Description

Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

Position Title:                         Exhibits Director

Reports To:                            Executive Director

Supervises:                             Museum Exp Manager, Technical Exhibits Manager, Designers

Status:                                    Full-time, Exempt, Salaried

Summary of Position:   Responsible for achieving and promoting the museum’s mission and goal of creating innovative museum experiences that inspire joy, creativity and curiosity. The Director is responsible for overall coordination, development and operation of Children’s Museum’s Exhibits Department including the direction, design and implementation of temporary and permanent exhibits.  Working with creative individuals to develop unique and beautiful exhibit experiences for families, is a key characteristic of this position.

Key Responsibilities:

Board Relations:

• Sit on the appropriate Committee of the Board and communicate with the Committee as needed.

Development:

• Assist the Executive Director and Director of Development in seeking and securing funding.
• Assist the Director of Marketing in preparing proper wording, layout, etc. to communicate exhibits for public materials.

Financial:

• Monitor appropriate contracts.
• Develop, maintain and ensure adherence to the appropriate budget.
• Monitor cash flow and review all payments.
• Responsible for implementing financial policy controls and procedures designed to safeguard Museum assets.
  • Observe all policies and procedures for financial management and record keeping.

Human Resources:

• Assist the executive team to establish and observe all policies and procedures for human resource management and ensures staff knowledge of and adherence to applicable policies.
• Motivates and leads a high-performance team; attracts, recruits and retains required members of the Museum Experience, Programming and Exhibits team; provides mentoring to direct subordinates as a tool to assist in their career development.
• Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring and training employees; planning, assigning and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Management:

• Provides leadership and management to ensure that the mission and core values of the museum are put into practice.
• Manages subordinate supervisor(s) who supervise employee(s); is responsible for the overall direction, coordination and evaluation of employees. Also directly supervises non-supervisory employees.
• Inspires and motivates others to perform well and accepts feedback from others.
• Participate in weekly staff meetings with the Executive Director and other key members of the Museum management team.
• Participate in all staff meetings where management decisions are made.

Marketing:

• Positively and accurately represent the Children’s Museum to the community at large.

Operations:

• Observes safety and security procedures and uses equipment and materials properly.

Planning:

• Prioritizes and plans work activities, uses time efficiently and develops realistic action plans.
• Must look for ways to improve and promote quality and demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.
• Organize communication, review, approval and entitlement process.

­       Staff and Board

­       Federal, State, Regional, City and other municipal agencies

Programming

• Develop, understand and stay current with exhibit and programming initiatives.

Supervisory

• Assists in the recruitment, training and scheduling for direct reports.
• Includes staff in planning, decision-making, facilitating and process improvement; makes self available to staff; provides regular performance feedback; and develops subordinates’ skills and encourages growth.
• Delegates work assignments, gives authority to work independently, sets expectations and monitors delegated activities.
• Participate on one museum task force.
• Works at least 2 hours per quarter on the Museum Floor to maintain knowledge of visitor experiences and to ensure commitment to the Museum’s mission,

• Performs staff evaluations      and makes recommendations regarding performance issues, salary      adjustments, etc.

Other

Physical Effort:  The Director may be required to travel. No excessive physical effort required.   Moves about Museum in normal course of administrative and supervisory activities.

The physical demands and work environment characteristics are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Health & Safety Administration: Position involves exposure to large numbers of children and exposure to germs associated with working in public attraction.

This position requires exposure to chemicals and hazardous materials as follows:

• paint (latex, epoxy, oil,       spray)
• paint thinners (tolulene,       thinner, laquer, etc.)
• wood and plastic dust
• welding and cutting frames
• grinding dust
• loud machinery and debris.

Must wear protective gear such as earplugs and safety eyewear.

Handles emergency situations as arise.  Monitors to ensure overall safety of visitors and staff.

 Scope of Authority:  Position requires Director to act independently with little or no supervision.  Periodically, larger issues may require the attention of the Executive Director, Deputy Director, appropriate Committee or Board of Directors.  Must deal at the executive level of management (Board of Directors, Executive Director and Deputy Director) as well as with museum staff, outside contractors and vendors. Also displays willingness to make decisions, exhibits sound and accurate judgment, and makes timely decisions.

Interpersonal Communications:  This position requires leadership skills exemplified by initiative and good communication skills, oral and written, within the museum, with Board members, and in the community. A high level of written and oral communication skills and organizational skills is needed. Must be able to speak clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations, demonstrates group presentation skills and conducts productive meetings.   Teamwork within the Department and other departments is important.

Analytical Skill Required:  The Director identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner and gathers and analyzes information skillfully.  Must have strong analytical skills to assess and evaluate design and cost of appropriate programming for the museum. Development and implementation of age appropriate activities is necessary.  A high regard for youth and their families, and a level of understanding of child development issues is to be demonstrated and shared.

Scope of Impact on Fiscal Matters: The Director is responsible for assisting in developing, maintaining, monitoring and reporting on the department’s budget.

The exhibits are the museum’s direct connection to our visitors and therefore have a direct correlation on whether the visitor will return to visit the museum again.  Admissions and other program related revenues make up a significant part of the museum’s earned revenue stream.

Requirements

Position Criteria: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  FBI, Acts 33 and 34 Clearances required

Education Equivalent:  Graduate degree in related field preferred.  Bachelors degree and minimum of 5 years supervisory/management experience required.

Previous Experience:  Experience in not-for-profit arts organization preferred.