S'edav Va'aki Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Museum Assistant (Temporary)
Join the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, which champions, promotes, and supports the city's arts and culture community to enhance Phoenix as a vibrant place to live, work, and visit. The department manages an award-winning public art program, provides grants to artists and nonprofit arts organizations, oversees cultural facilities, offers professional development for arts administrators and individual artists, and participates in national studies demonstrating the economic, social, and educational benefits of the arts.
About the role
This full-time temporary Museum Assistant position supports a Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) project at S'edav Va'aki Museum, funded by a NAGPRA grant. The role involves archival research, object inventory, rehousing, data entry, producing NAGPRA summaries, and attending consultations with Native American Tribes. You will work with documentation and artifacts from sensitive archaeological contexts, exercising independent judgment in task completion. Supervision is provided by the Museum Curator.
This temporary position is funded through September 2027, with potential for regular status in a future budget cycle. Temporary employees receive benefits but do not earn city retirement credits or participate financially in the city's retirement program. Current city employees retain their benefits and pension contributions. Temporary positions are "at-will" and not covered under civil service rules.
Responsibilities
- Conduct archival research related to NAGPRA compliance.
- Perform object inventory and rehousing of archaeological materials.
- Complete data entry for collections management.
- Produce NAGPRA summaries, itemized lists, and notices.
- Attend and participate in consultations with Native American Tribes.
- Handle objects from sensitive archaeological contexts, including funerary objects.
- Exercise independent judgment in completing assigned tasks.
Requirements
- Three years of professional museum or public art collection experience, including one year in a specialization such as Collections Management, Educational Programming, Registrar, or exhibit design and implementation.
- Bachelor's degree in archaeology, anthropology, education, fine arts, or a related field.
- Other combinations of education and experience meeting minimum qualifications may be substituted.
- Candidates must pass a fingerprint-based criminal history records check.
- Some positions may require the use of personal or city vehicles; a valid driver's license and acceptable driving record are required for such roles.
Preferred Qualifications
- Three years of paid experience working with museum artifact collections, archaeological artifact collections, or NAGPRA in a museum setting.
- One year of experience working on a NAGPRA project or with NAGPRA compliance.
- One year of experience conducting legacy archaeological records research.
- One year of experience using a collections management database.
- One year of experience working with Hohokam archaeological collections.
- Experience working in a Proficio database.
- Experience consulting with Native American Tribes.
- Experience writing or submitting NAGPRA summaries, itemized lists, or notices.
Pay
$32.46 per hour (grant-funded, pre-determined salary).
Benefits
- Traditional pension with employer and employee contributions.
- 401(a) and 457 retirement plans with employer contributions.
- Choice of medical plans (HMO, PPO, or HSA/HDHP) with a $150 monthly city contribution to a Post-Employment Health Plan.
- Wellness incentive of up to $720 annually.
- Dental, vision, and life insurance options.
- Employer-paid long-term disability.
- Free bus/light rail pass.
- Tuition reimbursement up to $6,500 per year.
- Paid time off: 13.5 paid holidays, 12 vacation days, and 15 sick/personal leave days.
- Paid Parental Leave: up to 480 hours (12 weeks) for eligible employees.
- Federal Student Loan Forgiveness through Savi.