Museum Director at The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums | City of Platteville
Job Title: Museum Director
Job Status: Full-time
Location: Platteville, WI
Salary: $74,922
Description
The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums | City of Platteville seeks an inspirational and mission-driven leader to take the organization to its next iteration. Near-term goals include completing a capital campaign study, planning to prepare for comprehensive restoration of the historic museum campus, and leading a new generation of interpretation about our unique geologic region and 13,000 years of human ingenuity, inquiry, enterprise and development. The Museum will celebrate the 60th year of its founding in 2024.
The Museum Director provides leadership in the strategic vision and management of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums. Platteville region’s top tourist destination, the Museum is a dynamic organization whose place-based interpretation and education areas span the realms of natural history, cultural history, science and industry on a historic three-acre campus.
The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums is a department of the City of Platteville as well as a mission-driven entrepreneurial and membership organization located in the heart of the scenic Driftless Region and the Main Street business district of historic Platteville, Wisconsin. The City of Platteville offers competitive pay and generous benefits for full-time staff, training opportunities and culture of loyalty and pride. The City of Platteville is an equal opportunity employer. The starting salary is $74,922.
The museum campus includes scenic greenspace, pollinator gardens, a real underground mine from the pre-Civil War Lead Rush, a railroad amusement ride pulled by a 1931 mine locomotive, picturesque interpretive structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a heritage collection of 36,000 objects interpreting life in the region from the end of the last Ice Age through the Space Age. The Museum celebrates Wisconsin’s know-how and can-do spirit as expressed in the mining region where Wisconsin and its Badger State identity was born. Since its founding in 1965, the Museum has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, a third of them school children. The Museum is the largest tourist attraction in the tri-state area (Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa) interpreting the cultural heritage of the famous Upper Mississippi Valley mining district. It welcomes approximately 10,000 in-person and ticketed visitors annually and serves an additional 10,000 through online resources including virtual tours and exhibits.
The Director role includes development of strategic vision, business and fund development, site/facility master planning and maintenance, staffing, marketing, operations (including program development, collection stewardship, exhibit development, and visitor services), financial management, volunteer cultivation, and the fostering of relationships between the City of Platteville and two boards of directors — the City of Platteville Museum Board (with ordinance-defined responsibilities) and the Friends of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization).
Mission
The mission of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums is to continue in the pursuit of excellence in the areas of regional and mining history. To achieve that purpose, the museums are commissioned to be a custodian of the past; to interpret the rich lead and zinc mining heritage of the region; as well as to preserve, interpret, and display the artifacts that define Southwest Wisconsin.
Vision
The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums aspire to be the premier mining and regional history museum in the Upper Midwest and to instill an appreciation of the past and a sense of place for the future.
Funding Sources
The Museum is funded through a combination of City of Platteville Tax Levy Support; earned income through general admission, programs, and retail operations; grants; and philanthropic support generated through fundraising events, sponsorships, and donations.
- The City of Platteville Museum Department 2024 operating budget is $372,221 (of which $244,495 tax levy support).
- The Friends of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums 2024 operating budget is $168,122.
Supporting Staff
In addition to the Museum Director, the team includes:
- a full-time Collections and Education Specialist;
- regular half-time specialists in Administration, Visitor Services, and Facilities Maintenance;
- a grant-funded part-time Collections Assistant;
- a part-time Communications Assistant; and part-time seasonal Tour Guides and Public Science/Public History Interns.
- 60+ volunteers who contribute 1,000+ hours annually.
Operations
Operations include offering General Admission, Guided Mine Tours & Train Rides during the months of May through October, plus a range of monthly special programs and events promoting lifelong learning that engage the historic underground mine, beautiful greenspaces, historic architecture, and heritage collections that are the cornerstones of the Museum’s assets. These include:
- School field trip group tours and youth programs such as Young Pioneers and BSA Merit Badge Workshops;
- Popular long-running programs like Heritage Day (42 years) and Historic Re-enactment (25 years);
- Other mission-driven programs like the Mine Day Bluegrass Music and Family STEAM Festival, Wisconsin Science Festival, Holiday Mine Sing, Holiday Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides, and the “Land, Place, and Life: A Driftless Walking Tour”;
- Adult programs including the Winter Lyceum and Friends of the Museums Annual Meeting & Program.
Requirements
GENERAL STATEMENT OF JOB: Provides leadership in the management of a dynamic organization. Directs and participates in fundraising, marketing, development of strategic vision, collection development, general management, financial management and fostering volunteer/board/city relations at the Mining and Rollo Jamison Museums.
EXAMPLES OF WORK PERFORMED:
Section 1. Specific Activities
1.1 Oversees Museum operations including collections management, exhibits, maintenance and educational outreach.
1.2 Cultivates relationships with major stakeholders for the purposes of fundraising, including major gifts, for special projects, operations and development of Museum facilities and exhibits.
1.3 Utilizes traditional, print, social, and other forms of new media to bring visitors to the museum and foster museum growth.
1.4 Collaborates with community partners to build historical knowledge in the Platteville community and the greater tri-state area; develops relationships with community organizations and staff to communicate the museum’s vision.
1.5 Oversees the Museum Department budget including planning, preparing, monitoring and administering; recommends opportunities to grow and develop new revenue streams for the museum.1
1.6 Demonstrates effective staff development and organizational skills in areas such as hiring, coaching, collaboration, problem solving and goal setting. Empowers internal staff to think, act and plan in a collaborative manner.
1.7 Ensures the operations and administration of the Museum are in compliance with City policies, City ordinances, and local, State and Federal regulations.
1.8 Serves as the staff liaison to Museum Advisory Board and the Friends of the Mining and Rollo Jamison Museums.
Section 2. Peripheral Activities
Serves as a member of Emergency Disaster Planning.
Represents Museum Department at Museum Board Meetings.
Serves as a member of the Friends of the Mining and Rollo Jamison Museums Board.
Performs other duties as requested or as needed.
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
Knowledge to solve a wide range of intellectual and practical problems; nonverbal symbolism; comprehend most abstruse concepts. Arithmetic calculations involving fractions, decimals, and percentages. Thorough knowledge of museum work. Knowledge of computers with proficiency in Microsoft365, Adobe design software, and PastPerfect Museum Software.
Ability to report, write, or edit articles for publication. Ability to prepare deeds, contracts, leases, or mortgages. Ability to prepare marketing materials including advertisements, brochures, and websites. Ability to prepare and deliver lectures. Ability to interview, counsel, or advise people. Ability to evaluate technical data. Ability to communicate effectively, verbally or in writing, to answer inquiries from customers and the general public, suppliers/vendors for orders, Federal/State governmental or regulatory agencies such as DILHR for mine and train, fire inspections, and building inspections. Employee will be familiar with details of job to do it reasonably well within six months.
ACCEPTABLE EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in History, Education, Business/Management, plus training in Museum Studies. (Required)
- Master’s degree in Museum Studies or related field. (Preferred)
- Related work experience of at least 3 years, including experience in fundraising, marketing and staff supervision. (required)
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Please submit a current resume, cover letter, and list of professional references to Human Resources Manager Chad Wilson, wilsonc@platteville.org or mailed to:
City of Platteville, Attn: Human Resources, PO Box 780, Platteville, WI 53818,
Application reviews will begin on December 21st, 2023, with interviews tentatively set for January 5th, 2024. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.