Visitor Services & Events Assistant

Overview

The Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum (RJD) seeks a seasonal part-time Visitor Services & Events Assistant (VSEA) to help brand the RJD as an accessible and welcoming site to visit, learn and socialize at by serving as a front desk greeter and contact for private functions.

The VSEA helps brand the RJD as an accessible and welcoming site to visit, learn and socialize at by serving as a front desk greeter and support staff for private functions. The VSEA is the primary staff required to work onsite at the museum on weekends and during scheduled and assigned events, opening and securely closing the museum at each shift.

As an assistant in Visitor Services, they are responsible for greeting and orientating all guests, and running sales for admission and the shop. As an assistant in events, they are part of a team that helps brand the mansion and garden as spaces for private functions, generating earned income that supports the preservation of RJD’s site and educational programming. In the absence of the Functions and Sales Coordinator (FSC), they serve as the point person during assigned private events, such as corporate meetings, weddings and family parties.

They work closely with other VSEA staff and the FSC on rental events. They report to the Functions & Sales Coordinator.

The schedule for this position varies greatly based on the season and demand for events. The VSEA may work anywhere from zero hours to 25 hours weekly at the height of the summer rental and tourist season. Weekend availability is required for this position, and the job is seasonal, from approximately May 1 to October 31. The full job description can be viewed at our website: (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)./

Staff at RJD serve as stewards of an historic building and garden, and as proactive members of the cultural community, helping the museum to respond to the interests and needs of a diverse audience from New Bedford and beyond. Staff members maintain a standard of excellence and connect their activities to the museum’s mission in all they do.

The successful candidate will be personable, highly organized and efficient, and above all, trustworthy and reliable. Excellent communication skills (verbal, written), familiarity with the local area and communities, and an interest in working in hospitality and event coordination is preferred. Proficiency with Google Suite is strongly recommended.

To apply: Email or mail cover letter, resume and three professional references to Chloe Crosby, Functions and Sales Coordinator, Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum, 396 County Street, New Bedford, MA 02740 / functions. RJD is an equal opportunity employer.

$16 / per hour

Built by shipwrights in 1834 for whaling merchant William Rotch Jr., the Rotch-Jones-Duff (RJD) House and Garden Museum epitomizes the “brave houses and flowery gardens” described by Herman Melville in Moby-Dick. Greek Revival in style, it was designed by architect Richard Upjohn, a founder and first president of the American Institute of Architects. 396 County Street was home to three prominent and influential New Bedford families;
William Rotch Jr., 1834 to 1850;
Edward Coffin Jones, 1851 – 1935; and Mark M. Duff, 1935 – 1981. The estate chronicles important chapters in American history when New Bedford had a major influence on the international arenas of commerce, trade, and culture via whaling, and later through textiles. The property encompasses a full city block of gardens and is the only whaling mansion open to the public in New England that retains its original configuration of grounds and outbuildings.

Today this National Historic Landmark offers a variety of cultural programs, changing exhibits, and curriculum-based educational programming serving about 7,000 people annually.

Homepage banner image:
Detail of glassworks by Carrie Gustafson (Mass Cultural Council Crafts Fellow 2011).