Visitor Services Associate

Job Opening: Visitor Services Associate

Employer:

Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (FRM), Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Job Description:

The Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (FRM) is looking for a skilled, energetic person to provide front-line customer service, ticket sales, historical interpretation, guided tours, grounds security, and custodial and housekeeping services.

The Visitor Services Associate position is responsible for conducting tours, selling tickets, performing various safety and security routines, and cleaning and housekeeping work. Since the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has an annual visitation exceeding 100,000 visitors, and daily visitation averaging nearly 400 visitors, the Visitor Services Associate plays a key role in assuring quality visitor experiences, smooth and efficient operations, and clean and safe public areas and workspaces, along with other museum staff and volunteers.

If you have an interest in history and serving the public, apply today to begin your public service career in one of the Commonwealth's busiest, and most high-profile museum

Schedule:

This is a full-time, hourly position for a maximum of 37.5 hours weekly (or 75 hours bi-weekly), Tuesday through Friday and every other Saturday and Sunday (Off Mondays and every other Saturday and Sunday); and some evening work may be required. Scheduling will be coordinated with the Visitor Services Supervisor, Site Administrator, and other staff members. The museum is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM, and Sunday, 12 PM to 4 PM. Start time is 8:30 AM; end time is 5:00 PM. The length of the lunch period is one hour.

Compensation:

Compensation commensurate with education and experience, starting around $17 per hour.

Minimum Requirements:

• At least six months of experience in tour guide or historical interpretation, security, customer service, and custodial work; and such training as may have been gained from a standard high school; or any equivalent combination of experience and training.
• Applicant should have experience comparable in scope and responsibility at a museum, historic site, park, battlefield, or landmark with the mission of preserving and interpreting history.
• Previous experience should include conducting tours and/or giving presentations on historical subjects to the public (guided by PHMC, NPS, and NAI standards).
• Must obtain Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Background Check; Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance; and an FBI Criminal History Clearance.

Duties and Responsibilities

• The Visitor Services Associate (hereafter referred to as VSA) conducts tours of the museum, interprets historic locomotives and rolling stock, and assists with school tours and other large group tours and programming.
• VSA works the admissions desk, including the point-of-sale system, selling tickets, and answering visitor questions.
• VSA provides frontline customer service to our patrons, including answering visitor questions and explaining the admissions and tour options to visitors in a clear and concise manner.
• VSA answers phone calls, taking messages and redirecting calls as needed.
• VSA performs basic custodial and housekeeping tasks (such as vacuuming, the cleaning of restrooms, sweeping and mopping of floors, and the cleaning of windows and surfaces), the dusting and cleaning of exhibits and collections (such as locomotives and rail cars), light grounds-keeping work, and minor maintenance duties.
• VSA assists with opening and closing procedures for the Museum and ensures the Museum is secured properly during each workday assigned.
• VSA patrols the buildings, grounds, and exhibits to protect and guard persons and property from fire, theft, trespass, or other hazards, in accordance with prescribed rules and procedures.
• VSA helps with set-up, tear-down, and security at facility rentals, special events, and other Museum activities, both during normal business hours and after hours.
• VSA adheres to PHMC and RRMPA core values and behaviors and exhibits those behaviors when conducting work duties.
• VSA is responsible to be familiar with PHMC and RRMPA safety rules; to work in a safe manner and following all PHMC and RRMPA safety rules; to immediately report all workplace injuries or incidents to their supervisor, and to immediately report any safety hazards in the work area to their supervisor.
• VSA performs other related duties as assigned by the Visitor Services Supervisor or the Site Administrator.

Additional Notes: (Additional information related to this position)

• The Visitor Services Associate is a non-expempt, regular employee that works 75 hours per pay period.
• The Visitor Services Associate will receive overtime pay or compensatory time for any additional hours worked in a pay period.
• The Visitor Services Associate will submit a bi-weekly timesheet to the FRM business office.
• The Visitor Services Supervisor will conduct an annual Employee Performance Review (EPR) of the Visitor Services Associate in the first six weeks of each fiscal year.

To Apply:

Please email a cover letter and resume with references to Christopher S. O'Brien, Visitor Services Supervisor, chrisobrie@pa.gov. No phone calls, please.