Museum Educator (Part-time, Regular)

The Museum Educator is the central public-facing position that interacts with people of all ages from around the world who visit Alexandria. While primarily handling daily operations of museums, this position also facilitates educational experiences for all ages using the history and built environment of the City as well as the collections of Historic Alexandria.
The incumbent is responsible for learning the content of multiple museum locations and programs about Alexandria’s vast history. Staff is also trained in best practices to facilitate conversations around topics that some consider challenging or unsettling, such as the domestic slave trade or lynchings.

During a shift, the museum educator is responsible for providing a high-quality guest experience, adapting the interpretation of content to meet visitor interests and needs; opening and closing the museum or program; ensuring safety of both guests and collections; and managing shop sales. In addition to regular museum operations, the Museum Educator is responsible for teaching public programs and leading tours as needed, with occasional opportunities to design public programming and contribute to training and oversite of volunteers who work alongside front-line staff.

The Museum Educator works alongside Museum Operations staff, including other Museum Educators and volunteers, to open museums to the public as well as teach specialty programming. This position requires at least one Saturday or Sunday per week and occasional evenings. Total hours vary by week with seasonal shifts in the schedule, but average 24 hours per week annually. A commitment to diversity, accessibility, inclusion, and public service is at the core of this position and the department.

What you should bring?
To be considered as an ideal candidate, applicants must have excellent customer service and communication skills. Candidates should enjoy talking with people and have demonstrated success teaching a wide variety of ages. A working knowledge of best practices in interpretation, particularly of African American history, is a must. They must have demonstrated success working with culturally diverse colleagues and guests and be willing to discuss topics like identity, race, white supremacy, and systemic racism. They must be flexible, exhibit excellent troubleshooting skills, and a demonstrate a willingness to do what it takes to get a job done. Candidates must have the ability to work well independently and collaboratively with a small team. Due to the nature of this position, they also should be able to climb stairs, stand and/or walk for long periods of time, and lift up to 50 pounds with or without an accommodation.

The Opportunity - Examples of Work

• Completes operational tasks related to opening and closing museums or running a program based on outlined procedures, including operating a computerized Point of Sale system, following money-handling procedures, and set-up/clean-up of program.
• Facilitates dialogue that encourages understanding and growth of museum visitors.
• Teaches a variety of on-site and educational outreach programs, including tours and stationed activities, for a wide variety of ages.
• Provides supervision of volunteers during their shift and assists in the on-going training of volunteers.
• Collects visitor data and provides regular program reports that will be used to improve educational programming and the visitor experience.
• Assists in the research and development of programs and interpretive materials.
• Performs other duties as assigned

About the Department
The Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA) preserves Alexandria's past to enrich the present and inspire the future. As a team, we are working to integrate Alexandria's rich and complex history into the fabric of the community. The physical sites this position staffs include Alexandria Archaeology Museum, Alexandria Black History Museum, Fort Ward Museum, Friendship Firehouse Museum, Gadsby's Tavern Museum, Lloyd House, the Murray Dick Fawcett House, Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, and The Lyceum: Alexandria's History Museum. OHA also goes out into the community, with staff working at Farmer's Markets and other outdoor public spaces as well as in regional schools.

Minimum & Additional Requirements

Two-Year College degree with a major in history, public history, material culture, museum education or a related field; supervision of staff (periodic experience); awareness of museum security; basic computer skills; project management experience; experience in staff management, particularly volunteer staff; interpersonal skills; organizational ability; ability to deal with the general public; ability to implement basic fiscal accountability procedures; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

Four-year College degree; demonstrated knowledge of educational theory and interpretation practices; equivalent of one year’s work or volunteer experience teaching or giving tours; at least one year’s experience in retail or customer service; ability to work rotating shifts that regularly include weekends, holidays and/or weekdays. Experience with archaeology and ability to speak Spanish a plus.