The Maintenance Staff Team Member will report to the Operations Manager. The successful candidate will work closely with department members in Maintenance, Engineering, and Operations to ensure that maintenance of the Center’s buildings and infrastructure. The position is permanent and full-time.

Job Description

• Salary: $16/hour
• Hours: 40 hours per week
• Duration: Permanent, employed at will
• Location: On-site at 15 West 16th St., New York, NY 10011

Main Duties

Maintenance staff’s primary responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Sweep the 16th street and 17th street sidewalks. 
• Vacuum mats/carpets within 16th street lobby, coat check area and orientation theater, 
• Sweep, mop, vacuum, buff all floors within public areas 
• Clean all glass within all public areas 
• Clean/disinfect and service all restrooms 
• Pick up boxes and recycle 
• Mop all stairways once a week 
• Clean/disinfect elevators 
• Vacuum entire Auditorium when need be 
• Pick up the garbage and pass vacuum in all the office space 
• Clean/disinfect galleries, such as sweep, mop, and clean glass in galleries A, B, C and D and sculpture garden (every Friday) 
• Clean/disinfect Engineer offices, Conservation Lab, digital Lab, Micro Film offices and AV office 
• Clean/disinfect the Reading Room tables and computers Disinfect 
• Monitor and clean all exit egresses on daily basis 
• Sweep and mop all the stacks and pick up garbage once a week 
• Multiple various jobs (paint, moving furniture, etc.) 
• Setup and breakdown all events and programs and provide proper cleaning of restrooms 
• Shovel snow from sidewalks and sprinkle salt on surface 
• Identify and report possible leaks 
• Fix minor plumbing issues 
• Move heavy equipment and furniture

Experience

Prior experience on a maintenance team, either in offices or cultural organizations, is required. Proven capacity to work well with other maintenance team members.

Essential Skills

• Ability to work independently throughout the building, and see maintenance projects through to completion.
• Interpersonal skills to interact with employees of the building and the public in a pleasant manner.
• Attention to detail to ensure that all jobs are completed in an exemplary manner and any potential hazards or warning signs of problems are not overlooked.
• Physical stamina to handle a full shift of being active and working on the building
• Commitment to working in and fostering a safe environment.

Preferred Skills

Experience with simple plumbing and/or carpentry tasks.

Company Benefits

• 15-23 Federal and religious holidays off each year in addition to generous vacation, sick and personal days. 
• Full health benefits (medical, dental and vision) with minimal employee contributions. 
• Free Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability coverage. 
• Flexible Spending Account and Commuter Benefits. 
• Generous 403b retirement benefits.

Review of applications will begin immediately. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Please send your cover letter, resume, and contact information for two references to Natalie Frenkel, Operations Manager, at to nfrenkel@cjh.org, or phone Natalie at 212-294-8331.

A tour consists of a visit to the exhibitions of the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (Yeshiva University Museum has a separate docent program) and the public areas of the Center (usually the Leo & Julie Forchheimer Auditorium, the Paul S. & Sylvia Steinberg Great Hall, Lillian Goldman Reading Room, Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, and the Shelby White & Leon Levy Collection Management and Conservation Wing). Guides who lead these tours are knowledgeable about the facilities and the mission and scope of activities of the Center for Jewish History, and they are able to describe the exhibitions in the Partner’s exhibition cases. Tour guides give approximately 1 -2 tours each month and attend periodic training sessions on new exhibitions.

Ushers work at special events held at the Center. They take tickets and give out programs and may perform other tasks, as needed. The usher is welcome to stay and view the performance. Most events requiring ushers are held weekday evenings or on Sundays. Each usher is responsible for being available 45 minutes before the event to several minutes after the event begins. They may occasionally be asked to stay after the program to help with a reception or book sales.

Office assistants work in various offices throughout the Center. Tasks may include coordinating mailings, addressing and stuffing envelopes, filing, answering phones and making phone calls, handling RSVPs to events, data entry and related office tasks. Some offices are seeking researchers and assistants for special projects. The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute needs volunteers who are experienced with family history research to assist patrons. Librarians may need volunteers to catalog books and related tasks. Required hours are worked out with the individual departments.

The Center maintains a list of translators who are willing to help Reading Room and Genealogy Institute patrons translate documents. Staff members give the name of the patron to the translator, who then reaches out to the patron to make arrangements. Translations may be done at the Center or remotely. Translators are needed in almost any language, but the most commonly requested translations are from Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and German.