The Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library seeks to hire for the position of Assistant Director. The Assistant Director, reporting directly to the Center’s President & Head Curator, is responsible for coordinating and managing key aspects of the Center’s administration and operations, while also leading project-based work on themes connecting cartographic collections and geographic visualization to present-day issues on topics such as urban studies, community history, and the digital humanities. Successful candidates will have both a demonstrated record of organizational skill in managing projects at varying levels of complexity, as well as a vision for developing innovative, research-driven content for public audiences that demonstrates a vital engagement with contemporary issues.

The Assistant Director will supervise staff in the Center’s CIRCLE working group (Collections, Interpretation, Research, Community Learning, and Exhibitions). Together with the Director of Education, the Assistant Director will comprise the President & Head Curator’s senior staff. With this senior staff, the Assistant Director leads on budgeting and personnel issues, and the Assistant Director oversees the direct administration of budget planning and reporting. The Assistant Director will facilitate relationships with key staff in the Boston Public Library, and will speak about the Center’s collections, programs, and activities as a whole in front of a variety of audiences and constituencies.

The Assistant Director will also work with the President & Head Curator and Development Coordinator to develop long-term strategies around grant funding and organizational capacity-building. The ideal candidate will demonstrate an ability to work across an entire project’s lifecycle, from conceptualization and narrative, to funding and management, direct engagement with content (in written, visual, computational, installation, practice, or other formats), and promotional activities. The Center will also support the Assistant Director in developing their own portfolio of creative and intellectual outputs.

Excellent planning, organizational, and interpersonal skills are a key requirement for this position, together with an ability to work flexibly with a variety of digital tools. The ideal candidate will be a creative thinker and problem solver: someone who is highly motivated to continuously improve internal systems and processes in their management of operations. These same skills should be demonstrated not only for internal operations but also for project development, execution, and planning for strategic growth of the Center.

Required qualifications and skills

• Bachelor’s degree
• Graduate degree in one of the following areas:
  • A master’s degree in library and information sciences, human geography, urban studies, planning, public history, museum studies, environmental studies, GIS, data science, or digital humanities
  • A business administration degree or the equivalent with a focus in nonprofit or cultural sector management
  • A PhD in a field related to the history and/or geography of the United States
  • In exceptional circumstances, a candidate may demonstrate a record of leadership, organizational, and creative skills as a substitute for an advanced degree
• A demonstrated record of at least 3–5 years in operational management or project management, in an institution such as a university department, municipal agency, nonprofit organization, cultural organization, or similar setting.
• Strong research, writing, and communications skills
• Supervisory experience
• Demonstrated knowledge, experience and expertise with some aspect of the Center’s broad portfolio of topic areas, including (for example) historical geography, museum and library collections, urban and regional studies, and community history.

About the LMEC

The Leventhal Map & Education Center is an independent, self-governing nonprofit organization in a long-term strategic relationship with the Boston Public Library. The Center stewards a quarter million geographic objects in the Library’s collections, and works to make them freely available to the public for research, interpretation, and engagement. The Center’s collections range from fifteen century atlases to modern-day geospatial data sets. The Center creates original exhibitions hosted in its gallery space at the Central Library in Copley Square and promotes K-12 and public education on topics that explore the relationship between people and places.

As a mission-driven organization, the Center endorses the following values:

• Commit to integrity, excellence, respect in all our relationships, and professional library ethics (including the ALA’s Code of Ethics and the ACRL Code of Ethics for Special Collections Librarians)
• Listen to and include community voices, especially those who have been less represented
• Increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in our organization and our work with others
• Work to advance a more just and equitable society
• Keep our spaces and community services open, welcoming, and “free to all”

The Center places great value on an organizational culture in which staff members have the flexibility and openness to work with a diverse group of audiences, constituencies, and colleagues. Our work is committed to public service and to innovation that fosters positive change in the world.

Remote options and residency requirement

The Assistant Director will be expected to work primarily in-person at the Central Library in Copley Square, at 700 Boylston St. in Boston. After an initial transitional period, 1–2 days of remote work per week may be possible by approval from supervisors.

There is no residency requirement for this position. Leventhal Map & Education Center employees report to the independent Leventhal Map & Education Center and are not covered directly by human resource policies pertaining to the Boston Public Library or City of Boston municipality.

This position is subject to a CORI check.

Start date

Ideally by August 1, 2021; latest by September 15, 2021. Remote work at the beginning of the appointment may be possible in order to facilitate timing around relocation.

To apply

Please submit the following.

• A cover letter of no more than two pages (PDF, DOCX, or MD format)
• A CV or résumé
• A portfolio containing 2–3 examples of independent and/or collaborative projects such as those that include static or interactive maps; photographs; links to websites; published materials such as articles, books, or catalogues; descriptions of events or installations; or similar material. Work produced in collaboration with other groups or organizations is encouraged and appropriate, so long as the candidate has played a lead role in the project; in such cases, please indicate the nature of your role. (PDF, DOCX, or MD format; links to stable URLs of projects are acceptable for inclusion in this document.)
• A list of 3 professional references, including telephone numbers and email

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position will remain open until filled. For full consideration, please submit application materials by June 28, 2021.

Application closed

For more information

Please contact info@leventhalmap.org with questions about this vacancy.