Program Assistant I Jobs

POSITION DESCRIPTION
The Program Assistant I provides coordination and administrative support for Art Center programs and projects, overseeing daily operations, including the scheduling and coordination of programs, providing excellent customer service to the public, community groups, and other City departments as directed.

About the Palo Alto Art Center:
The Palo Alto Art Center is your place to see and make art, activate your creativity, and expand your community. Created by the community, for the community in 1971, the Palo Alto Art Center provides an accessible and welcoming place to engage with art. We engage approximately 150,000 people every year through a diverse range of programs, including free-admission exhibitions, classes and workshops for all ages, school programs, and special events throughout the year. The Art Center staff work toward a vision in which art is embedded in the community, a part of everyday life. Our values:

• Seeing and making art is transformative.
• Creativity and innovation inform our public offerings, thinking, and work as an organization.
• Collaborative partnerships and practices are essential for fostering a more interrelated, vibrant City.
• Art is essential for individual and community vitality.
• Respect for one another builds greater understanding, stronger relationships, and community.

Every Art Center staff and volunteer knows and understands their roles in upholding the mission, values, and vision. We operate with the highest level of professionalism on behalf of the Palo Alto Art Center, the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation, and the City of Palo Alto, with whom we share a long-term commitment to serve residents of and visitors to our diverse City.

Our tenets of organizational culture: inclusive, respectful, collaborative, and strategic.

Our key strategies in our strategic plan (adopted 2018) include: heighten community engagement; increase financial sustainability; increase leadership capacity.

The Palo Alto Art Center is owned and operated by the City of Palo Alto as a program of the Division of Arts and Sciences, Department of Community Services. The Palo Alto Art Center Foundation was founded in 1973 and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides financial support and advocacy to the Art Center through a public/private partnership that allows us to enhance our reach and impact in the community.

This position is represented by Service Employee International Union position (SEIU).

Compensation (SEIU): Comprehensive compensation plan, to learn more click HERE.

This position is .75FTE, 30 hours per week, and requires working Saturdays.

Benefits Information:
Employer contributions towards medical, dental and vision will be pro-rated based on the number of hours worked. Additionally, v acation accruals are also pro-rated and will be determined on the number of hours worked.

Essential Duties

Essential and other important responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Facility and Operations Management:

• Supports the Program Assistant II in all facility related issues; reports identified issues to PWD Facilities Management in a timely fashion and ensures facility issues are resolved as soon as possible to prevent unsafe conditions.
• Supports the Program Assistant II in updating all staff on safety and emergency procedures for fire, earthquake, weather emergencies, disruptive persons and other potential threats to ensure the welfare and safety of visitors, staff and artwork.
• Listed on alarm call-out list, to respond to off-hour alarm issues.
• Monitors and manages security systems, including alarm, keys and card keys, and trains all staff in security system procedures to provide a safe and secure environment for visitors and staff.
• Conducts daily building walkthroughs and monthly building inspections to ensure the safety of visitors, staff and artwork.

Visitor Services

• Greets visitors to the Art Center and directs visitors to appropriate program areas to assist visitors in finding programs efficiently, and to support and create a positive visitor experience.
• Addresses all visitor information inquiries and communications for Art Center programs, directing to appropriate staff member as needed, to provide excellent service to those interested in Art Center programs and services.
• Actively engages visitors in a variety of avenues, including the visitor surveys, to gather visitor feedback and demographics to continually improve the visitor experience and provide data for grant applications.
• Operate as a member of the visitor services team, supporting a productive and efficient work environment, to provide a positive and high-functioning work environment.
• Monitors exhibit spaces to ensure that the safety of the artwork on display, and that it is in good condition day-to-day, and that visitors enjoy their opportunity to learn from the exhibits and use the space appropriately.
• Registers guests in classes, workshops, and summer camps in person, by phone, and supports online registration and provides point-of-sale services.

Facility Rentals:

• Provides tours of rental facilities to the public.
• Reserves spaces for customers in the City of Palo Alto’s Civic Rec reservation system, coordinating contracts and taking deposits and payment.
• Schedules House Managers for facility rentals as needed.
• Coordinate the hiring, training, onboarding, and evaluation of House Manager staff.
• Follows up with renters after events, providing survey information and regularly reviewing that evaluation feedback with the Art Center staff.
• Provides information to renters about Art Center facility rental procedures and regulations.
• Responds to inquiries about facility rentals at the Art Center, providing rental rates, information.
• With Program Assistant II, supervises team of House Managers to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of rentals, special events and other Art Center programs.
• Helps to promote facility rental opportunities in the community.

Administration:

• Oversee administrative budgets, coordinating contracts and payments as needed.
• Coordinate tracking of monthly performance measures to identify program trends, measure program success and to provide required data to grantors and other agencies.
• Support time card submissions.
• Coordinates cash handling procedures, daily cash handling reporting requirements, regular deposits.

Program and Project Support:

• Provide administrative support to programs and special projects as needed.

Special Events

• Support special events including the Palo Alto Clay & Glass Festival and the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch, ensuring internal and external stakeholders are supported and adhering to the rules and regulations of the City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Art Center.

For full job description, please click HERE .

Minimum Qualifications

Sufficient education, training and/or work experience to demonstrate possession of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities which would typically be acquired through:

• Equivalent to graduation from high school and 3 years of progressively responsible administrative experience working with programs or projects. Completion of 2 years of college may substitute for 1 year of work experience.

More than one position(s) may be filled from this posting.

The City of Palo Alto is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City will provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.