The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport Maine seeks a part-time, year-round education assistant. The education assistant supports the education department including developing and leading onsite and outreach programs, leading field trips, regularly serving in the role of interpreter, and serving as the person in charge as needed. This year-round position has regular hours 3-5 days per week while the Museum is open (May-October). From November through April, this position 8 hours regularly scheduled each week. Throughout the year, this position may have additional hours during the day, evenings, and weekends to support programming. Duties include but are not limited to the following:
• Engaging with visitors
o Welcoming visitors to an exhibit and giving them an introduction about what to expect
o Checking for admission stickers and tactfully referring visitors to the admissions desk if needed
o Learning written guided tours and leading scheduled guided tours of the campus or exhibits
o Answering visitor questions
o Being knowledgeable about and able to refer visitors to the correct exhibit buildings in the museum, museum staff, and daily and upcoming activities, programs, and events
o Walking through the exhibit on a regular basis to check on visitors and monitor artifact safety
o Leading groups of children (scouts, field trips, etc.) or adults through exhibits
o Assisting or leading children’s crafts or programs
• Contributing to a positive, safe, and tidy work environment
o Working as part of a team and staffing buildings/giving presentations solo.
o Responding to security and/or safety concerns
o Performing minor housekeeping in exhibit buildings, including sweeping, vacuuming, and monitoring pests, as needed
• Serving as Person-in-Charge on scheduled days, including Sundays
o Unlocking, unalarming, and opening buildings
o Supervising front line staff
o Responding to anything that comes up
o Covering during breaks and busy times
o Covering the gift shop, including selling admissions, gift shop sales, and answering the phone
• Lead onsite programs, field trips, and outreach programs
o Traveling to schools as needed
o Working with students of all ages
o Conducting research
o Developing talks or tours on specific exhibits or artifacts
o Work occasional weekends and evenings, as scheduled
o Other duties as assigned
• Participate as a member of the Education team
o Attending or leading training sessions at the beginning of the season and additional training as needed
o Attending daily front-line staff meetings on scheduled work days
o Working on education projects including multi-media, exhibits, programs, and events
Hours
• Position is year-round, with employment 3-5 days per week May-October and 8 hours per week November-April
Wages and Benefits
• $15.50/hour paid biweekly
• Accrued Maine Earned Paid Leave – 1 hour for every 40 hours worked
• Family membership benefits to the Penobscot Marine Museum
o Option to pay $75 for the premium membership which includes reciprocal membership for CAMM and NARM
• Free admission to speaker series programs and other programming
• 20% off in the gift shop Qualifications
• Strong communication skills
• Comfortable speaking in a one-on-one or group setting
• Team player
• Ability to engage with the public, including children
• Knowledge of Office products
• Experience working in a classroom or in informal education preferred
• Undergraduate degree or 3+ years of experience preferred
Please submit cover letter, resume, and list of three references as pdfs to Jeana Ganskop at jganskop@pmm-maine.org. Application deadline is July 19. This position will start in early August.