Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

Conservation Technician

Job Title:                    Conservation Technician

Division:                     Conservation, Library Division

Reports to:                 Director of Preservation and Conservation Services

 

Summary of Position

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania seeks two Project Conservation Technicians for work on two consecutive grants. The first, funded by PHMC, is to treat and preserve materials from HSP’s African American collection. This is a 10 week/35 hour contract position. No benefits. The second grant, funded by NHPRC, is to work with the Lippincott Company Records. This is a one year, 40hr/week, full benefits, position. With successful conclusion and positive personnel review for PHMC grant, technicians will be eligible for the one year, 40hrs/week. Total possible employment, contingent on successful completion of contract work, 14.5 months.

 

Number of Positions: 2

 

Specific Responsibilities

  • Mold remediation:
    • Identifying mold on documents within collections
    • Exposing documents in the BookLit UV light unit
    • Vacuuming documents after exposure
  • Perform repairs, clean, and rehouse collections including but not limited to, blue prints, manuscripts, a variety of printed materials, iron gall ink, photographs, and bound volumes.
  • Create custom housing for volumes, certain paper acidic materials, and various artifacts, etc.
  • Bookbinding, book repair, and custom housing for volumes.
  • Work well as a team.
  • Thoroughly document treatments performed
  • Assist in Grant reporting statistics
  • Other duties as assigned

 

Job Requirements

B.A. in an art or science field (or equivalent experience), conservation training and experience required (including knowledge of book and flat paper repair, creating custom archival housings and enclosures); strong organization and communication skills; familiarity with a variety of computer applications preferred. Applicants invited to an interview are required to bring physical examples of work in the field: bookbinding and paper conservation. A qualified applicant must be able to take direction from their supervisor and learn quickly. The applicant must be able to lift 40 pounds and must be able to wear a respirator and Tyvek suit for 3 hours at a time.

 

Salary and Benefits

This is a hybrid position:

Part 1: a contract position for employee to complete 352 hours over 10 weeks (approximately 35 hours/week). Total pay is $7000, no benefits. This is an on-site contractor position and requires work be performed in the building during normal HSP business hours. Upon successful completion of the PHMC grant including positive personnel reviews contractors are eligible to be hired for the NHPRC grant.

Part 2: This is a full-time, 40 hours/week, one-year temporary position, $18/hour, including HSP full benefits.

 

To Apply

Submit the following:

  • Cover letter
  • Current resume
  • List of three references

 

Applications will be accepted via USPS or email. All emailed applications must be a single pdf.

 

Send applications to:

Tara O’Brien

Director of Preservation and Conservation Services

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

1300 Locust Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

tobrien@hsp.org

 

Deadline to apply

Sept 30th 2019

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania seeks two Project Conservation Technicians for work on two consecutive grants. The first, is to treat and preserve materials from HSP’s African American collection. The second is to work with the Lippincott Company Records.