Services Specialist / Licensed Funeral Director
- thewsfda
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
Recompose, Seattle, Washington
We are seeking a licensed funeral director who will be a main point of contact with our clients throughout the Recompose process. This role involves delivering intentional care and excellent service to chosen family members and friends.
About Recompose
Recompose is an ecological death care company and green funeral home specializing in the service of human composting that transforms bodies into soil. The Recompose model offers an authentic, participatory experience for families and a natural return to the earth for the dead.
About the Position
We are seeking a licensed funeral director who is ready to participate in the new death care model that the Recompose team offers. The Services Specialist will be a main point of contact with our clients throughout the duration of the Recompose process. This role will provide excellent customer service by offering straightforward information and regular communication with chosen family members and friends. They will educate clients about the human composting process and the natural body care services offered by Recompose.
Additional responsibilities include managing the transportation, storage, and care of bodies prior to soil transformation, and completing necessary paperwork for record-keeping and compliance. The Services Specialist will also plan and facilitate ceremonies, both in-person in our facility and online.
The Services Specialist is guided by Recompose values, especially:
Offer Comfort: Navigate the challenges of death care with presence, strength, and compassion. Create space for clients to process, experience, and foster healing in their own unique way.
Communicate with Clarity and Care: Use straightforward and empathetic messaging in the Recompose brand voice to introduce the Recompose model.
Lead and Inspire: Demonstrate Recompose’s integrity and quality by creating an excellent client experience within the Services team.
The ideal applicant will bring a willingness to learn and implement our new model of death care along with their tangible experience in conventional death care practices. Although we don’t embalm at Recompose, we have a few tasks that we need a licensed embalmer to do, so licensed funeral directors who are also licensed embalmers are strongly preferred. However, candidates with a demonstrated track record of exceptional client support will be given priority consideration.
Qualities we are looking for include curiosity, personal accountability, an extremely high level of organization, a proactive attitude towards client care and communications, and a dedication to meticulous recordkeeping. The Services Specialist will report to the Services Location Manager.
Responsibilities
Provide excellent client support:
Participate in an intentional culture of hospitality and inclusion for clients and their chosen friends and family.
Guide both pre-need and at-need clients through the process of choosing Recompose for themselves or others by phone, email, screen, or in person.
Provide consistent, clear information, and offer comfort to bereaved family members and friends.
Inform clients of the Recompose philosophy to services offered, such as our natural approach to body care.
Provide information about the options for nature-inspired ceremonies and events at Recompose; work with clients to help them understand their options and create the death care experience that’s right for them.
Invoice clients and collect payment in an accurate and timely manner in accordance with the Recompose Services Invoicing Policy.
Plan, schedule, and assist with ceremonies, some of which may involve working with faith leaders and other religious elements.
Inform clients of their soil options and assist with making necessary arrangements for soil donation, pick up, and/or shipping options for the client.
Demonstrate knowledge of and compliance with relevant Federal, State, and local laws pertaining to funeral service operations, including those set by the FTC and OSHA.
Achieve competitive advantage with high standards of customer service.
Manage the respectful handling of bodies:
Respond to after-hours calls during on-call shifts.
Create and file death records and affidavits in WHALES.
Schedule with contracted transportation teams for pick-up and transportation of bodies and subsequent on-site procedures and storage.
Assist in maintaining cleanliness and stock levels of the body preparation area.
Prepare bodies using Recompose Body Care guidelines including disinfecting, bathing, shrouding, and utilizing techniques inspired by home funerals to set decedent features.
Note: Recompose does not offer embalming or conventional restorative arts services.
Maintain client records:
Maintain an accurate and detailed database, ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal regulations.
Support meticulous document and process control to ensure all incoming payments and legal documents are filed and stored correctly.
Ensure detailed documentation and communication for all client requests regarding arrangements and services.
Qualifications
Current, valid Washington State Funeral Director’s license for a minimum of 1 year.
If the current Funeral Director’s license is from out of state, they must be able to obtain a Washington State Funeral Director license through reciprocity within 30 days of hire.
Ideal candidates will also have a current, valid Washington State Embalmer’s license for a minimum of 1 year or be able to obtain a Washington State Embalmer’s license through reciprocity within 30 days of hire.
Comfort with handling human remains in various stages of decomposition, including autopsied remains, long bone donors, and remains in a state of advanced decomposition.
Intermediate to advanced computer/internet skills and ability to work with technology in a variety of capacities. Comfort with learning new digital tools is required.
Skilled in customer relationship management (CRM) technology systems to collect and maintain customer data.
Excellent communications skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to learn the Recompose brand voice.
A strong respect for the unexplained, a willingness to “not know”, and an inquisitive and open approach to work.
Interpersonal sensitivity with superior listening skills, ability to work independently and as part of a team with a collaborative mindset, and a strong sense of personal accountability.
Outstanding organizational and planning skills. Detail-oriented and organized, capable of handling multiple projects at once.
Ability to earn trust, maintain positive relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion.
Preferred, but not required, qualifications include:
Current, valid WA State embalmer’s license or credentials for reciprocity from another state.
Experience as a celebrant or emcee.
Experience working in a start-up or scale-up environment.
Every person we hire will have the following qualities:
Proactive work style – motivated to support clients.
Empathy and interpersonal sensitivity – great listening skills.
Emotional generosity – ability and willingness to offer comfort and support to clients in distress.
Resilience – ability to manage one’s own emotions, demonstrate self-control under pressure, and practice self-care.
Accountability – take responsibility for your work and seek solutions for challenges with a willingness to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them.
Flexibility – ability to adapt to new situations and to change focus unexpectedly.
Ability to act upon organizational mission, vision, and values.
Working Conditions and Physical Requirements
In terms of physical requirements, this position needs to be able to push, pull, and lift up to 50 lbs., to climb short ladders, and move back and forth between different areas of our facility several times daily. Includes working some nights and weekend on-call shifts where you will be responsible for responding to answering service/client texts and calls.
This position is based onsite in our Seattle HQ facility.
Salary Information
Expected starting range: $72,000-$75,000
On-Call Compensation: $75 per weekday/night; $150 per weekend day/night and Recompose observed holidays
Benefit Information
100% of employee HMO premium paid for medical, dental and vision insurance plans. Contributions towards dependent premiums.
25 Days of Paid Time Off (accrued based on a 40 hour work-week)
Floating Holidays (5 days per year, prorated based on start date)
9 Recompose observed holidays
1 day of Community Involvement (volunteer) Leave per year
3% 401(k) employer contribution, no match required
Wellness, education, and technology stipends
Stock Options
Annual COLA adjustment
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Our goal as an employer is to employ a diverse, inclusive workforce that is representative of all people we do or might serve. As such, we do not discriminate on any protected status, and moreover, we celebrate applications from persons of color, persons of all genders and gender expressions, persons of any sexual orientation, the formerly incarcerated, and persons in any other protected class, such as religion, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, pregnancy status, or genetic status. Please feel free to let us know in your application if you fit into any such category/ies, or if you need a reasonable accommodation to apply.