Virtual Assistant — Customer Service (Catholic Publisher)

About the Company:
Midwest Theological Forum (MTF) is a nonprofit Catholic publisher in Downers Grove, Illinois. We serve the Church by publishing and distributing books and resources in liturgy, theology, philosophy, canon law, catechesis, and spirituality. Schools, parishes, diocesan offices, clergy, and individual readers order titles such as the Daily Roman Missal, Handbook of Prayers, the Didache Series, the Roman Missal, and the Book of the Gospels.

We are hiring a part-time Virtual Assistant to support our customer service desk. You will report to the Finance & Customer Service Manager. This is a direct-hire, independent-contractor role. You will work from home in the Philippines with your own computer and reliable internet.

Responsibilities:
- Answer and triage customer email sent to our office, and reply to routine order questions within one business day
- Look up online orders, purchase orders, and account details, and give clear status updates
- Process and log purchase orders from verified schools, parishes, and diocesan offices
- Answer shipping questions (UPS and USPS; most U.S. orders ship in 2–4 business days) and help with address changes before an order ships
- Flag returns, damaged shipments, and billing issues for the manager; do not issue refunds on your own
- Help with stock questions, “notify me” follow-up, and review-copy requests for the Didache Series
- Keep a simple daily log of open tickets, callbacks, and orders that need a manager’s decision
- Escalate anything doctrinal, financial, or unusual instead of guessing

Required Skills and Qualifications:
- Strong written English; clear, warm, and accurate
- Comfortable on email and a shared inbox; able to write short, complete replies
- Careful with order numbers, names, addresses, and money amounts
- Able to prioritize when several parish or school requests arrive the same day
- Reliable computer, headset, and high-speed internet
- Willing to learn our website account system, purchase-order process, and product list
- Respectful of Catholic teaching, liturgy, and the customers we serve (priests, parish staff, and Catholic schools)

Preferred Qualifications:
- Practicing Catholic who is comfortable with Mass books, sacraments, and parish or school ordering
- Previous customer service for a U.S. company, publisher, school supplier, or online store
- Spoken English strong enough for occasional phone follow-up on existing orders (not cold calling)
- Spanish is a plus (Se habla español)
- Experience with spreadsheets and a help-desk or shared inbox

Work Hours and Schedule:
About 20 hours per week, Monday through Friday.
You must overlap with our office hours, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. U.S. Central Time. That is evening and night hours in the Philippines. Exact shift will be set with the manager before you start. A one- to two-week paid trial on real customer-service tasks comes before a longer arrangement.

Compensation:
USD $5 to $7 per hour, based on experience and English level. Paid biweekly, directly by MTF, through a standard international payment method. No agency fee is taken from your pay.

How to Apply:
Send a short application through

. To show you read this post, put the word Lantern in the subject line.

In the message, answer this question in 5–8 sentences:
A Catholic school emails a purchase order for Didache textbooks and asks when it will arrive. The title is in stock, but the shipping address on the PO does not match the account. What do you do first, what do you tell the school, and what do you escalate?

Applications without the word Lantern will not be reviewed.