Purpose of Role

The Supervisor of Visitor Education & Engagement for the Obama Presidential Center will work closely with internal teams to ensure smooth operations and facilitation of visitor experiences across the campus. This role will support the Manager in coordinating guest experiences and deploying museum programming, including campus tours and exhibit interpretation, as well as escalating priorities and maintaining workflows in alignment with the Obama Foundation’s goals.

As the Supervisor of Visitor Education & Engagement, you’ll be reporting directly to the Manager of Visitor Education & Engagement.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Day-to-day shift leadership of public-facing staff in Museum and campus spaces, promoting an inclusive and welcoming environment aligned with Obama Presidential Center mission and goals.

• Work closely with the Manager of Visitor Education & Engagement to ensure guests receive a world-class experience throughout Museum exhibits and spaces across the campus. 

• Oversee a fast-paced work environment including tours, exhibit narratives, and guides. 

• Collaborate with internal teams to maintain a working knowledge of Museum programming and displays to communicate up-to-date information in delegating tasks and facilitating storytelling with public-facing staff. Serve as a tour guide or interpretive staff, as needed. 

• Model and facilitate integration of inclusivity, accessibility, and multi-modal learning styles into tours and interpretive practices. 

• Perform other duties as assigned. 

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Serve as a key liaison between Museum staff and Visitor Engagement staff, emphasizing a welcoming environment for guests and streamlined service while bringing exhibits and narratives to life for visitors. Monitor spaces to ensure inclusive and accessible assets, including but not limited to exhibit displays and environments, signage and wayfinding, and storytelling.

• Support the Manager of Visitor Education and Engagement in designing and facilitating curriculum for gallery interpretation, storytelling, and tours in alignment with the Obama Presidential Center mission. 

• Ensure coordination between internal teams including but not limited to Visitor Services staff and Security staff for a cohesive and welcoming environment that also ensures guest safety.

• Facilitate training and resource access for staff, including the use of digital resources within exhibits.

• Assist in the scheduling and guidance of Visitor Education & Engagement staff facilitating museum tours and gallery guide experiences. Adjust staffing schedules to align with seasonal fluctuations and special requests, and provide back-up support as needed.

• Promote an inclusive and welcoming environment, emphasizing customer service across Museum and campus spaces.

Required Qualifications

• Commitment to an inclusive, accessible, and diverse work environment; ideally experience in leading this environment in a customer-centered space, cultural institution, or an educational setting. 

• Interest or experience in a public-facing role with accountability for mission-oriented goals in a fast-paced environment.

• Demonstrated knowledge of public speaking and/or team leadership across multiple audiences.

• Interest or knowledge of history, social science, political science, community engagement, or related fields is a plus.

• Flexibility of hours including but not limited to early morning, late night, weekends, and holidays across campus in both indoor and outdoor environments. Ability to work out of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. 

The salary range for this role is between $79,040 and $98,800. 

This role will be required to be onsite five days per week, which may include weekends, evenings, and holidays.

Foundation Values

The Foundation Values are Courage, Empathy, Integrity, Accountability, Community, Inclusivity, Pragmatism, Resilience, Imagination, and Hope.

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! Studies have shown that marginalized communities - such as women, LGBTQ+ and people of color - are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. The Obama Foundation is dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace that fosters a sense of belonging – so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at [email protected] if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.