Position Announcement: Executive Director

The Laurel Historical Society, a small community history organization in Laurel, Maryland, seeks a energetic, creative, and goal-oriented leader to serve as Executive Director.

About the Laurel Historical Society:

The Laurel Historical Society (LHS) operates the Laurel Museum in an 1840s mill workers building which is owned by the City of Laurel. The LHS works to preserve the cultural and historical heritage of Laurel. Its holdings include a substantial collection of artifacts, photographs, documents, and ephemera related to the history of Laurel. The Laurel Museum has an exhibit which changes each year, a research library, Diven’s Den (an interactive discovery area), and a museum shop. The LHS holds approximately 10-15 programs a year, including two STEM-based summer camps. Strong partnerships within the community are vital to the organization.

Job Description:

The primary responsibilities of the Executive Director are the management of the LHS, which includes operation of the Laurel Museum, and the management of the LHS Collection. In conjunction with the Board of the LHS and its Executive Committee, the Executive Director undertakes long- and short-range planning, policy development, budget preparation and monitoring, and development of LHS programs and services. The Executive Director manages a part-time assistant and approximately 60-70 volunteers who serve as docents and on established committees that support the core work of the organization. The Executive Director represents the LHS in the community, participates in events which increase awareness of Laurel history and of the LHS, expands community outreach, and performs duties which foster donation of relevant artifacts and funds to the LHS.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities of the Executive Director:

•                     Supervises Paid and Volunteer Staff: Identifies, assigns, and supervises work of the paid part-time assistant and the volunteer staff. Assures that all are appropriately trained and adequate staffing is maintained to meet the LHS needs and objectives. Creates a congenial atmosphere and environment conducive for recruiting and retaining volunteers.

•                     Financial records, Reports, and Proposals: Performs ongoing daily financial management as well as long-term planning and reporting. Works with the Board of Directors to develop a yearly budget for the LHS. Oversees bookkeeper; works with bookkeeper and treasurer to maintain all financial records and conduct a yearly review.

•                     Planning: Responsible for strategic planning, as well as creating long-term, short-term, and annual goals and objectives for the organization.

•                     Exhibits: Works with the Exhibits Committee to develop and implement exhibits for the Laurel Museum and off-site venues.

•                     Collection: Works with the Collections Committee to ensure items donated to the LHS are appropriately reviewed, accessioned, conserved, preserved, and cataloged.

•                     Community Outreach: Develops programs, community activities, and appropriate meetings which further the mission of the LHS and benefit the community

•                      Website, Promotion and Publicity: Promotes LHS and Museum events and activities. Keeps website current.

•                     Membership: Works to increase membership numbers and member benefits, and maintains LHS member records on PastPerfect.

•                     Development: Sets goals for all major fundraising efforts, tracks totals, and reports to appropriate committees. Works with special event committees (e.g. Gala, Holiday House Tour) to create sponsorship levels as well as solicit and process donations.

•                     Grants: Identifies grant opportunities and works to develop government, non-profit, and foundation grants to support the operations of the LHS. Responsible for appropriate monitoring of grants and required reporting.

•                     Records: Keeps electronic records in an orderly and accessible system and monitors regular file back-up. Maintains hard-copy files in an organized manner.

•                     Facilities, Supplies and Equipment: Coordinates maintenance of the museum building, grounds, and equipment, and provides for safe and reliable operation of the Laurel Museum. Maintains adequate supplies for LHS and Museum operation within budget parameters.

•                     Museum Operations and Visitor Services: Regularly meets with Assistant to the Director to oversee coordination of all Museum functions and services. Provides oversight and support as needed to the Assistant, who schedules group tours and coordinates volunteer staffing for regular open hours as well as special tours and events. May conduct some tours and educational programs. Maintains records related to utilization of the Museum.

•                     Museum Shop: Provides final oversight on shop purchases, timing of shop activities, and setting of prices for the shop.

•                     Professional Development: Participates in educational activities and museum associations to keep abreast of the latest development in small museum and historical society management.

Skills and Expertise Required:

•                     Supervisory skills, especially as relevant to a volunteer staff, financial, and administrative management of an organization

•                     Ability to serve as an articulate spokesperson for the LHS

•                     Experience in development and fundraising, including foundation and government grants as well as corporate and private donations; demonstrated ability to develop partnerships and identify creative solutions

•                     Financial record-keeping skills

•                     Knowledge of Museum Professional policies, issues, and strategies

•                     Familiarity with PC environment and knowledge of the following applications: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, PastPerfect, QuickBooks, and Dropbox; knowledge of  G Suite helpful

•                     Adept at Social Media, especially Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

•                     Interpersonal and team interaction skills; ability to work with a diverse community and with standing and ad hoc committees

•                     Ability to meet the physical demands of working and transporting materials in an historic building with non-standard stairs

Qualifications:

The Executive Director will have a relevant bachelor’s degree and 3-5 years’ work in a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience, demonstrating ability required to support a non-profit organization and manage service for a small historical society and museum staffed primarily with volunteers.

Location: The Executive Director will be based at the Laurel Museum in Laurel, Maryland.

Salary: This is a full time, salaried position, salary range $40,000-$50,000 DOE, which requires some weekend and evening hours.  The work schedule is flexible and some duties may be performed from home.

Closing date: February 2, 2018

To Apply: Please submit cover letter and resume to: resumes@laurelhistoricalsociety.org with Executive Director in the subject line. No phone inquiries please.

STUDENT HOURLY POSITION – ARCHIVES DIGITIZATION ASSISTANT

AT THE DAVID C. DRISKELL CENTER

The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland seeks a detail-oriented undergraduate or graduate student to serve as an archives digitization assistant for the Driskell Center Digitization Project, a project to preserve, reformat, digitize, and increase access to the Center’s 1,550-object art collection and 150 audio tapes, 90 visual reels, 1,500 photographs, and 3,500 slides. The student would work with the Driskell Center’s archival collection on this project, namely the photographs, slides, and documents. This position is supported in part by a two-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services [IMLS] through its Museum Grants for African American History and Culture program.

This position is valuable for students who are pursuing information science, library & information science, museum scholarship, art history, anthropology, and similar fields as their majors and whose career goal is to work in a library, archive, or museum. This position provides learning experience in using scanning equipment and software to digitize, name, and store archival materials including photographs, slides, and documents, some of which are fragile in nature; researching subjects included in the archive particularly around African American art and artists; and working with PastPerfect, a museum database software. Among the responsibilities are scanning and describing archival material; creating metadata, organizing, naming, and
maintaining digital files created; and working with PastPerfect software. He/she will follow the Center’s evolving digitization policies and procedures which are being created as part of the grant. Training for all equipment and PastPerfect will be provided.
He/she will work closely with and report to the Driskell Center’s Archivist, Stephanie Smith, as well as the Deputy Director, Dorit Yaron, and the graduate assistant on this project.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
• Must be enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Maryland, College Park.
• Must be in good standing academically.
• Must be enrolled in the following departments, or others in related studies: Information Science, Library & Information Science, Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Certificate, Art History and Archaeology, Anthropology, and History (Museum Studies certificate in particular).
• Must be detail oriented and have the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Must be able and willing to handle fragile objects.
• Excellent writing, editing, and organizational skills are a must.
• Knowledge of databases such as MS Excel and Photoshop are preferred.
• Interest in African American art is desired.
Student must be able to work min 8 hours/week to max 12 hours/week. Starting hourly rate is $12 per hour.
The position is available starting January 2018.

PREFERENCES:
Due to the nature of this position which will require training and includes professional responsibilities, a preference will be given to students who are graduating no earlier than May 2019 and who would be available to continue this position throughout the summer of 2018.

TO APPLY:
Please send the following items to Stephanie Smith, Archivist, David C. Driskell Center, slsmith3@umd.edu:
• A cover letter outlining your interest in the position, with a brief description of relevant work projects.
• A resume with a list of relevant courses completed or currently in progress; and your experience with any of the responsibilities mentioned above.
• A list of two professional references (references should include current phone numbers and email addresses).

In the next few weeks, the Education Department at the Tenement Museum will be bringing on a Manager for K-12 Programs to focus on the museum experience for younger visitors. Candidates should use this link to submit an application: https://workforcenow.adp.com/jobs/apply/posting.html?client=tenement&jobId=127277&lang=en_US&source=CC2.