonstrate resilience, adaptability, and a positive demeanor that motivates others.

TO APPLY
Send a letter of interest along with your resume to join@changinghands.com

→ ADULT BOOK BUYER/MANAGER - Phoenix / Tempe Location

Reports to the Buying Director. Manages 1-2 assistant buyers. Hours: 40-45 per week
Pay rate: $52,000-$65,000 / $25- $31.25 per hour.

Benefits package includes store discounts, paid time off, and access to company partially-subsidized health, vision, dental, and other insurance options. Simple IRA contributions with up to 3% matching funds.

Changing Hands Bookstore (CHB), established in 1974, has two Arizona locations—Phoenix and Tempe—and in its combined 20,000 square feet carries new, used, and sale books, plus a large assortment of gifts. The Phoenix location houses First Draft Book Bar, a beer / wine / coffee bar. CHB hosts author and community events. The combined staff totals approximately 70 employees.

To apply: Send a letter of interest along with your resume to join@changinghands.com

Job Description:

Job Requirements:
BUYING

• Working with assistant buyers, buy and reorder new books for two locations.
• Buy books with large and small publishers through Edelweiss+.
• Manage assistant and backlist buyers.
• Communicate regularly with publishers and reps staying apprised and in communication regarding policy changes, discount schedules, CHB bestsellers, staff recs, and all publisher bookstore related business.
• Oversee special orders including business-to-business, educational sales, and event books.
• Buy yearly calendars and planners.
• Research trends.

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

• Work with the receiving department on receiving and returns.
• Work with store managers to coordinate publisher culls and annual inventory.
• Coordinate Above the Treeline and POS reports, analyzing turns.
• Work with used book and remainder managers on inventory and cross-training.

MARKETING & PROGRAMMING

• Work with marketing to coordinate opportunities for programs and events.

Qualifications include:

• Book buying experience.
• Excellent communication skills both spoken and written.
• Capability to organize and prioritize competing daily and long-term demands.
• Proactive, hands-on, strategic thinking with problem-solving focus.
• Budget management.
• Read across genres, including fiction and nonfiction.
• Able to lift 50 pounds.

TO APPLY
Send a letter of interest along with your resume to join@changinghands.com

→ BOOKSELLERS - Phoenix / Tempe Location

Booksellers start at $15 an hour, after training. Paid Time Off (PTO) for all employees, Simple IRA, employee discount and health, dental and vision for employees 30+ hours a week. At least one weekend day is required of all frontline booksellers, as the weekends are our busiest times.

Bookseller Job Description:

Job Requirements:

• Understanding of the CHB mission, history, and the fine details of CHB customer service, inventory, events, and food and beverage offerings at First Draft.
• Excellent and friendly service for every customer whether they be in the store, online or on the phone. Customer service requires patience, kindness, and the ability to work with diverse communities and customer needs. Excellent customer service that requires following up and following through.
• Ability to provide curbside pickup service - picking up orders and running them outside the store to the waiting customer.
• Gain an excellent knowledge of our book and gift inventory, with the ability to make recommendations and upsell merchandise. A love of reading and the ability to provide written and verbal staff recommendations for books.
• Gain complete and accurate knowledge of our in-store and virtual events and workshop programming. Able to talk about events and assist customers with registration and check-in through Eventbrite.
• Ability to properly shelve and restock books and gifts.
• Able to be trained and work on our Booklog point of sale system.
• Ability to train and process online orders.
• Ability to assist with inventory management, book culls, and overall store maintenance
• Strong knowledge of the bookselling world by reading newsletters and news about the bookselling/retail industry. Ability to stay current on CHB emails.
• Ability to adapt to evolving situations. Ability to handle change with patience.
• Ability to assume the best intentions of leaders and co-workers.
• Ability to ask for clarity when needed.
• Ability to work efficiently
• Housekeeping - booksellers/bartenders are responsible for the cleanliness of the stores -- this includes the cleaning of bathrooms, community spaces regularly, bookshelves, and all surfaces. Cleaning includes sanitizing, sweeping, mopping, dusting, etc.
• Ability to cross-train for additional duties as required. Training will be provided.
• Ability to lift a minimum of 50 pounds
• Ability to stand on your feet for hours at a time.
• Ability to wear a face mask that covers your mouth and nose for the entirety of your shift.
• Works in the best interest of CHB/FD and our community.
• Must have reliable transportation.

TO APPLY
Send us your resume and a letter of interest that includes, but is not limited to

• Name / Preferred Pronoun
• Why do you want to work at Changing Hands?
• Do you prefer one location over the other?
• Tell us why you like working with the public.
• Tell us about your favorite three books and your three favorite films.
• Can you commit to working for Changing Hands for at least one year?
• Full time employment is 30-40 hours a week. Part-time employment is a minimum of 20 hours a week. How many hours are you looking to work? Please confirm you are over the age of 18.
• What is your availability? Tell us the days of the week and times of day that you are available to work at CHB. (At least one weekend day is required.)
• List 3 references with their names, relationship to you, email, and phone number.

You can drop off your application and resume in person or email them both to jobs@changinghands.com

→ FIRST DRAFT TEAM MEMBER - Phoenix Location 

First Draft Book Bar serves coffee, beer, wine, baked goods, and small bites. First Draft is located inside Changing Hands bookstore. All bartenders/baristas share all the duties and operations of running First Draft, this includes food and beverage service, event service, busing and washing.  First Draft bartender/barista is an employee of Changing Hands Bookstore. Bartenders earn a base pay of $11.50 + shared tip pool = average $18-$20 an hour.  Paid Time Off (PTO) for all employees, Simple IRA, employee discount and health, dental and vision for employees 30+ hours a week. 

• Bartender/Barista (B/B) creates a friendly and helpful customer experience in our store, bar and event spaces. 
• Working at First Draft / Changing Hands Bookstore is a team effort. Duties include serving customers including table service, making coffee drinks, pouring wine and beer, knowing when to cut off and prevent intoxication, bake off, food prep, restocking supplies, running the register, cleaning along with other tasks as assigned. BB adheres to all Maricopa county food health guidelines.
• (B/B) does not serve anyone under 21, anyone inebriated and will not get someone inebriated. (B/B) is responsible for checking the customer’s identification and confirms it meets the drinking age. 
• (B/B) has an excellent knowledge of;
  • Our food and beverage selections 
  • Equipment and maintenance of all appliances, functions and utilities of the bar
  • Full events and programming information
  • The layout of the bookstore 
  • New books and gifts in the bookstore 
  • The neighborhood and other local businesses/bars  
• (B/B) can lift 60 pounds or more. 
• (B/B) comply with all food and beverage regulations. 
• (B/B) Able to go up and downstairs. 

IDEAL CANDIDATE

• Has beer/wine/coffee serving experience 2+ years. Loves to serve and foster community.  Able to work in a small space with team members. Understands that cleaning, organization, and being a team player is essential to our success. 
• Must be able to work opening, closing shifts, and at least one weekend day.

TO APPLY:

You can drop off your application and resume in person or email them both to jobs@changinghands.com

• Name / Preferred Pronoun
• Why do you want to work at First Draft?
• Tell us why you like working with the public.
• Tell us about your favorite 3 books and your favorite places to eat and drink. 
• Please confirm that you are over the age of 18.
• Can you commit to working at First Draft for at least one year?
• Full time employment is 32-40 hours a week. Part-time employment is a minimum of 20 hours a week. How many hours are you looking to work?
• What is your availability to work at FD? Days of the week / Times of day. 
• List 3 references, with their name, relationship to you, their email, and phone number.