Working With Us....

Current openings for Trip Coordinator(s) especially Italian-speaking, Baggage Master(s)

Blue Marble has 5 job types, the list of which is below. As you scroll down the page to the summary description of each job, those with hot links from their titles (if any) are the ones for which we are actively seeking applications. The link in the title leads to a fuller description.

In the past, some of our friends and colleagues have occupied a full time job by wearing different hats at different seasons. This is what is involved in job 5, “Swiss Army Knife.”

These five jobs are

• Travel Specialist (Philadelphia Office)
• Assistant de Direction (Paris)
• Trip Coordinator (Europe)
• Baggage Master (Europe)
• Swiss Army Knife (Typically 6 months based in Philadelphia, of which 1 travelling; 5 in Paris, of which 3 travelling; and 1 month off. Additional unpaid time off is a possibility.).

Title: Travel Specialist
Base: Philadelphia, USA, working from home, and from our office in the city center.
Job: Provides information concerning our trips, processes trip applications, communicates guest travel plans to our operating offices, issues and sends European rail tickets, performs general office management functions.
Hours: Full-time, part-time, or seasonal
Skills: Excellent organizational skills and perfect reliability are essential. Experience with mac computers (in general) and the FileMaker Pro data base application (or similar) in particular, are both helpful. Articulate and pleasant phone manner, European travel experience, and French are all helpful, as well.



Titre: Assistant de Direction, Paris

• Lieu: Paris. Notre bureau se situe dans le Quartier Montorgueil, au nord des Halles.
• Travail: Création des voyages
  • Gestion des réservations hôtelières.
  • Préparation des billets ferroviaires.
  • Encadrement des itinerants qui sont les Trip Coordinators et Baggage Masters).
  • Gestion générale du bureau (fournitures, organisation et rangement).
  • Taches comptables (surtout contrôle des comptes voyage).
  • Accueil de nos hôtes.
• Horaire: Plein temps (CDI) ou saisonnier (CDD), selon candidat(e). Horaire variable selon la semaine, 35 heures en moyenne. Pointes saisonnaires, souvent en juin / juillet et en septembre. Vacances au printemps et surtout en automne : l'été on travail. Oui, tout l'été.
• Profil:
  • Vous vous trouvez a un stade de la vie ou l’imprévu (que ce soit en horaires ou en taches à accomplir) vous plait plus qu’il ne vous déplait — et cela ne vous gène pas de vous rendre disponible le soir et le week-end.
  • Vous êtes organisé(e) et rangé(e) — nous ne le sommes pas, et nous avons besoin de vous! Surtout qu'il y a deux jeunes enfants qui passent dans le bureau de temps en temps, et qui peut y mettre du désordre.
  • Vous gerez votre travail sans encadrement, et vous savez respecter des delais avec une fiabilité absolue. Vous êtes débrouillard(e) : aucun problème ne vous résiste!
  • Vous savez intégrer les objectifs (financiers et autres) de votre entreprise, d’en faire les votres — même lorsque nos objectifs, en tant qu’entreprise, sont en conflit avec les votres à court terme! Votre employeur n'est pas un grand méchant qu'il faut “avoir”, et qui essaye de vous gruger. C'est une équipe dont vous faites partie, et votre réussite professionelle dépend de la sienne.
  • Vous parlez un français parfait, à l’écrit comme à l’oral, et vous travaillez légalement en France. Vous parlez aussi un anglais très aisé. D'autres langes européennes (italien, espagnol, allemand, portugais) vous sont utiles.
  • Vous connaissez les ordinateurs Apple? C'est un plus. Les banques de donnés, et surtout FileMaker Pro? C'est génial! Avec tout cela, vous êtes pris!

Title: TRIP COORDINATOR (follow link for further detail)

• Base: Paris, France, in our office just north of Les Halles. Travel 2-3 weeks per month.
• Job: Escorting our trips across Europe. Unlike most cycle trip outfitters, Blue Marble has only one Coordinator per trip. You thus have a large, varied, and challenging role — and we cannot hire you if you are only willing to do a portion of it..
• Hours: Seasonal, May - October.
  
• Skills / Profile:
  • Friendly, social, outgoing....
  • Cultured (with an interest in gastronomy and in wines) but not pretentious.
  • Speaking as many languages as possible (good French or Italian is usually a minimum).
  • Good trouble-shooter, quick thinker.
  • Basic math skills required (for trip accounting).
  • Wide European travel experience (especially by train) a strong plus.
  • It is necessary to be fit, and to know how to ride a bike, but being a bike enthusiast is not a requisite: our type of biking is about in-depth travel, not about the equipment.
  • Bike maintenance skills are also required, but training is offered to candidates who need it.
    
    

Title: BAGGAGE MASTER (follow link for more detail)

Base: Paris, France, in our office just north of Les Halles. Travel 2 weeks per month.
Job: Heavy lifting. The movement of suitcases and bicycles all over Europe, in large quantities. Some office assist work in Paris
Hours: Seasonal, May - October. 2nd position available August - October.
Skills: Physical strength is a must. You must be able to carry multiple suitcases for long distances, lift heavy bags on and off trains.... Wide European travel experience (especially by train) a plus. Rudimentary (or better) French is important. Other European languages are a plus. Being a quick thinker and having an innate eye for the security of guest luggage and company equipment are both essential, though hard to test for....



Title: SWISS ARMY KNIFE.
Base: You divide your time between Europe and the United States.
Job: As the name implies, you do everything. In fact, you are a “surrogate boss,” with the full authority of the company, working in the shoes of the Director, generally on the opposite side of the Atlantic.
Hours: Full time. Like any senior position, this one requires real investment in the company, and long hours are episodically necessary. Conversely, seasonal vacation is easy to take.
Skills: This “General Management” position (see also "entry-level variant," below) really requires that you have all the skills required by each of our individual jobs. Since compensation is tightly linked to performance, skill in marketing is probably the most important. But the job is ideally suited to someone who does not wish to be locked into a pure marketing role, since you will be able to spend large amounts of time on operations management issues. Since guaranteed revenues are lower than in comparable companies whose work is a bit less appealing (say, selling shampoo), you must find some of the “perks” (part of the year in Paris, travel, biking...) attractive in order to feel satisfied and justly compensated for your work, at least to begin with. A significant "upside" exists over time, however. A commitment of three years is necessary to fully profit from the opportunity. Good French is indispensible.

“Entry-level variant.” If you are not ready for, or don't feel you can pretend to the General Manager role, a variant is available. It is an 19-month contract, involving two seasons of trip-leading, winter work in between in general office operation, and a one-month commercial trip in the United States. It is not a well-paid managerial job, but rather a way to "stay even" while broadening your general culture, putting an interesting bullet point on your CV, travelling around two continents, and riding a bike. Careful: this job really involves living out of suitcases for a year and a half, and you will be pretty tired of the whole affair by the end. But you will be a much more interesting person.... Good French is indispensible.