While many people think that Santa’s yearly work is just a grueling 24-hour day of delivering gifts, there’s more than meets the eye. Clearly, the logistics of gift delivery at this scale is mind-blowing. But don’t forget the toy manufacturing process, animal husbandry of reindeer, factory management, elf HR repping, and more. With all of these obligations, he’s busy almost every day of the year. Throw in some quality time with Mrs. Claus, and Santa doesn’t have time for much else. But what if he outsourced his duties for just a year? What would he do? Well, if he still wanted to earn a living and prevent gaps in his resume while traveling or staying home, he might want to consider remote work. Here are just a few remote jobs Santa could do from the North Pole (or the Caribbean).
With any luck, this list will put a little Christmas magic into your own remote job search!
1. Creative Director
Creativity is a necessity for the Man from the North Pole. He has to keep up with the latest trends in toys, electronics, and other consumer goods, plus brand his entire holiday and organization in a positive light. So perhaps he won’t fit a better role than a remote creative director.
Creative directors are advertising professionals that oversee every aspect of a product’s marketing from inception to completion. The product varies depending on the company or the expertise of the creative director, but may include a new video game, app, or other type of consumer product. Some typical job duties that Santa would fulfill include:
- Establish a budget
- Manage client relationships
- Manage a team of creatives
- Maintain consistency in brand voice and vision throughout the project
- Provide excellent communication to boost team morale and create transparency for stakeholders
Education or Experience Required
Most creative directors have a bachelor’s degree in marketing, graphic design, or advertising. However, a general business degree may also suffice. While no specific certification exists to become a creative director or provide more credibility, some decide to get secondary certifications. This may include graduation from certificate programs such as:
- Professional Certified Marketer from the American Marketing Association
- Hubspot Content Marketing Certification
- One of many certifications from the American Institute for Graphic Arts
Salary Information and Job Growth
Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) doesn’t compile information on creative directors, the scope of the position is similar to that of an art director. Therefore, Santa should expect to earn $94,220 per year or $45.30 per hour. And although the BLS expects job growth to decline 2% over the next 10 years, it’s still a lucrative position for creative-minded individuals—just like Santa.
2. Business Consultant
If some aspect of a business falls short, Santa is the ideal candidate to fix the problem. With an extensive background in logistics, shipping, management, and customer relations, he has all the skills to provide sound advice to business owners and department heads. You never really know how to manage a business until you have experienced an elf worker shortage, a broken sleigh, and a mall Santa strike all in the same week.
As a result, a remote business consultant is another remote job Santa could do. He can use his experience and know-how to analyze day-to-day operations and one-off or recurring projects. His business advice and reporting would aim to:
- Mitigate risk
- Develop a sound business strategy
- Implement newly created ideas
- Identify opportunities
- Champion organizational change
- Identify important metrics (KPIs)
Education or Experience Required
Most business consulting positions require a management or operational background, a bachelor’s degree in business or an equivalent field, and relevant work experience. A Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation can also increase consulting knowledge and foster trust from potential clients.
Salary Information and Job Growth
Business consultants are constantly in demand with an expected growth rate of 11% over the next 10 years. Salaries for business consultants average $85,260, or $40.99 per hour. Another bonus of working as a virtual business consultant is that Santa can master the art of work-life balance by picking and choosing his own clients and work ours. This will give Santa more time than ever to rehash his weight-gaining regimen.
3. Customer Service Representative
Not all letters to Santa are pleasant. After Christmas, some of them can get downright nasty. When Santa brought little Timmy a race car instead of the new video game console, the tyke had a crayon-written response that made it straight onto Santa’s desk. Instead of shrugging it off, Claus aimed to make things right, coming through with a Nintendo Switch the following Christmas. Customer service representatives must do these tasks as part of their job duties:
- Resolve customer complaints
- Process returns, refunds, and exchanges
- Cancel orders
- Maintain a friendly demeanor, even in difficult situations
Education or Experience Required
That is just one example of Santa’s expertise as a customer service representative. He could outsource the job or hand it off to an elfin complaint department but Santa prefers to do the work himself. Virtual customer service representatives tend to have extensive work with computers, a high school diploma, and superb communication skills. Fortunately, Santa has a three-pronged approach to customer service that companies crave.
Salary Information and Job Growth
Over the next 10 years, the overall market for customer service representatives is projected to decline by 2% due to an increase in task automation. However, remote customer service remains one of the top work from home job industries. With full-time and part-time positions readily available, Santa can create a flexible schedule. The median hourly wage for customer service representatives is $16.69 per hour (or $34,710 annually)—more than double the federal minimum wage.
4. Engineering Manager
Engineering spans an array of different specialties. But only Santa himself might be required to master them all. He’s a mechanical engineer at the toy factor, a chemical engineer when crafting flavors for drinks and candy, and an architectural engineer for his eponymous village and gingerbread houses. But with management experience to boot, an engineering manager is definitely a remote job Santa could do.
As the name implies, engineering managers are individuals with a background in both engineering and management. Coupled together, these professionals are responsible for overseeing a team of engineers and ensuring projects get done on time. Some of the typical job duties include:
- Set a budget for each project
- Manage a team of junior and mid-level engineers
- Streamline communication between various departments
- Solve technical issues
- Ensure projects stay on task
Education or Experience Required
Santa would easily have the credentials to become an engineering manager. Most companies hire managers that have a bachelor’s degree plus five to 10 years of experience. In some instances, they may also have a master’s degree in engineering. To improve their chances of getting hired, engineering managers may also obtain certification, such as the Certified Associate in Engineering Management (CAEM) or the Certified Professional in Engineering Management from the American Society for Engineering Management.
Salary Information and Job Growth
According to the BLS, engineering managers earn a median annual salary of $144,830 per year or the equivalent of $69.63 per hour. Job growth over the next decade is 3%, or about average compared to all other professions.
5. Travel Writer
Unless you’re this guy, you probably haven’t been to all 198 countries in the world. In fact, Santa may be the only other person to boast of such an achievement. And with round-the-world trips once a year, he’s a shoo-in to deliver travel advice as a travel writer.
Travel writers are experienced globetrotters (both domestically and internationally) that galavant across the globe to indulge their wanderlust. They might specialize in a particular aspect of travel, which may include:
- General travel
- Accommodation and flights
- Food
- Sports
- Adventure (bungee jumping, motorcycle rides, etc.)
With the knowledge they’ve built up, travel writers can share their experiences and advice on places to visit, how to avoid sticky situations, and must-go destinations. Traditionally, these individuals wrote for magazines. But with the popularity of blogging and travel blogging in particular, the opportunity for Santa to discuss the deliciousness level of cookies from Beijing to Budapest to Boston becomes far easier.
Education or Experience Required
The expectations and breadth of work for travel writers vary. While some travelers may write their own blog and monetize it, others may want to pen articles for National Geographic or Conde Nast. Proficiency in writing and editing is required, but no specific education level is necessary. A background in digital marketing may also be helpful.
Salary Information and Job Growth
Travel writer salaries vary greatly depending on experience. Furthermore, the BLS doesn’t compile specific statistics on travel writers. However, SalaryExpert.com, which allows travel writers to enter their salary statistics, shows that the average median salary is $58,215 per year or $27.99 per hour. Due to travel restrictions, the future of the industry remains relatively unknown. But as COVID vaccines continue to emerge, travel writing may witness increased growth over the next 10 years.
6. Human Resources Coordinator
When you are in charge of a giant workforce of elves who work around the clock, human resources management is a must. You have to not only mitigate escalated conversations and personality clashes between pointy-eared colleagues but also recruit new help, set forth policies and ethics best practices, and construct an employee handbook.
Education or Experience Required
It may have taken a few decades, but Santa’s mastered the art of human resources coordinator. By sorting out problems and mediating issues, he’s allowed the North Pole’s toy factory to run like clockwork. He may not have a bachelor’s degree in business required by most businesses or a preferred master’s degree, but his experience and interpersonal skills provide him with the framework necessary to succeed.
Salary Information and Job Growth
An expected job outlook of 6% growth over the next decade and a median average salary of over $116,720 also make this an attractive alternative to worldwide gift-slinger.
7. E-commerce Manager
Hand-delivering each and every toy from the sleigh to the roof and down the chimney is almost an antiquated notion. Throw in a steady annual increase in the world population, and Santa’s transition to e-commerce is almost a certainty. While the North Pole’s e-commerce system is still in its infancy, Santa works around the world with online retailers to provide gifts to children, adults, secret Santas, charities, and other gift exchanges.
Through these partnerships, becoming an e-commerce manager is certainly a remote job Santa could do. He has learned how to promote products via social media advertising, keep items in-stock through symbiotic relationships with suppliers, and design easy-to-use shopping websites.
Education or Experience Required
A bachelor’s degree in marketing is mandatory for most e-commerce management jobs with a preference for a master’s degree. Supplemental classes in advertising and IT are a bonus. Five-plus years of work experience is a plus and specialization in online sales, online marketing, and search engine optimization puts individuals in high demand. Santa may be new to the e-commerce game, but his old-school approach to new technology gives him the upper hand.
Salary Information and Job Growth
With an annual median salary of over $135,900 and projected job growth of 6% through 2030, Mr. Claus could thrive in this remote role for the next decade and beyond.
8. Quality Assurance Specialist
“They don’t make them like they used to” is not a phrase in Santa’s lexicon. Although tiring, the man tests every single toy that comes out of his factory to ensure each one is built with the utmost durability and quality. That’s quite an undertaking, but when you put your name on all your products for kids around the world, you don’t want to wear the silver medal for best toys. And that’s what makes a quality assurance specialist position another remote job that Santa could do.
While most quality assurance employees have to work on-site, a new crop of telecommuting options has made the industry apply to workers with different types of skills. Santa may get to test each toy at a factory, but new jobs allow quality assurance workers to have backgrounds in writing, editing, underwriting, software testing, and more.
Education or Experience Required
Depending on the area of expertise, remote quality assurance workers need as little as a high school diploma and slight experience all the way up to a bachelor’s degree and five-to-ten-plus years of experience.
Salary Information and Job Growth
The median annual salary for quality assurance specialists is $39,140 or $18.82 per hour. And while job opportunities are declining onsite, online options continue to emerge. But despite this, the overall job growth rate sits at -17%.
9. Merchandiser
Santa is a master merchandiser. With his likeness front and center on many Christmas’ top-selling items, he is almost certainly kicking back and letting royalty checks roll in during the spring and summer. Few people know, but before Kris Kringle became Santa, he worked as a merchandiser, setting up eye-catching displays that made him a master of sales, product placement, and king of the retail world.
Having a great product is not always enough to sell it. You need advertising and marketing campaigns and product placement. One overlooked aspect of this is merchandising. Product placement within a store is essential for the number of sales. Only qualified and experienced merchandisers can maximize profits and keep units flying off the shelves.
Education or Experience Required
This may not sound like a remote position, but with graphic design and 3-D software, remote merchandisers can create schematics and pictures that help retailers set up displays and promotions in their store. Qualifications and experience vary greatly, but most positions require at least a bachelor’s degree and three years of experience.
Salary Information and Job Growth
Merchandisers earn $33.46 per hour on average or the annual equivalent of $69,600. However, some merchandisers may earn more or less depending on the amount of experience they have. The average job growth rate sits at -7% over the next decade.
These Remote Jobs Santa Could Do Could Be Right for You, Too!
As an immortal, Santa has a rock-solid resume with hundreds of years of experience. Even the pickiest of hiring managers can’t overlook that. And while you might not have a resume quite as impressive, don’t worry. With these 100% remote jobs, you can find something that caters to your strengths while also allowing you to work from the comfort of your own home. With any luck, a work from home position would give you time to focus on the more important things in life. You could pen a hit Christmas song, develop a delicious Christmas cookie recipe, or contemplate how such a seemingly obese man could fit down such a small chimney. No matter what you decide to do, the work-life balance of remote work gives you the opportunity. Santa is surely envious.
Are you also interested in any of these remote jobs Santa could do? Connect with Virtual Vocations on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube to share your comments. We’d love to hear from you.
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