Located on Olympia’s East Bay waterfront, the Hands On Children’s Museum is a beautiful, award-winning cultural destination for families throughout the Northwest and the nation. As a national Museum for All, Hands On served 325,000 annual visitors (pre-pandemic), with one-third of visitors served through a variety of free and low-cost Access programs.

Voted a “Best Place for Kids” for more than a decade, the Museum offers a state-of-the-art LEED Gold facility with 150 indoor exhibits, a half-acre Outdoor Discovery Center and nature play space, Art Studio, MakeSpace for tinkering and inventing, café and gift shop. Our model education programs include camps, workshops, preschool, parenting classes, field trips, community outreach and family support programs.

We are looking for reliable, flexible, and positive team members to join our facilities team. The Exhibit Facilities Maintenance Technician will help ensure a safe and clean environment for guests and staff by assisting with the maintenance, repair, and housekeeping of the Museum’s public spaces, exhibits, and workshop. This is a part-time, seasonal position for April through August, with an opportunity for growth and a future position. Candidates must have weekend availability with a core schedule of Friday through Sunday, 8 hours a day. However, hours may vary depending on museum programming and visitation demands– dependability and flexibility are a must.

Specific Job Duties

• Work with a team to ensure that the Museum’s innovative facility and exhibits are clean, in excellent working order, and welcoming to 300,000+ visitors a year.
• Ensure that the Museum’s creative and interactive exhibits are in excellent condition, operating safely and effectively.
• Be responsible for contributing to the cleanliness, organization and safety of the museum’s shop and inventory of equipment and tools.
• Perform routine repairs, maintenance and safety checks of exhibits and facilities.
• Perform routine maintenance of public spaces including blowing, pressure washing, site inspections, dusting, sweeping, café cleaning, etc.
• Assists with set-up for Museum special events and private after-hours events including facility transitions, furniture moving, pressure washing, and site work.
• May participate in design and fabrication of small Museum exhibits.

• Able to work independently with limited direction in a fast-paced environment with a great deal of flexibility.
• Ability to work in a team setting with a high degree of daily communication required. Must care about and value the viewpoints of the other team members and organizational mission.
• Experience in the construction trades including familiarity with carpentry, painting, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems.
• Experience in facility maintenance highly desired.
• Experience using power tools and typical equipment associated with maintenance and construction.
• Experience and familiarity with small machines, i.e., pressure washers, blowers, string trimmer, etc.
• Computer proficiency with MS Office and web organizational mission.
• Excellent customer service skills required.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent initiative and problem-solving skills.
• Must be able to be on feet, moving about the building for the entire shift. Ability to climb, balance, walk, stoop, and lift and/or move up to 75 lbs.
• Ability to work core schedule that includes weekends and after-hours work.

Workplace Values

Achieving our mission requires great people who actively demonstrate our core values .

When applying, please submit a cover letter, resume, and 3 professional references.

2023 HOCM Employee Benefits include:

Benefits vary by number of regularly scheduled hours worked, length of employment, and employment status.

• Paid Time Off – prorated based on hours worked and years of service – available following 90 days of employment; accrues at a starting rate of .058 hours for each hour worked
• 10% discount in the Museum Store & Play Day Cafe
• Paid Parking
• A fun and supportive workplace and team, plus the opportunity to make a significant impact inspiring children to love to learn!
• Daily access to all HOCM exhibits!

Hands On Children’s Museum exhibits, education programs, and employment are available to all without discrimination.