Museum Curator - Supervising

Introduction

Placer County is comprised of over 1400 square miles of beautiful and diverse geography ranging from the residential and commercial areas of South Placer through the historic foothill areas of Auburn Foresthill and Colfax and to the Countys jewel of the North Lake Tahoe basin. Placer is a great place to live, work, play, and learn. For more information about Placer County, please visit www.placer.ca.gov.

POSITION INFORMATION

Placer County is currently recruiting for one permanent, full-time Supervising Museum Curator. The Museums division is a part of the Department of General Services. The division manages eight individual museums throughout Placer County and operates the Placer County Archive and Research Center. The division provides archival reference services, exhibits, educational programs such as living history and special events for Placer County residents and visitors. Staff and volunteers process and preserve historic artifacts and documents, produce exhibitions, provide tours, and manage an extensive calendar of student programs. For more information about the Museums Division, please click here.

With an office in the Historic Courthouse in Auburn, California, the Supervising Curator plays an important role in the Museums division. They will be responsible for supervising up to five professional museum curators, overseeing the divisions volunteer program, and participating in all preservation and historic interpretation activities. The ideal candidate will have excellent leadership and organizational skills supplemented with experience in research, historic interpretation, museum curation, exhibit development, volunteer management, and educational programs with significant knowledge of accepted historic preservation and museum standards, regulations, guidelines, and best practices.

This position works Monday to Friday, 8am-4:30pm, and with occasional weekend or evening events as needed throughout the year. The eligible list created by this recruitment may be used to fill future County-wide vacancies for permanent positions.

BENEFITS

Placer County offers a comprehensive benefits package to employees. The following information represents benefits currently available to permanent Placer County employees and may be subject to change. Applicants should inquire as to the most current benefit package during hiring interviews or by contacting the Human Resources Department. Click here to view Placer Public Employees Organization (PPEO) benefits. For more information regarding the benefits Placer County has to offer, please visit Placer Countys Human Resources website.

DEFINITION

To plan, organize, direct, evaluate, and supervise the activities of professional and administrative staff and museum volunteers in caring for and interpreting objects belonging to or loaned to the Countys museums, to perform a variety of professional and technical tasks relative to assigned areas of responsibility, coordinate and oversee volunteer programs, and to oversee and administer the most difficult and complex museum projects and program areas as assigned.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

The Supervisor level recognizes positions that perform full first-line supervisory responsibilities, including planning, assigning, and evaluating the work of subordinates, and are responsible for a program area within a work unit or department and at multiple sites. This class is distinguished from the Museums Administrator classification in that the latter provides full-time line and functional management responsibility for a division or program area within a department.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED

Receives general direction from management staff. Exercises direct supervision over assigned professional, technical, and/or clerical personnel.

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Duties may include but are not limited to the following:

• Plan, prioritize, assign, supervise, monitor, and review the work of assigned professional, technical, and/or clerical staff and volunteers consistent with the Museum Divisions work plan.
• Participate in the selection of staff, provide or coordinate staff training, conduct performance evaluations, recommend discipline, implement discipline procedures as directed.
• Participate in the development, planning, and implementation of the Museum Divisions goals and objectives, recommend and administer policies and procedures as necessary, and upon request conduct research and provide input regarding administrative needs and existing systems, processes.
• Participate in the planning, coordinating, and monitoring of a variety of Museum Divisions programs, such as volunteers, publicity, exhibits, and education.
• Evaluate operations and activities of assigned responsibilities, recommend improvements and modifications, prepare various reports on operations and activities.
• Conduct research and prepare correspondence, reports, studies, and other documentation as necessary and upon request.
• Answer questions and provide information to the public, investigate complaints, and recommend corrective action as necessary.
• Build and maintain positive working relationships with co-workers, other County employees, and the public using principles of good customer service.
• Maintain awareness of and participation in external professional environment and resources to ensure the highest level of professional standards are applied to service delivery within the Museum Division.
• Receive after-hours alarm calls and respond accordingly, including notifying proper authorities and management.
• Represent the Museum Division to the public as well as other County employees and managers in a positive and productive manner.
• Serve as a positive and motivational team leader as well as a positive and effective team member.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Work is performed in both an indoor office environment with controlled temperature conditions and in the field requiring travel to various locations throughout the County in a variety of outdoor weather conditions.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

It is the responsibility of applicants to identify in their application materials how they meet the minimum qualifications listed below.

• Experience and Training:
• Any combination of experience and training that would provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying.
• A typical way to obtain the required knowledge and abilities would be:
• Experience: Three (3) years of increasingly responsible experience in archives, collections, education, cultural resources, or general museum duties, including one (1) year of functional and technical lead and/or supervisory responsibility.
• Training: Equivalent to a bachelors degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in museum studies, history, art, anthropology, the humanities, or related field. A masters degree in museum studies or related field is desirable.
• Required License or Certificate:
• May need to possess a valid drivers license as required by the position. Proof of adequate insurance and medical clearance may also be required.
• NOTE: Relevant equivalent experience performing the same or similar job requiring similar knowledge, skills, and abilities may be substituted for the required education as determined by the Human Resources Department.
• NOTE: Applicants receiving their degree outside the United States must submit proof of accreditation by a recognized evaluation agency.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Knowledge of:
• Principles and practices of public administration and principles of organization, supervision, and staffing.
• Principles and practices of professional museum work as it applies to archives, collections, education, and/or cultural resources.
• Computer software, including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications.
• English usage, spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• Pertinent local, state, and federal laws, guidelines, and regulations.
• Basic principles and practices of County-wide operations, as well as the Countys administration and organizational structure.
• Computer systems and applications.
• Principles and practices of supervision, training, and performance evaluation.
• Basic office practices, procedures, and equipment.
• Museum exhibit design, interpretation, and installation.
• Ability to:
• On a continuous basis, know and understand all aspects of the job, interpret and evaluate staff reports, understand, identify, interpret, recall, explain, and apply laws, regulations, codes, rules, and department policies.
• Complete tasks with frequent interruptions, analyze problems, identify alternative solutions, and project consequences of proposed actions.
• Sit at desk and in meetings for long periods of time, intermittently walk, stand, reach, push, pull, bend, squat, crouch, climb, stoop, kneel, or twist to reach equipment surrounding desk and while cataloging, conducting tours, assisting with exhibit installation, or working in the field.
• Perform simple grasping and fine manipulation, use telephone and write or use a keyboard to communicate through written means.
• See with sufficient acuity to read characters and decipher colors on a computer screen and in museum exhibits.
• Lift moderate weight.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

Training & Experience Rating 100

Based upon responses to the supplemental questionnaire, the applicants education, training, and experience will be evaluated using a pre-determined formula. Scores from this evaluation will determine applicant ranking and placement on the eligible list.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

• Length of Probation: All permanent appointments to this classification shall serve a probationary period of twelve (12) calendar months or two thousand (2,080) hours, whichever is more.
• Bargaining Unit: General
• CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT

Prior to the date of hire, applicants must undergo a fingerprint test by the Department of Justice, pass a medical examination, which may include a drug screening, and possibly a psychological evaluation, sign a constitutional oath, and submit proof of U.S. citizenship or legal right to remain and work in the U.S.

For some positions, applicants may also be required to submit proof of age, undergo a background investigation, which may include a credit check, voice stress analysis, and/or a polygraph, and/or be bonded. Additionally, positions in law enforcement classifications and those supporting law enforcement functions will be required to complete a conviction history questionnaire prior to or during the interview process. Applicants for positions with access to Medi-Cal billing software or who are licensed providers must clear the Federal Exclusion List credentialing and social security verification. Failure to clear these requirements may result in an employment offer being withdrawn.

SUBSTITUTE LIST

The eligible list resulting from this recruitment may be certified as a substitute list for a substantially similar classification. For this purpose, a substantially similar classification is one at a lower level in the same classification, example, entry-level vs. journey-level, and/or a similar classification, similar work performed, similar training, and experience qualifications required. If you are contacted for an interview by a County department, you will be informed of the classification and other relevant information. If you choose not to interview for a