Museum Experience Representative - Art Museum (Part Time)

Museum Experience Representative

The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) has an exciting opportunity for a part-time Museum Experience Representative (MER), Thurs-Sun, 10-24 hours per week, including evenings and holidays, in our Museum Experience and Education (MEE) department. Come and be a part of a small team of creative and dedicated museum front-line staff who facilitate Museum engagement and promote a positive visitor experience while learning and sharing about art!

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides excellent customer service while ensuring the safety of visitors, staff, and artworks.
• Demonstrates good working knowledge of the SJMA exhibitions, programs, facilities, and activities.
• Summarizes observations in the Museum spaces to communicate front-line operation insight and support data reporting needs.
• Boosts growth of constituency data collection to support 360° view of visitors and businesses that play a role in the success of SJMA.
• Writes reports and assesses visitor engagement as needed.
• Ensures a welcoming, positive, and informative visitor greeting and orientation.
• Communicates with a variety of visitors with diverse interests and abilities in a manner that enhances their general understanding of Art, Artists, and the Museum.
• Responsible for daily set up for public spaces and special events; maintains supplies and oversight over organizational health and safety measures.
• Knows and communicates Museum policies and procedures in a positive and calm manner.
• Effectively resolves visitor concerns.
• Monitors activities within assigned post to prevent theft, vandalism, damage to works of Art, or injury to visitors and staff.
• Documents and reports on above incidents of violation or unusual activity to Security and Exhibitions Team.
• Interfaces with Exhibitions Team for Artwork concerns, accidental damage, and malfunctions.
• Responds to emergencies.
• Call for assistance with medical emergencies in Museum galleries and Lobby.
• Provides leadership and direction for guests and staff in emergency situations, including those that require Museum evacuation.
• Required to follow SJMA policies and instructions.
• Attends and participates regularly in staff trainings and meetings.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Experience in customer service required.
• Art History knowledge and Art appreciation.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to listen actively to visitors and be responsive to their needs and expectations.
• Ability to remain calm and maintain a positive demeanor in stressful circumstances and to handle crowds.
• Ability to exercise good judgment in the presence of Museum visitors and to problem solve on the spot.
• Ability to work with others of differing abilities, backgrounds, nationalities, and cultures.
• Ability to maintain a consistent professional manner in dealing with the public and other Museum staff.
• Ability to work with and communicate with multiple Museum departments.
• Flexible with last-minute changes.
• Dependability is a must. Punctual – reports to work as scheduled, on time, and prepared to start work.
• Ability to stand for long periods of time, required.
• Ability to function in crowd settings.
• Knowledge of CRM systems
• Knowledge of Blackbaud ALTRU Software, preferred.
• Ability to read, write and speak English. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from visitors, staff, vendors, and volunteers.
• Bilingual skills, a plus.

Special Requirements:

• Ability to work evenings, weekends and holidays as required.
• CPR training, a plus.

About Us:

The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is a contemporary art museum dedicated to inclusivity, new thinking, and visionary ideas. Founded in 1969 by artists and community leaders, its dynamic exhibitions, collection, and programs resonate with defining characteristics of San José and Silicon Valley–from its rich diversity to its hallmark innovative ethos. The Museum offers lifelong learning for school children and their educators, multigenerational families, creative adults, university students and faculty, and community groups. SJMA is committed to being a borderless museum, essential to creative life throughout the diverse communities of San José and beyond.

SJMA has been awarded re-accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM), a recognition given to just 1,106 of the nation's 33,000 museums and SJMA is one of only 78 museums accredited in California. With its mix of self-assessment, peer review, and public recognition, AAM Accreditation ensures the integrity and accessibility of museum collections, reinforces the education and public service roles of museums, and requires good governance practices and ethical behavior. SJMA has been awarded Charity Navigator Four Stars and Guidestar Platinum Transparency, noting the highest non-profit distinctions exceeding or meeting best practices and industry standards.

Located near the Plaza de César Chavez in downtown San José, the Museum serves 100,000 people a year, including 30,000 school children, and is the largest provider of arts education in Santa Clara County.

SJMA conducts pre-employment, post-offer background checks in accordance with state and federal law.

SJMA is actively seeking individuals from diverse backgrounds. We deeply appreciate cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity, as well as different gender expressions and abilities. We encourage BIPOC, LGBTQ+, bilingual or multilingual candidates, and individuals with disabilities to apply. As an equal opportunity employer, we at SJMA highly esteem the diversity of individuals and the multitude of ideas, perspectives, insights, and values they contribute to our workplace.

SJMA's hiring policy requires all candidates to be at least 18 years of age. Due to the high volume of interest, regrettably, we cannot respond to individual applicants. If you are selected as a potential candidate, SJMA will contact you to schedule an interview. No phone calls, please.

Salary rate: $19.00 per hour.