WE ARE HIRING: FLOOR MANAGER & BUYER

Deep Vellum is seeking a Floor Manager & Buyer to join the team at our Dallas-based storefront.

The ideal candidates will have a strong passion for the work of independent publishers and be familiar with our mission to bring the world into conversation through literature; knowledge of our published books; a history of customer service work and bookselling; proactive communication and collaboration skills; and an enthusiasm for representing Deep Vellum and Dalkey Archive Press’s titles to the reading public.

Title: Floor Manager & Buyer
Position Type: Part-time or Full-Time (Full-Time preferred)

Description:
The Floor Manager & Buyer will be responsible for selecting and buying titles and overseeing day-to-day bookstore operations, staff performance, and customer experience, including managing part-time Publishing Assistants & Booksellers, handselling to customers, and maintaining store standards.

Responsibilities:

  • Select and order titles across categories

  • Maintain relationships with distributors, publishers, and sales representatives

  • Submit and track invoices

  • Manage Deep Vellum Books social media accounts alongside the Programming Director

  • Support programming (events and book clubs) with strategic title selection

  • Manage daily opening and closing procedures

  • Supervise, train, and schedule booksellers 

  • Serve as point person for staff questions, issues, and conflict resolution

  • Maintain store standards (merchandising, cleanliness, displays)

  • Handle face-to-face customer service issues and escalations

  • Ensure compliance with organizational policies, procedures, and mission alignment 

  • Coordinate with other staff to support events and launches

  • Communicate operational needs and updates to leadership

Expectations:

  • Select and order titles across categories

    • Non-Deep Vellum / Dalkey Archive Press titles

  • Manage Deep Vellum Books social media accounts alongside Programming Director

    • Instagram

    • Twitter

  • Support programming (events and book clubs) with strategic title selection

    • Work closely with the Programming Manager

    • Schedule booksellers to assist in promoting and working events

    • Ensuring books ordered for events are reserved for the event and, after the event, extra copies are returned to the distributor (if deemed necessary)

    • Host the Backlist Book Club or schedule booksellers to host on a rotating basis

  • Supervise, train, and schedule booksellers

    • Train on shelving and merchandising

    • Ensure three of each Deep Vellum & Dalkey Archive Press title are on shelves at all times

    • Delegate shelving, merchandising, cleaning tasks to booksellers 

  • Maintain store standards (merchandising, cleanliness, displays)

    • Ensure display gaps are filled

    • Ensure the kitchen is cleaned on a weekly basis

    • Ensure the bathrooms are cleaned on a weekly basis

    • Ensure the store and offices are regularly swept and dusted

  • Communicate operational needs and updates to leadership

    • Work closely with the Fulfillment & Inventory Manager on inventory needs for Deep Vellum & Dalkey Archive Press

    • Report any issues with the store front (plumbing, lighting, etc.) to upper management.

REQUIREMENTS

  • Experience in customer service, specifically in bookstores (handselling, merchandising, etc.)

  • Familiarity with Deep Vellum and Dalkey Archive Press’s catalog

  • Availability to work weekends and occasional night events

LOCATION

Must be located in North Texas to work in our bookstore headquarters at 3000 Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75226 and at off-site events around North Texas. 

COMPENSATION

Pay is commensurate with experience.

HOW TO APPLY

Please send a resume, cover letter, and answers to the below questions to jobs [at] deepvellum.org with the job title in the subject line: FLOOR MANAGER & BUYER.

Application questions:

  1. We are looking for a candidate who is able to provide professional mentorship to our booksellers as well as management. Have you ever managed someone before? What attributes would you bring to this part of the position?

  2. We are a pro-reading organization. Anyone can be a reader, at any time. Our goal is always to make reading engaging and accessible. How would you do this in our storefront? 

  3. This position includes buying for our storefront. We aim to stock a lot of the books that we publish as well as other books that are often underrepresented, making literature from around the world accessible to our local community. What types of gaps in accessible literature would you want to focus on stocking in our storefront?

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are received.

ABOUT DEEP VELLUM

Deep Vellum is a 501c3 nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 2013 with the mission to bring the world into conversation through literature. We are dedicated to publishing socially engaged literature that fosters cross-cultural dialogue, breaks down barriers between communities, and promotes empathy. Since our inception, we have grown a list of over 1200 titles representing the world of literature, including winners of the Nobel Prize, Dublin Literary Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and dozens more in the US and internationally. The list includes works from six imprints, including Deep Vellum, A Strange Object, La Reunion Publishing, Phoneme Media, Fum d’Estampa, and Dalkey Archive Press, and spans fiction, poetry, nonfiction, photography, kids’ books, and more. The Deep Vellum catalog currently represents authors from 6 continents, 100+ countries, written originally in 80+ languages. See our complete catalog here. 

WIll Evans