Work where you play!
Join our team at Parks Tacoma to put your skills to use serving your community and making Tacoma a vibrant, healthy, and welcoming place to live.
Who We Are
Parks Tacoma is a CAPRA-accredited and AZA-accredited, independent park district that leads efforts to build a healthy, sustainable community. Located in Tacoma, Washington, Metro Parks’ mission is to create healthy opportunities to play, learn, and grow. The independent park district spans the city providing a wide range of life-enriching destinations and services, including 70+ parks, 80+ miles of trails, 1,000+ acres of urban forest, 66 playgrounds, four community centers, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Point Defiance Park, and much more. Our work is guided by eight core values that are the foundation of our actions and goals: innovation, excellence, equity, inclusiveness, sustainability, accountability, safety, and fun.
Why You’ll Love it Here
Come work where you play! You will contribute to the overall vitality and well-being of your community when you work for Parks Tacoma, and you’ll do so as part of a supportive team of committed, passionate, and mission-driven professionals. The people of Parks Tacoma are the key to its success, and you just might be the next great addition to our team. You’ll receive a competitive wage, along with an attractive benefits package, including medical, dental, retirement, vacation, holidays, and much more. On top of that, you’ll wake each day knowing that you’re helping make Tacoma a great place to call home.
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) is the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest. The 29-acre zoological park was established in 1905, and attracts over 800,000 visitors a year. It is nationally accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), which ensures rigorously high standards of animal welfare, veterinary care, conservation, education and more. The Zoo sits within 700-acre Point Defiance Park, offering spectacular views of Mount Rainier, the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound. Point Defiance Zoo is operated by Parks Tacoma, the oldest independent park district in Washington. For more information, visit www.pdza.org
Position Information
Interpreters create meaningful connections between guests and the animals and conservation stories of Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. They deliver a variety of highly engaging, informal educational opportunities for guests that convey Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s animal and conservation messages and support the Zoo’s mission of awakening a connection to Wild Life with everyone in the Pacific Northwest.
Interpreters are part of the Conservation Engagement Department and work in a collaborative team with adult and youth volunteers as well as staff from many other departments.
We are looking for individuals with great people skills (especially with children!) who are able to work as part of a team and independently, are energetic, flexible, creative, with a positive sense of humor and a passion for the environment!
[NOTE: this is not an animal handling position.]
[NOTE: this is not a foreign language interpretation position. Please see the National Association for Interpretation for a formal definition: HERE
In the performance of their respective tasks and duties all employees are expected to:
- Perform quality work within deadlines with or without direct supervision.
- Interact professionally with other employees, customers and suppliers.
- Work effectively as a team contributor on all assignments.
- Work independently while understanding the necessity for communicating and coordinating work efforts with other employees and organizations.
- Observe applicable safety requirements, use safety equipment provided, implement appropriate safety practices at all times and report immediately any unsafe working conditions or hazards.
