Career Details

MUSEUM

Technical Assistant
posted : 01/10/2023
Status :
Open
Close Date :
Until Filled
Salary :
$31,015.05
Type :
Full Time
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General Job Description

The Horry County Museum is a general history museum that focus on the history, prehistory and natural history of Horry County, South Carolina. The Museum cares for a collection of artifacts and archival material and uses them in exhibits that tell stories for Horry’s past. The Museum also hosts family days, tours, and special programs. The L. W. Paul Living History Farm is a living history museum that focuses on the life of farm families in Horry County in the first half of the twentieth century with specific attention given to the 1930s and 1940s. This is done through demonstrations and interpretation of agriculture, domestic skills, and trades. The Farm hosts event days, monthly demonstrations, tours, and programs.

Duties for this Position
  • The work week for this position is Tuesday through Saturday, 8 AM-5 PM. This may include occasional Sundays and Mondays when necessary.
  • This position reports to the Assistant Director. The Technical Assistant will also work closely with the Museum Curator.
  • Frequently helps Assistant Director to develop and implement public programming
  • Assist in research and implementing lectures and outreach programs for adults and children
  • Assist with creation and implementation of programs for children ages K-12 and adults in both indoor and outdoor settings.
  • Conduct in-house and outreach programming for a variety of ages and audiences. ***Must be able, at times, to conduct programs on their own. This includes moving objects, setting up, and breaking down displays without assistance.
  • Cross trains in Museum and Farm interpretation as requested in order to maintain the Museum and Farm’s education and public programs.
  • Will frequently assist Farm staff with tasks and activities including, but not limited to:
  • *Interpreting Horry County farm traditions in historic costuming *Feeding livestock *Plowing mules *Handling hay bales *Operating mechanical farm equipment *Planting and cultivating crops by hand *Cooking on a wood burning stove •Frequently works with social media team to create and post content to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube o Will assist in operating camera and creating YouTube content. • When necessary, will assist Curator in research, design, fabrication and installation of exhibits • When necessary, will assist Curator with collections management o Responsible for paperwork associated with donations o Will process and catalog archives and artifacts into collections software in an accurate and timely manner • When necessary, ensures all Museum artifacts, farm equipment, and associated Museum items are processed and handled in a responsible and safe manner in accordance with department procedures. • Will provide assistance to department management, co-workers, volunteers, and the general public as required. o Will assist other staff in programs, events, and projects. o Under certain circumstances, will be required to assist Museum and Farm staff at various events or shows including onsite and offsite events in both indoor and outdoor settings. o Will learn County cashiering system and may be required at times to manage gift shop sales. o Will perform other duties as assigned. • Occasionally, will work with Museum and Grants staff to develop, write and organize grant applications and packages. • At all times, will be expected to meet all departmental employee standards, safety standards, and county standards.
Position Minimum Requirements
  • KNOWLEDGE & ABILITIES QUALIFICATIONS: College degree in history, education, Museum Science, American studies or related field OR equivalent combination of education, experience and training. Proficiency with a computer, Word, Publisher, Excel, Power Point, Adobe Acrobat, Outlook, Facebook, and Instagram required. Experience with Adobe Creative Cloud and educational YouTube content creation preferred.
  • Certificates, Licenses, Registrations: Must possess a valid Driver’s License
  • Interpersonal Communication Skills: This position involves frequent communication with other Museum staff, volunteers, and the general public. Must have the ability to clearly communicate to convey or exchange information to a variety of education levels. Includes ability to convey information to general public and co-workers or volunteers, and ability to discern assignments and/or directions from supervisor. Must be able to communicate and share knowledge with managers, supervisors and staff effectively.
  • Language Ability: This position frequently includes presentations to the general public. Requires the ability to express ones’ self and exchange information with and before others with poise, voice control and confidence. Communication must include proper format, punctuation, spelling and grammar, using all parts of speech. Requires the ability to read a variety of policy and procedure manuals, professional journals, various historical/scientific texts, etc.
  • Intelligence: The Technical Assistant works in a variety of aspects within the Museum and Farm. Requires ability to apply principles of logical thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions. Must have the ability to learn and understand relatively complex principles and techniques; to make independent judgments in absence of supervision. Must have the ability to comprehend and interpret information received from various sources, and to learn and utilize new skills and information to improve job performance and efficiency.
  • Physical Demands:
  • Verbal Aptitude : This position involves frequent teamwork and communication with staff, volunteers, and the general public. Requires ability to record and deliver information, to explain procedures, and to follow and give verbal and written instructions. Must be capable of effective and efficient communication and have the ability to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds and educational levels.
  • Numerical Aptitude: When necessary, the Technical Assistant helps with exhibit design and construction, and at times, may assist with Farm construction/maintenance. Requires ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and to utilize mathematical formulas with ease to determine percentages and decimals, and to determine time. Must be able to use practical applications of fractions, percentages, ratio and proportions.
  • Motor Coordination: This position frequently includes movement of objects and travel to a variety of locations throughout the region. Requires hand/eye coordination to operate automated office equipment, farm equipment, motor vehicle, etc.
  • Manual Dexterity: In addition to working in an office environment, the Technical Assistant also works outdoors with Farm livestock. Requires the ability to handle a variety of items, keyboards, office equipment, farm machinery, control knobs, buttons, switches, catches, etc. Must have minimal levels of eye/hand/foot coordination.
  • Visual and or Color Discrimination: This position includes working with artifacts, tools, and scanning documents. It requires the ability to visually discern information. Must have ability to distinguish colors and shades of color.
  • Work Environment: The Technical Assistant will serve the Horry County Museum and L.W. Paul Living History Farm as a general assistant to the Assistant Director and Curator. They may be expected to work at either of the two sites on any given day. They will be exposed to weather conditions of extreme heat or extreme cold or may work in other inclement weather conditions. They will also work indoors in a work space with adequate temperatures, ventilation and lighting. Normal exposure to noise and disruptions but moderate degree of stress. Normal indoor exposure to dust/dirt. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions
  • OTHER REQUIREMENTS: Will help with the reproduction of Museum photographs for the public. Will manage personal p-card transactions and financial reporting. Will help write press releases for Museum events and develop social media content for the Museums. May be asked to provide customer service through greeting at the front door, telephone service, and email questions. Will give directions and information to visitors concerning their visit to the area, historical information, Museum activities, programs, and community events. Will route telephone calls and messages to the appropriate recipient.
  • Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
  • Must be physically able to operate a variety of machines and equipment including farm tools such as a grist mill engine, tractor, mule drawn plow; computer, basic office equipment, vehicle, etc. Must be able to exert up to fifty (50) pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Physical demands are in excess of those for sedentary work; work involves driving, walking, standing, stooping, kneeling, pushing, pulling, climbing, balancing, standing for periods of time, feeding livestock. Must be able to lift and/or carry weights of up to fifty (50) pounds.