Job Opportunities in United States

Job Category: Fulltime Regular
Exempt Overtime Eligible: Exempt
Benefits Eligible: Benefit Based

Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. We thrive on finding and cultivating talented people who are passionate about what they do. Join us and be a part of the diverse Caltech community.

Job Summary

Palomar Observatory (http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/), an operating arm of Caltech Optical Observatories (COO; http://coo.astro.caltech.edu/ ) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech; http://www.caltech.edu ) has an immediate opening for a Public Event Coordinator. The successful applicant will oversee the on-site support and coordination for public, educational, and media-related events and communications at/from Palomar Observatory. This position will primarily work on-site at Palomar Observatory, but the selected applicant will report directly to and coordinate extensively with the COO Director's Office at the Caltech campus in Pasadena, as well as coordinate with the Palomar Observatory site management.

This is a full-time, benefit-based position working a standard 40 hours per week.

Essential Job Duties

The successful applicant will:

• Administer the scheduling and implement support for public events, including public tours, educational events, and media projects hosted at Palomar Observatory in coordination with Observatory site management and the Director's Office.
• Direct the recruitment, training, and activities for the Palomar Observatory volunteer docent program in support of these public events.
• Administer COO & Palomar Observatory Education and Public Outreach (EPO) and development initiatives, public events, and private initiatives as appropriate.
• Team with the COO Director's Office in educational and/or outreach strategic planning and scheduling for public programs and initiatives.
• Lead the development and implementation of social media communication strategies on behalf of the observatory, in particular looking to expand our audience to young adults.
• Other EPO and development-related activities as assigned by and/or negotiated with the COO Director's Office.
• Other duties as assigned, including working holidays, evenings, and weekends as needed.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience, plus three years of experience in education, public engagement, or development activities.
• Familiarity with astronomy, physics, astronomical imaging, or closely related disciplines.
• Solid command of basic office computer skills including productivity applications (e.g., Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Cloud) and different social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, You Tube, X/Twitter).
• Must be able to work at altitude of 5600 feet (Palomar Mountain).
• Must work holidays and weekends as assigned.
• Must work evenings as assigned.
• Must pass pre-employment physical and be able to lift up to 30 pounds.
• Pass a pre-employment background check.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in astronomy/astrophysics, education, humanities, communication, liberal arts and sciences, or closely related discipline.
• Four (4) or more years of experience in education, public engagement, or development (fundraising) activities.
• Effective communication and presentation skills, including a demonstrated portfolio of institutional social media communications.
• Experience developing and curating public content in a school, museum, or related educational context.
• Experience and facility with textual, graphical, image, and video content in printed, display, and web-based contexts.
• Additionally, a working knowledge of Spanish, and demonstrated experience interacting with the Spanish-speaking public would be an asset in this position.

Required Documents

• Resume
• Cover Letter

To be considered for this position please visit our web site and apply on line at the following link: https://hr.caltech.edu/work/job_openings

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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