Coordinator for Conservation and Conservation Science Departments

Opportunity Title: Coordinator for Conservation and Conservation Science Departments 

Department: Conservation and Conservation Science 

Reports To: Chief Conservator; Senior Conservation Scientist 

Salary or Hourly: Salary - $46,000 

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES 

Assist supervisors in the coordination of day-to-day administrative matters for conservation and conservation science departments:  

• Keep supervisor(s) informed on the current status of projects, issues, and communications. 
• Prepare agenda and lead departmental scheduling meetings in the absence of the Chief Conservator. 
• Maintain departmental project calendar and ensure conservator's awareness of project deliverables. 
• Assist the Chief Conservator with maintaining the workflow of projects assigned to department staff. 

 

Coordinate and process departmental purchases and help with the creation of contracts for professional services according to web-based financial system protocol, including:  

• Complete institutional training on procurement, bid justification, and contracting. 
• Process purchase requisitions, purchase orders, order receipt acknowledgements and/or invoices, reimbursement requests; allocate expenses to appropriate budget codes.  
• Expediently procure supplies through negotiations with sales representatives, vendors, or online sources. 
• Support the identification and hiring of vendors for contract work, including procurement of required vendor documents and arrangement of site visits. 
• Assist in the preparation of bid justifications and contracts according to institutional guidelines. 
• Route documents through the signatory approval process for purchases, conservation project proposals, etc. 
• Coordinate travel (air, lodging) arrangements for staff or associates according to museum travel policy; audit business travel reports with receipts before submission for approval. 

Liaise with other departments for collection-related concerns involving conservation and/or conservation science, including:  

• Coordinate receipt, distribution, posting, and timely completion of requests for conservation work, including checklist assessments, loan assessments, collection committee reports, damage reports, technical examinations, as well as preventative and remedial conservation procedures. 
• Attend various inter-departmental meetings that involve Museum logistics and scheduling, collaborative projects, etc. Record meeting information and distribute pertinent details to/from Conservator staff. 
• Coordinate art handling orientation/training sessions for new staff, interns, and volunteers in collection-related departments. 

 

Facilitate annual budget development for two departments and monitor budget allocations throughout the year.  

• Coordinate and assist with departmental budget development for two departments; coordinate and assist with budget development for special projects as applicable. 
• Help monitor and reconcile budgets and spending for departments and associated special projects. 
• Maintain accurate financial records and produce reports via Accounting Department statements and separate software and/or web-based applications. 

 

Manage the office for the Conservation Department; provide satellite administrative support for the Conservation Science Department.  

• Serve as front-line representative of departments by handling office communications via telephone and email, greeting and assisting visitors, triaging inquiries for conservation assistance, and helping present tours of the Conservation suite. 
• Maintain files and records for all aspects of lab operation, including written historic treatment files, records of general laboratory operation, and department administration. 
• Distribute mail after daily delivery; receive deliveries of supplies and distribute to recipients after verifying order details. 
• Support onboarding and general orientation of staff, interns, and scholars. 
• Provide support to the educational aspects of the departments (workshops, training sessions, volunteers, interns, grad students, fellows) through coordination of associated programming. 

To perform the job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

REQUIRED SKILLS 

• Computer skills including word processing and experience with all Microsoft Office applications.
• Proficient familiarity with Piction and KEMu collections database or similar application is preferred.  
• Good recordkeeping, filing, and organizational skills. 
• Ability to do multiple tasks, prioritize them, and work with frequent interruptions. 
• Ability to be flexible, dependable, and exude a professional attitude. 
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, decimals, and percentages. 
• Ability to read and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence, and memos.
• Ability to write simple correspondence; generate meeting notes. 
• Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers and other employees. 
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. 

EDUCATION AND /OR EXPERIENCE 

• A college degree is strongly preferred.
• Five years or more of related work experience preferred. 
  
  

PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE WORK ENVIRONMENT 

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. 
Work environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the position. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The employee is occasionally exposed to low risk of electrical shock.