Description

Employment Type:  Full-time, Non-exempt, Termed (1.5 years)
Reports to:  Exhibitions Manager
Location:  Wisconsin Historical Foundation, Madison, Wisconsin
This is an in-person position and will require on-site collaboration and research four to five times a week.

Introduction

The Wisconsin Historical Foundation exists to advance the mission of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

• Mission: The Society connects people to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories.
• Vision: Enriching and transforming lives through unparalleled access to history.
• Values: We believe that increasing the public's knowledge of history has profound societal, cultural and economic benefit.

As a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization, the Foundation receives grants and private contributions benefiting the Society and administers the membership program. A major initiative is the Campaign for a New Wisconsin History Center for which the Foundation engages a qualified team for planning, transition, and initial and ongoing operations.

Position Purpose
The Coordinator supports the Society’s Division of Library, Archive, and Museum Collections projects and is a key collaborator in the development phases of the Wisconsin History Center project. Reporting to the Exhibitions Manager, the Coordinator supports the research, documentation, acquisition, and interpretation of Society collections, and other collections necessary for the History Center project. Specifically, the Coordinator supports History Center gallery teams, and other involved departments, and ensuring, that deliverables and deadlines are met by History Center workgroups.

The Coordinator is responsible for a variety of exhibit, collections, and research tasks including contributing to exhibit content, historic asset documentation and management, rights coordination and tracking, and acquisition activities as required. The Coordinator collaborates with colleagues across the Foundation and Society, particularly the Society’s Division of Library, Archive, and Museum Collections, to fulfill these responsibilities, throughout the development phases of the History Center project.

Primary Duties

• Support all aspects of the History Center gallery process working closely with the Foundation Exhibitions Manager, Society Director of Collections, and individual gallery teams.
• Assist with research including, but not limited to, archival and library research; compilation of biographies, chronologies, object studies; and documentation of historic assets in collections management systems.
• Assist the Exhibitions Manager, Direction or Collections, and individual gallery teams with daily requests necessary to advance completion of the History Center project.
• Develop, communicate, and track detailed documentation pertinent to the History Center galleries, including asset management and maintaining gallery asset matrices, content documents, and analytics.
• Engages, and actively participate, in exhibition design and development, and gallery preparation by working closely with History Center gallery teams.
• Coordinate and facilitate the development of exhibitions and interpretive spaces, by workshopping with History Center gallery teams, and contributing to outcomes and associated deliverables.
• Work with, and develop documents for, contractors and institutional partners related to the History Center.
• Assist with developing processes for Division of Library, Archive, and Museum Collections projects and the History Center project.
• Assist with drafting and producing correspondence, loan forms, and other materials related to collections development and acquisitions. Contributes to the maintenance of physical and electronic collections files.
• Handle artifacts and assists in the physical evaluation and documentation of historic assets.
• Nurture collaboration, respect, and communication across the organization, providing support to staff across Foundation and Society teams including Public
• Services, Library, Archives, Curatorial, Programs & Outreach, Fundraising, and Marketing & Communications.
• Encourage and contribute to an inclusive, rewarding, and inspiring workplace, where constant learning cultivates a sense of belonging across the Society.
• Value an agile working style that supports staff needs, strategic pursuits, and sustainable workloads while modeling empathy, clear communication, and the benefits of changing practices and behaviors in collections management.

Requirements

Qualifications & Commitments

• Dedication to the Foundation’s and Society’s missions and core values:
  o Embrace a spirit of service.
  o Engage our expertise.
  o Spark enthusiasm.
  o Cultivate inclusion.
  o Exceed expectations.
  o Think big and grow with purpose.
• Enthusiasm for history, storytelling, historical collections, education, and learning.
• Possess strong research skills and abilities with archival and historic collections and sourcing and selecting materials for gallery inclusion.
• Knowledge of best practices and familiarity with collection or digital asset management programs and/or other inventory management systems, such as Argus.
• Exhibit superior project and time management skills with proven initiative and follow-through.
• Possess a high attention to detail and organizational ability.
• Ability to prioritize tasks and adapt to changing priorities, perform multiple tasks simultaneous in a fast-paced environment, and work effectively under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Ability to think imaginatively, problem solve, and deal diplomatically with changes and challenges.
• Ability to work independently and take individual initiative, as well as collaborate effectively and contribute positively to a team environment.
• Exercise appropriate and timely escalation of issues.
• Possess strong critical thinking and analytical skills.
• Ability to synthesize and organize complex information.
• Excellent communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills.
• Familiarity with standard office practices and systems including Microsoft Office software suite (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Teams), Google office suite applications, Zoom, and Asana.
• Basic understanding of a/v equipment, (video projectors, digital audio recording devices, photo, and video cameras), and image and video editing software applications.
• Typical academic qualifications Master’s Degree in Information & Library Science, Public History, History, or related field; OR a combination of a Bachelor’s Degree and workplace experience.

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. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee should have the ability to receive detailed information through oral communication and have close visual acuity to prepare and analyze written communication.