Fwd: Hiring a new position for NPM Education

Introduction

The National Postal Museum will be hiring a full-time indefinite Trust Appointment, this is not a Federal Position, museum specialist to join the Education Department.  This employee will assist in the development and production of education programming and interpretation for schools, teachers, and students in the museum and for outreach (in person and online).  Purpose of the work is to ensure high quality and audience-appropriate interpretive opportunities in programs, tours, activities, web activities, and exhibits for the museum’s school audiences.  The work directly supports the education and outreach mission of the museum.

The National Postal Museum houses and displays the national philatelic and postal history collection, the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the world. The museum serves as the nation’s premier center for philatelic and postal scholarship and shares its collections and research with the public through exhibitions, public programs, publications, tours and website applications.  In 2013, the Museum will open a revitalized Historic Lobby, seven new exhibitions, and three new education spaces. 

The Education Department supports community engagement and the integration of informal learning techniques into the offerings for formal learning audiences.  There will be a new slate of school and teacher training offerings scheduled to launch in September 2013 that will capitalize on the past success of our traditional tours with the integration of the project-based EdLab initiative that the museum has developed. 

Major Duties

• Researching audiences, topics and presentation methods for educational programming for schools and other formal learning institutions; educational programming includes, but is not limited to, tours, workshops, online material, print and social media. 
• Developing, planning, coordinating, implementing, and evaluating the museum’s offerings for schools, teachers, and students. 
• Scheduling onsite and online school programming to ensure offerings match available resources in space, supplies, and available personnel. 
• Providing expertise on students, teachers, and schools for proposed programming, including, but not limited to, websites, computer and manual interactive activities, tours, and exhibits.  The incumbent will participate in exhibit development as part of team; helps train volunteers and staff; and leads tours, program activities, and represent museum in communities.
• Maintaining project files and records for projects.
• Assisting with logistics, developing purchase and/or contracting criteria, PR, marketing, and documenting funds use.   

Knowledge Required

• Museum interpretive practices and audience needs (schools, teachers, and students) to contribute to museum program development. 
• Informal learning concepts and practices to develop interpretive programming, activities and exhibition content. 
• Knowledge of one or more of the museum’s content areas (American History, Communication history, philately, geography, etc…) to contextualize, determine relevance and make meaning for target audiences. 
• Knowledge of administrative procedures in an automated office environment sufficient to process forms and support project activities. 

Skills Sought

• Verbal communication to lead tours and other activities for museum audiences; verbal skills will also be needed to communicate program accomplishments and needs to stakeholders. 
• Written communication (including use of computer for communication) to outline, draft and write program activities. 
• Commitment to creativity and resourcefulness throughout the development and implementation process. 
• Manage multiple aspects of more than two projects at once (including meeting deadlines, coordinating team member schedules, and obtaining assets on a timely basis)

Abilities Recommended

• Work in collaboration with other staff members, volunteers at the museum, the Smithsonian, and with local and national community organizations. 
• Ability to research a variety of sources with different ways of organizing materials.  
• Ability to work with a variety of people and be attentive to diverse audience needs and requirements when developing and producing programs and projects. 

Minimum Qualifications

• One year of full-time experience at the IS-05 level that is close or similar to the work of this job or a Bachelors Degree with commensurate experience (3 years).

Details

The incumbent will report directly to the Director of Education. 

Salary: $42,209 - $67,114

40 hours/week with some requests for evening and weekend work (comp time awarded)

Benefits

The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options. Please see Benefits at www.sihr.si.edu for a complete description.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The work environment ranges from a typical office setting with adequate light, heat, and ventilation to the museum floor.  Work often involves standing, walking for one or two hours when leading tours, and lifting up to 30 lbs.

Application Instructions

To apply for the position, please submit the following information to Allison Wickens by midnight on January 24, 2013.  Applications can be received by fax, e-mail, or post:

(202) 633-9393, or wickensa@si.edu NPM, MRC 570, PO box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012.

·      Cover Letter

·      Resume or CV

·      List of 3 references

Please direct questions about the position to K. Allison Wickens via e-mail (wickensa@si.edu) or phone (202-633-5531).