Reservations & Group Sales Specialist

**Reservations & Group Sales Specialist Department:** Education & Conservation**Reports to:** Reservations & Group Sales Manager**Classification:** Full-Time, Non-Exempt **Job Overview:** The **Reservations & Group Sales Specialist** serves as the primary coordinator for animal encounters, educational programs, group visits, admission calls, and community-based experiences, ensuring exceptional guest service from initial inquiry through program completion. This position is responsible for coordinating reservations, processing admissions and program sales, maintaining reservation systems, and providing administrative support for Education & Conservation initiatives. Working closely with the multiple internal teams, this role ensures seamless scheduling, communication, and execution of Aquarium programs while delivering outstanding guest experience. **Primary Functions:** Reservations - Serve as the primary point of contact for guests by phone, email, and in person regarding school and youth group visits, educational programs, animal encounters, admissions calls, and group reservations. - Deliver exceptional customer service by providing accurate information, resolving guest concerns, and identifying opportunities to exceed guest expectations. - Manage reservation modifications, cancellations, confirmations, and guest correspondence in a timely and professional manner. Program Coordination & Operations - Coordinate all scheduling logistics for educational programs, outreach events, virtual programs, and animal encounters. - Prepare daily schedules, participant lists, waivers, itineraries, and check-in documents. - Create and distribute virtual meeting links, guest confirmations, reminders, invoices, and program information. - Coordinate daily operational logistics between Education, Guest Services, Animal Care, Dive Safety, Marketing, Facilities, and other departments to ensure successful program delivery. - Monitor program capacity and scheduling to maximize operational efficiency and revenue opportunities. Administrative Support & Systems Management - Maintain accurate reservation, customer, and program records within Tessitura and other reservation systems. - Process registrations through Tessitura, Smartwaiver, Jotform, and other software platforms. - Maintain departmental calendars and scheduling systems. - Prepare invoices, reports, attendance records, and other administrative documentation. - Coordinate dive proposal administration, animal artwork fulfillment and shipping, virtual programming logistics, and specialty guest experiences. - Maintain inventory of program materials and office supplies. - Review and update website content, program descriptions, animal biographies, FAQs, and guest-facing educational materials to ensure accuracy. Collaboration & Continuous Improvement - Collaborate with Animal Care, Education staff, Guest Services, Dive Safety, Development, and other departments to provide seamless guest experiences. - Identify opportunities to improve reservation workflows, guest communication, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction. - Assist with departmental reporting by compiling reservation statistics, attendance data, and revenue information. - Participate in departmental meetings, training, and professional development activities. - Perform additional duties as assigned in support of departmental and organizational goals. **Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities** Education & Experience: Associate degree preferred or a minimum of two years of customer service, reservations, hospitality, admissions, sales support, or administrative experience. Experience within a nonprofit, educational institution, museum, aquarium, zoo, or hospitality environment preferred. Customer Service & Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with a strong commitment to delivering outstanding guest experiences. Demonstrated ability to resolve customer concerns with professionalism and sound judgment.…