Collections Assistant

Overview

Collections Assistant

Start date: Monday, May 12, 2025

End date: Friday, Aug 29, 2025

(16 weeks)

Salary: $18/ hour

The Museum of the Highwood is located in a 114-year-old former CPR station in High River Alberta and has been at the heart of the High River and area community for more than 60 years. Our mission is “to preserve and share the unique history of the Highwood area, to excite and enlighten visitors, and to inspire our citizens to build a better future with connection to the past.”

The museum is open year-round, seven days a week, and serves the community through exhibits, programs, interpretation, public events, visitor information, and research services.

We are currently seeking a Collections Assistant for a 16-week (May 12 to August 29, 2025) employment position through the Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations program. This full-time position pays $18 per hour.

The Collections Assistant will be an important part of the museum team and assist in the management and preservation of the Museum of the Highwood’s rich collection of artifacts and archival materials. They will be working closely with the Curator and the Museum Assistant.

This is a unique opportunity for a full-time high school, college, CEGEP, or university student who is in between semesters in their studies and who have an interest in museums and/ or is curious to learn more about how museums care for, preserve, and use the items in their collections to gain hands-on, practical experience working with museum collections.

Duties Include:

• Asist with accessioning new donations to the collection, including completing condition reports, numbering objects, creating new records in the database, photographing, and storing artifacts
• Assist in reorganizing the museum collection space, including repacking objects and labeling storage boxes
• Update object records in the museum’s collection database and creates new database records
• Assist the Curator with installing new exhibits and managing existing displays, including preparing artifacts, building object mounts, staging artifacts, and ensuring display cases and exhibit spaces are clean
• Conduct historical research on artifacts and photographs, and complete research requests made by the public
• Inventory the collection of archival photographs and images, update database records, and digitize photos
• Select historical photographs for the museum’s social media, conduct research, and write captions for social media
• Perform minor conservation on artifacts when required
• Work with museum staff in performing daily museum operations when required

Qualifications/ Skills:

• Some education, training, or experience in history, Indigenous studies, education, museum studies, archeology, anthropology, or a similar field of study is an asset
•  Have a passion for history, museums and heritage, and material culture, and an interest in learning about all aspects of museum and heritage practices and operations
• Strong organizational skills and a keen attention to detail
• Must be patient, flexible, and have strong time-management skills
• Self-motivated and able to work independently and as part of a team
• Excellent written and oral communication skills are required
• Basic computer literacy and knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite are important
• Previous skills in handling artifacts and working with museum database software will be considered assets, but are not required

Applicants for this position must be registered in the online candidate inventory and meet the following eligibility requirements of the Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations program:

• Be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada (non-Canadians holding temporary work visas or awaiting permanent resident status are not eligible)
• Be legally entitled to work in Canada
• Be between 16 and 30 years of age at the start of employment
• Be willing to commit to the full duration of the work assignment
• Will not have another full-time job (over 30 hours a week) during the Young Canada Works (YCW) work assignment
• Are registered as a high school, college, CEGEP, or university student
• Intend to return to full-time studies in the semester following the YCW work assignment

The Museum of the Highwood offers equitable employment opportunities and welcomes diversity in the workplace. Applications for the Government of Canada’s job equality groups are encouraged, and all qualified candidates will receive equal and fair consideration.

Please tell us your story and why you are interested in this position by submitting a cover letter and resume to info@museumofthehighwood.com by April 11, 2025.

Potential candidates will be contacted for further information if required, and an interview.