On-Call Gallery Technician

Exploratorium; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 46,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

The Exploratorium is seeking an On-Call Gallery Technician in San Francisco. You will help maintain a safe, engaging gallery by moving exhibits, adjusting lighting, and supporting events. This role requires flexibility to work evenings and weekends.

Responsibilities include daily safety walks, floorplan checks, exhibit maintenance, and collaboration with Custodial Services and Campus Facilities. Prior museum/gallery experience and basic computer skills are expected.

Qualifications

• Two years' museum/gallery or similar experience.
• Basic skills in electrical, lighting, or exhibit care.
• Ability to read floorplans.
• Basic computer skills incl. email, calendar, Docs, Sheets, Jira.

Responsibilities

• Exhibit and furniture moves for exhibitions and events.
• Daily floor walks to check safety, egress, cleanliness.
• Lighting and power changes on exhibits and fixtures.
• Maintain furniture, signage, and plant decor as needed.
• Perform preventative exhibit maintenance and cleaning.
• Assist with emergent needs (bio spills, floods, evacuations).
• Support Shop operations and admin tasks (timecards, tickets).
• Work evenings and weekends; flexible schedule required.

Skills

Electrical

Lighting

Exhibit care

Tools

Jira

Google Workspace

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

On-Call Gallery Technician

On-Call San Francisco, CA, US

2 days ago Requisition ID: 1030

$33.24 To $35.19 Hourly

SUMMARY

The Exploratorium Exhibits group develops, designs, engineers, and produces interactive exhibits, architectural elements, and visitor experiences that foster active engagement and learning, for our museum on the San Francisco Bay and our local community, as well as for partner organizations around the world.

As a member of the Exhibits Department, the Gallery Technician is responsible for providing a safe, compliant, and excellent experience for visitors by maintaining an optimal gallery environment. This work includes placing exhibits according to prescribed plans as well as adjusting lighting and routing extension cords as needed to support floor plan changes. The Gallery Technician responds to Jira tickets and performs daily museum walks to proactively identify and remedy issues with visitor safety, egress, floorplan compliance, and cleanliness.

Gallery Technicians provide essential logistics and installation support for Temporary Exhibitions (Temp Ex), art installations, rental events, and Public Programming. Simultaneously, they serve as support to the Maintenance and Refurbishment project. In this capacity, the Gallery Technicians performs routine preventative maintenance—such as exhibit cleaning and recurring filter changes—while deferring bespoke maintenance and structural repairs to the project’s specialized staff. This role is responsible for the safe transport of exhibits between the shop, storage, and the galleries to meet all project and event deadlines. This position reports to the Director of Exhibit Production.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Exhibit/Exhibition Moves:Performs exhibit and furniture moves for temporary exhibitions, daytime programming, evening events, etc. Performs exhibit moves in service to Maintenance and Refurbishment (moves exhibits to/from galleries, shop, storage, etc.) Packs, tags, and prepares exhibits and exhibit components to support logistics as needed. Guides on-call event, Temp Ex, and other staff as needed in larger efforts to move exhibits.
• Daily Floor Walks: Performs daily inspections of all public areas of the museum looking for safety concerns (egress, spills, trip hazards, etc.), compliance with floorplans (exhibits are in the correct locations, lit well, and tidy), and cleanliness (dust, spills, high-touch areas on exhibits wiped, removal of old tape marks on the floor, etc.). Documents findings and either remedies findings or creates work tickets for appropriate teams, i.e., Custodial Services or Campus Facilities.
• Lighting and Power: Acts as first level ownership on Moves/Adds/Changes to exhibit lighting and power. Hangs, aims, and removes fixtures on existing tracks or in accessible areas.
• Furniture, Fixtures, and Plants: Inspects and performs basic maintenance of floor furniture and fixtures. Deploys a variety of barricades as needed. Interfaces with the plant vendor, maintains awareness of plant locations throughout the museum. Installs, moves, and strikes signage, i.e., Welcome Wall, Monoliths, window clings, etc.
• Maintenance: Performs preventative exhibit maintenance including changing exhibit filters, exhibit cleaning, etc., while deferring bespoke maintenance and structural repairs to the project’s specialized staff. Conducts Tactile Dome inspections, cleaning and minor repairs.
• Emergent Needs: Assists with emergent needs when additional support is needed (e.g., bio spills in the Tactile Dome, flooding on south apron, and building evacuations) and provides additional walks on high attendance days.
• Operations Support: Reports and follows up with safety hazards. Is a certified first aid responder and serves as emergency Tactile Dome back up. Is trained in radio protocol and responds to radio safety calls.
• Shop Operations: Will be assigned a shop job ideally that directly impacts the visitor experience of the shop (tidy areas near the front) but shop jobs do rotate and may change from time to time.
• Administrative Tasks: Accurately and timely records data in timecards, Jira and Filemaker tickets, adds to knowledge base, attends required meetings and trainings.
• Working evening and weekend shifts, and a flexible schedule is required.
• Performs additional duties as assigned

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Two years' experience in a museum, gallery or similar environment, shop experience preferred.
• Basic skills in one or more of the following areas: electrical, lighting, exhibit care.
• Basic ability to read floorplans.
• Basic computer skills, including email, Google Workspace (Calendar, Sheets, Docs, etc.), and Jira for task management (training provided).
• Willingness to obtain and maintain certifications in OSHA-10 General Industry certification and First Aid & CPR Training.
• Some knowledge of fabrication is a plus.
• Ability to be self-motivated and collaborate as part of an effective team.
• Ability to carefully follow oral and written instructions.
• Comfort in taking direction and mentoring from multiple stakeholders and project leadership.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENT

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 individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• This position is based in San Francisco, California with staff expected to work onsite a certain number of days per week based on department requirements
• Able to move from place to place, twist, bend, stretch, kneel, reach, grasp and climb a ladder.
• Able to utilize computer terminal and general office equipment and lift and carry up to 50 pounds short distances.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

This position is open until filled

The Exploratorium is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and values diversity, inclusion and respect. We welcome and strongly encourage applicants from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.