Funeral Director

OVERVIEW

Death – though heart-wrenching – can be beautiful. Its rituals can be meaningful, and the disposition of the body can be natural. 

Recompose is an ecological death care company and green funeral home specializing in the service of human composting, aka natural organic reduction (NOR), where human bodies are converted into soil. The Recompose model offers an authentic, participatory experience for families and a natural return to the earth for the dead.  

We are seeking a licensed funeral director who is ready to participate in the new death care model that the Recompose team offers. This “Services Specialist” will be an empathetic point of contact with our clients throughout the 8-12 weeks of the Recompose process, providing excellent service, straightforward information and regularly communicating with chosen family members and friends. Recompose lives by the framework “Inform, Comfort, Inspire.” The Services Specialist will use these concepts to guide client interactions at Recompose. The Services Specialist reports to our Services Manager.

Responsibilities include managing the transportation, storage, and care of bodies that come to Recompose, filing death certificates, completing arrangement documents, maintaining client files, maintaining Department of Licensing standards for privacy and reporting, and other licensed funeral director duties. The Services Specialist will facilitate opportunities for ceremony, both in-person in our facility and online/virtual. They will educate clients about options for home funerals and the natural body care services offered by Recompose. The Services Specialist must be skilled at performing celebrant tasks, they will receive training from the Recompose Services team to create ceremony scripts, conduct ceremonies, assist with creating slideshows and music playlists, and guide guests.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Services Specialist will 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 Recompose philosophy and approach to services offered, such as nature-inspired ceremonies and death care practices.

• Plan, schedule, and assist with ceremonies, some of which may involve working with community faith leaders and other religious elements.  

• Inform clients of their soil options and make necessary arrangements for soil donation, pick up, and/or shipping options for the client. 

• Schedule land partner arrangements with clients for soil donation, appointments, and organize and co-lead land partner tours.  

• With Recompose team members, maintain our client database with an emphasis on legally required documentation for death certificates, chain of custody, and special instructions for planning ceremonies and arrangements.

• Proactively look for opportunities to refine service protocols and improve client experience. 

• Provide support and assist in team training of Recompose Service interns and other coworkers who are new to death care.

Manage the respectful handling of bodies:  

• Respond to after-hours death calls and urgent client calls during on-call shifts.

• Make submissions to the Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS).

• Schedule with contracted transportation teams for pick-up and transportation of bodies to Recompose and subsequent on-site procedures and storage. 

• Assist in managing cleanliness and stock levels of the body preparation area.

• Represent the Recompose Body Care Services with clarity and educate clients on natural death care options. 

• 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: 

• Manage client databases; compiling data reports in collaboration with Services team and developing use and accuracy of CRM. 

• Support meticulous document and process control to ensure all incoming payments and legal documents are filed and stored correctly. 

• Achieve competitive advantage with high standards of customer service. 

• Proactively stay on top of industry trends, new tools, and technologies.

Champion the Recompose mission:  

In conjunction with the entire Recompose team, your work here will help create a new paradigm for sustainable, meaningful death care.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Licensed funeral director in Washington (or reciprocal state) for a minimum of one year.

• Comfort with handling human remains in various stages of decomposition.

• Experience as a celebrant/emcee or willingness to learn, with an open mindset to training under the Recompose model. 

• Ability to speak with empathy and competence, whether in person, on a screen, or by telephone.

• Interpersonal sensitivity with superior listening skills and a strong sense of personal accountability.

• Excellent communications skills, both written and verbal, with focus on informing the public, current clients, and future clients about the Recompose process and mission.

• Ability to address the connections between death and ecology, and speak to the lasting gifts the dead are giving to the ecological cycles by choosing Recompose. 

• A strong respect for the unexplained, a willingness to “not know”, and an inquisitive approach to the work.

• Ability to analytically break down problems into their core issues and draw conclusions as to appropriate resolutions. 

• Detail-oriented and organized, capable of handling multiple projects at once, and comfortable dealing with ambiguity and rapidly changing priorities. 

• Outstanding organizational and planning skills. 

• A collaborative mindset for working with customer service, direct care services, outreach, and marketing teams. 

• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion. 

• Advanced computer/internet skills and ability to work with technology in a variety of capacities. Tasks may include: setting up camera, lighting, and computer equipment to livestream an online remote ceremony, scheduling pickup of a body via mobile device, managing our client CRM database, and updating an online project management tool. Comfort with learning new digital tools is required. 

Every person we hire will have the following qualities:

• 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.

• Flexibility – ability to adapt to new situations and to change focus unexpectedly.

• Ability to act upon organizational mission, vision, and values.

Recompose is part of a global movement of organizations working to:

• Advocate for climate healing, soil health, and environmental justice.

• Be anti-racist. Recompose is committed to advocating for and protecting the rights of BIPOC, religious minorities, and undocumented people.

• Engage with the work of queer feminist practices of inclusion and equity. Recompose is committed to advocating for and protecting the rights of women, transgender people, and gender nonconforming people.

WORKING CONDITIONS AND PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

In terms of physical requirements, this position needs to be able to lift 75 lbs., able to climb short ladders, and move back and forth between different areas of our facility several times daily. Must be able to obtain scissor lift certification through training provided by Recompose, and be comfortable operating at heights in scissor lifts on occasion. Includes working some nights and weekend on-call shifts where you will be responsible for responding to answering service/client texts and calls.

Starting salary range: $55,000-65,000/year

Benefit Information:

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance plans

• Paid time off including 4 floating holidays, New Years Day, Juneteenth, Labor Day, Fall Break and 200 hours of PTO

• Bereavement leave of 10 days yearly

• Wellness, technology stipends and transportation reimbursement

• 3% 401k employer contribution

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: 

Our goal as an employer is to have a feminist, antiracist culture, and 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 of 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.