Seashore Trolley Museum seeks a self-motivated and reliable individual with experience building and maintaining model railroad layouts as well as project and people management experience to serve as our Model Railroad Building Manager; a full-time, year-round position. This salaried position begins at $52,000/year with the opportunity to join the museum’s health insurance and retirement plans. The start date for this position is flexible but ideally on or around April 22, 2024. If the right candidate is looking for part-time work, we can accommodate a part-time schedule. The ideal candidate will be able to work Wednesday-Sunday.
This position has the overall responsibility of supporting the museum’s vision by managing the brand new Maine Central Model Railroad Building, including the model layout itself, supporting exhibits and displays, overseeing the volunteers supporting these efforts, and coordinating the retail area in the building. This position works towards creating a memorable, educational experience for our members and guests while maintaining our Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence.
The Maine Central Model Railroad is one of the largest HO-scale layouts in Maine. The museum received this donation in 2020 and with thanks to a donation from the Wyss Foundation, the layout is now housed at Seashore Trolley Museum in a building designed and customized to best showcase this beautiful model.
Position duties include:
Model Railroad Maintenance: Cleans and maintains the tracks, equipment, structures and landscape of the layout in preparation for museum guests. Coordinates the planning, designing, and building of the new sections of the layout. Ensures all equipment is in safe, working order. Creates plans and timelines for ongoing maintenance and future layout projects.
Customer Service/Management: Maintains a professional, positive, friendly demeanor with members and guests, vendors, volunteers and fellow employees at all times. Provides excellent customer service and first-rate guest experience. Processes merchandise/ticket sales quickly & accurately with a real-time POS system. Counts money in cash drawer at opening and/or closing accurately. Opens, unpacks and prices merchandise, stocking shelves and back stocking. Provides information and promotes museum membership, special events, and other opportunities. Role models this expectation to all volunteers.
Programming: Schedules school groups and other organizations in the community to participate in programming. Works with each group to develop program of activities during their visit and learning outcomes. Handles all program event logistics, including purchasing materials, set up and clean up, and recruiting volunteers needed to support the program. Works with other museum departments on event logistics as needed. Participates in the event as needed, as an observer, a support to the volunteers, or leading the program and activities. Coordinates regular educational programming in the building by bringing in outside speakers and subject matter experts.
Volunteer Management: Oversees and works alongside volunteers assisting with model layout and building operations. Cultivate and steward volunteer relationships.
Safety and Security: Maintains safe operations by adhering to safety procedures and regulations. Maintains the Model Railroad facility. Notifies the Executive Director of issues and inventory loss as needed.
Facilities & Maintenance: Ensures daily cleaning in restrooms and guest-accessible areas, and weekly cleaning of the staff/volunteer only areas. Notifies Executive Director of maintenance requests where additional museum staff or outside contractors are needed.
The ideal candidate possesses the following:
Decisiveness & Judgment: Able to demonstrate good and ethical judgment in routine, day-to-day decisions; independently make decisions and take action, even in non-routine situations; consider impact of various options when making decisions; use good judgment in deciding whether to make a decision or escalate it to a supervisor for additional consultation; use an awareness of formal and informal decision-making channels to achieve desired results.
Results-Oriented: Able to demonstrate high personal work standards, balancing quality and quantity with a sense of urgency about results; do everything possible to meet goals and deadlines; persist in the face of repeated challenges; accept responsibility for improving the quality, efficiency and outcomes of own work.
Communication – Verbal and Written: Able to practice active and attentive listening skills to verify understanding; adapt communication content and delivery to individual needs; proactively inform others about developments relevant to the team; openly and diplomatically express opinions, even when different from that of others; translate what is heard, observed or assessed into documentation that is accurate, concise, and clearly communicates key information to others with a need to know.
Volunteer Management: Able to manage volunteers from all backgrounds and experiences. Mentoring those who need support, and collaborating with those on events and programming to provide the best experience to our members and guests. Balancing the line of holding volunteers accountable for commitments, appreciating their contributions, the fit between the museum and the volunteer has mutual benefits, and addressing performance or behavioral issues effectively.
Resilience & Flexibility: Able to interpret situations and information objectively when stressed; remain calm and professional in potentially difficult or emotionally charged interpersonal interactions; maintain high productivity in stressful situations; maintain high performance in the face of setbacks or changing circumstances; view failures objectively and rebound quickly; work to clarify situations where information or objectives are ambiguous.
Customer Focus: Able to build strong working relationships with internal (museum members) and external customers (guests); identify unexpressed customer needs and potential services to meet those needs; independently anticipate and personalize communication/approach to fit different perspectives, backgrounds or styles of individuals; prioritize work in alignment with the needs of the customer; use customer knowledge and feedback to improve own work results.
Problem Solving & Analysis: Able to gather appropriate data and diagnose a situation before taking action; separate causes from symptoms; apply lessons learned from others who encountered similar problems or challenges; anticipate problems and develop contingency plans to deal with them; develop and evaluate alternative courses of action.
Strategic Alignment: Able to align own work objectives with the Museum’s strategic plan and objectives; take organizational priorities into consideration when making choices and trade-offs in own work; maintain perspective between the overall picture and tactical details.
To apply, please email cover letter, resume and three professional references to Seashore’s Executive Director, Katie Orlando, at [email protected]. No phone calls or in-person drop-ins please.
New England Electric Railway Historical Society’s Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, pioneered the field of volunteer-sponsored rail preservation worldwide when it was founded in 1939. Guests are treated to rides on our heritage electric railway, aboard trolleys our talented volunteers and staff have restored to their original glory. Hundreds of transit artifacts are on display around our 350-acre campus.
Over 450 volunteers and 14 staff keep our campus running, year-round. Dozens of volunteers are on campus part-time or full-time themselves each day working in our Restoration Shop, on our Railway Operations Crew operating the trolleys for our guests, our grounds and maintenance team, crews maintaining our track, signals, and overhead infrastructure. Seashore Trolley Museum is an inspiring place to work, and we hope you consider applying to be part of our team.