What are the responsibilities and job description for the Museum Collections Specialist position at City of Mesa, AZ?
Description/Duties
First review of applications will be Monday, November 10, 2025, and weekly thereafter as needed.
A Museum Collections Specialist performs a variety of specialized assignments involving the care and documentation of a diverse collection of museum specimens. Duties may include the management of one or more subject areas of the collection. The Museum Collections Specialist is responsible for handling, preparing, installing, transporting, and storing specimens according to accepted museum principles; recording information concerning specimens and inventory; maintaining files; photographing and digitizing the collections; monitoring expenses, maintaining collection storage areas; performing minor conservation of specimens. Compliance with state and federal rules and regulations including reports. This class indexes, catalogs and numbers specimens, writes condition reports, performs data entry, scans photographs and enters them into the database, edits catalog information to summarize and standardize terminology, records information concerning specimens and inventory, and produces reports from a computerized database. The Museum Collections Specialist also assists with updating policies and procedures, training and supervising volunteers, working with donors, and packing/unpacking loaned objects. This class performs related duties as required.
The part-time classification has been designated as a non-classified, non-merit system, at-will position. The Museum Collections Specialist is supervised by a Museum Curator who reviews work through conferences, meetings, and results achieved. This class is FLSA nonexempt.
Please refer to the link below for the full job description and additional information regarding assignments, preferred qualifications, and essential functions.
Qualifications & Requirements
Employee Values: All employees of the City of Mesa are expected to uphold and exhibit the City’s shared employee values of Knowledge, Respect, and Integrity.
Minimum Qualifications Required. Any combination of training, education, and experience equivalent to graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree in a field related to Paleontology, such as Biological Sciences, Geological Sciences, Anthropology, or another closely related Natural Science field. Good (1 - 3 years) museum collections or equivalent experience.
Preferred/Desirable Qualifications.
Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Master’s Degree. Experience working with fossil preparation and natural history specimens, including paleontological, biological, and geological museum collections. Experience with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), 3D scanning technologies, databases, or equivalent is also preferred.