Museum Experience Specialist

Thinkery is where Austin’s children and their families come to enjoy play-based, inquiry-rich, hands-on learning experiences. We believe that innovative, play-based, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) learning experiences are a powerful way for children to develop problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and curiosity about the world around them. Our exhibits and programs encourage children—alongside their caregivers—to solve creative challenges, explore a variety of materials, and to develop new ways to complete unfamiliar projects. Through these activities, children gain the tools and confidence to develop and grow into enthusiastic, creative, lifelong STEAM learners and thinkers.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Museum Experience Specialist is a cross-departmental teammate responsible for coordinating public use of the Museum to maximize the guest experience and ensure operations are efficient and effective. This position assists the Experience Managers and Coordinators with museum operations, logistics, and staffing for general admission, educational series, special events, and organization-wide programming.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Serve as primary floor supervisor (opening and closing supervisor on duty) for general admission, educational series, and special events. The schedule for this position will require flexibility to work additional shifts as they arise (including afterhours events, fundraisers, etc.).

• Provide significant support in staff orientation, training, and team building.

• Take a proactive approach to ensuring every guest’s experience is safe, educational, fun, and memorable including providing the highest level of customer service possible and modeling exemplary customer service for all other members of Museum Experience team.

• Address and solve customer service issues. Receive and process customer comments and complaints. Problem-solve and/ or communicate to the appropriate team to ensure timely and effective resolution.

• Assist with daily and weekly schedules, creating deployment documents, and rotations of floor and program staff and volunteers. Make nimble, day-of adjustments to the deployments to ensure coverage as needs within the museum change. Assist with other scheduling tasks as needed or assigned.

• Coordinate with staff to ensure all onsite Museum programs and events are presented as planned. Provide appropriate staffing coverage for the delivery of daily happenings with the highest quality possible. Communicate issues with applicable internal clients.

• Oversee all functions of the Museum Experience staff daily and provide feedback during floor shifts.

• Serve as a role model for superior guest service, productivity, and workplace behavior.

• Enforce the procedures and policies of the Museum among staff and volunteers. Communicate issues with other managers and coordinators of the Experience Team to ensure timely, effective resolution.

• Collaborate with all Thinkery departments to ensure events serve Thinkery’s strategic goals and educational philosophy.

• Support a culture of cross-organization communication, collaboration, and information sharing.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• Schedule and availability reflects that the organization is a 7-day-a-week operation

• This role is most effective when performed onsite with limited opportunity for remote/hybrid work.

• A typical week will be Wednesday-Sunday or Saturday-Wednesday with occasional need outside of this schedule, reflective of the needs of the team.

• This role is based at Thinkery’s Mueller location.

COMPETENCIES

• Collaborates: Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.

• Community Focus: Building strong community relationships and delivering community-centric solutions.

• Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.

• Ensures Accountability: Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments.

• Instills Trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.

• Nimble Learning: Actively learning through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder.

• Values Differences: Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following:

• Be poised and composed when working under pressure

• Attention to detail is a must

• Excellent interpersonal and public interaction skills

• Ability to work independently with little supervision

• Collaborate with staff and volunteers from other departments

• Ability to work effectively and concurrently on multiple projects, meeting tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Spanish language skills a plus.

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIP

• Reports to Museum Experience Manager

• No direct reports; oversees Museum Experience Leads and Assistants

• Peer collaboration with other team members cross-departmentally

EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION:

• 1 years of event/program facilitation or execution experience, ideally to include a variety of event types, settings, and purposes (large and small scale, ticketed and free, etc.)

• 1 years of customer service experience

• 1 years of experience mentoring/supervising staff

• Experience working with children and families

• Experience with POS systems

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.

This position is active. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to:

• Observe and react to the needs of guests, staff, volunteers, and community partners

• Move throughout the museum

• Manipulate and move exhibit components and rental equipment weighing up to 25 pounds, including those that may be low to the ground or above eye level

• Communicate and exchange accurate information with guests, staff, volunteers, and community partners in a variety of formats including in-person, electronically, and over the phone

• Detect and respond to safety hazards

• Occasionally work in outdoor environments

• Operate a cash register and computer efficiently and accurately

BENEFITS

• Thinkery offers competitive and affordable benefits for our full-time staff including options for 100% employer sponsored medical coverage. Our benefits package includes:

• Medical insurance options including HSA, PPO Gold, and PPO Platinum plans.

• Affordable dental and vision

• 100% employer sponsored EAP, STD, LTD, AD&D, and Life Insurance

• 2 weeks of paid vacation, 12 days of paid sick leave, and 13 paid holidays each year

• Paid Family Leave

• Pet and child-friendly offices

• Membership to the museum and discounted rates to Little Thinker’s Preschool and Camps

This job description should not be construed to imply these requirements are the only duties, responsibilities, and qualifications for this job. Incumbents may be required to follow any additional related instructions, acquire related job skills, and perform other related work as required. This job description may be updated as needed.

Thinkery is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This company does not and will not discriminate in employment and personnel practices on the basis of race, sex, age, handicap, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. Hiring, transferring and promotion practices are performed without regard to the above-listed items. All candidates offered a position will be required to submit to background and reference checks.