Part Time Museum Technician

Reports to:

Director of Museum TechnologyFLSA Status:
Part Time, non-exempt

Schedule:

Up to 25 hours/week; primarily weekday daytime, with

one regular weekend day (typically Saturday) and occasional

Planet Word (www.planetwordmuseum.org) is an interactive museum that brings language to life with unique, immersive experiences for people of all ages. Nothing like it exists anywhere else in the world. Established by educator Ann Friedman, the museum is housed in the Franklin School, a restored and rehabilitated National Historic Landmark at the corner of 13th and K Streets NW in the heart of Washington, D.C. The museum opened in October 2020 and welcomes more than 100,000 visitors annually, alongside a growing portfolio of public and education programming.

Planet Word’s policy is to provide equal opportunity employment (EOE) to all persons.

Planet Word recruits, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status. Planet Word’s commitment to promoting diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion is clearly reflected in the stories we tell. At Planet Word, we strive to provide a forum for civil discourse and to be a place where community, in all its vibrant diversity, can gather to share the words that bridge differences and forge solutions.

Planet Word seeks a part-time Museum Technician to join the Museum Technology team. Reporting to the Director of Museum Technology, this is a hands-on role where the museum floor always comes first: when an exhibit needs attention, you'll be the one keeping our award-winning interactives in excellent condition and running smoothly. It is a great fit for a capable generalist who likes variety — someone who can solder a cable, follow a device’s power-up sequence, touch up a scuffed panel, reglue a loose laminate, and build a 3-D-printed replacement part, all in the same week.

Breadth and willingness matter more in this role than deep specialization. We are looking for someone comfortable across several of these areas and eager to learn the rest, who takes pride in the appearance of the galleries and the visitor experience. The Museum Technician executes known procedures and routine fixes and escalates anything that calls for diagnosis or vendor coordination to the Lead Technician.

This role gives a developing technician room to grow their skills across exhibit, fabrication, and AV systems in a uniquely creative environment.

• Open, reset, and close exhibitions following daily on/off procedures across nine permanent galleries and several ancillary experiences, all integrated through a Medialon show control system.
• Serve as the sole on-site technician on one weekend day (typically Saturday) — opening galleries, managing resets, and handling first-line exhibit issues independently, escalating to senior staff (off-site) when needed. This is among the role’s most important responsibilities.
• Conduct regular targeted audits of exhibit condition and function on a set schedule, checking elements for wear and gradual changes or drift in performance and calibration, and addressing or escalating any issues you find.
• Clean and maintain interactive exhibit hardware — touchscreens, projector lenses, headphones, and surfaces — and keep galleries presentable through cable management and general tidying; manage consumable stock including lamps, filters, headphone covers, and batteries.
• Contribute to the organization and upkeep of back-of-house technical spaces: workshop, control room, and storage.
• Document exhibit issues as they occur (what failed, what was observed, what was tried, and the outcome) so recurring problems…