Employment Opportunities

The Center for Jewish History is home to five partners—American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The partner collections total more than five miles of archival material and span nearly a thousand years of history. When the Center opened its doors as the new "Library of Congress of the Jewish people" 16 years ago, it made a commitment to preserve the treasures that live within its walls and make them accessible to scholars, students, and diverse audiences. The Center relies on philanthropic support to do this work.

The Center is currently looking to fill the following position/s:

• Academic Program Coordinator

  Responsibilities

  • Oversee the Center’s fellowship program, serving as liaison with current fellows, arranging research seminar, supporting the application and selection process (including promoting CfPs, managing fellowship submissions, liaising with committees overseeing fellowships), and staffing the fellows’ professional development program.
  • Manage grants associated with the fellowship program.
  • Conceive, arrange logistics for, and staff Center-based academic programs and initiatives.
  • Assist in publicizing and shaping a communications strategy for academic programs with Center staff.
  • Work with other members of the CJH programming staff to plan a yearly calendar of programs, as well as liaise with partner programming staff to coordinate and collaborate on events. 
  • Coordinate the work of the CJH Academic Advisory Council, maintaining email correspondence, scheduling meetings in spring and fall, and keeping minutes.
  • Track grant requirements and reporting deadlines, and contribute to the drafting of reports and applications.
  • Help frame Center’s continuing education program, with possibility to develop and teach courses in Jewish history and related themes. 

  Qualifications

  • Ability to envision, direct, and manage a cohesive academic programming agenda
  • Excellent collaboration, communication, problem solving, planning, prioritizing and organizational skills.
  • Experience in event programming.
  • Ability to work with diverse audiences.
  • Excellent oral and writing skills.
  • Excellent organizational and scheduling skills to assist with grant applications and management.
  • Excellent grasp of academic culture.
  • Excellent knowledge of the field of Jewish history.
  • Graduate degree (Ph.D.) preferred.
  • Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment.

  The Center for Jewish History is committed to diversity and inclusion. Qualified individuals who bring diverse perspectives to the workplace are especially encouraged to apply.

  Please submit cover letter, resume and salary requirement to Jordana Renick at jrenick@cjh.org.

  No phone calls, please.

• Senior Manager for Public Services

  The Center for Jewish History seeks a Senior Manager for Public Services to take a leading role in increasing the accessibility of and advancing public engagement with the collections. The Senior Manager will join a dynamic team of colleagues dedicated to collaboratively advancing the Center’s shared services model and maximizing discoverability of collections that total more than 30,000 linear feet of archival materials, 500,000 volumes, thousands of art and artifacts, and nearly 50 TB of digital assets.

  The Senior Manager fosters consistent, high-caliber service to both researchers and the five partner organizations. The Senior Manager reports to the Director of Archive and Library Services and oversees all operations in the Lillian Goldman Reading Room and the Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, which are open to the public and together handle annually over 3,500 researcher visits, as well as the Scholars’ Lounge and the David Berg Rare Book Room.

  Responsibilities

  • Ensure excellent service to researchers in a closed stack environment through the management of a team of 7 full- and part-time librarians and archivists. Team management includes providing direction and mentoring staff; training new staff; determining reference desk scheduling; and continually evaluating and fine-tuning workflows.
  • Update, enforce and/or create policies to further professionalize the Center’s access practices and improve researcher’s experience.
  • Engage with school groups, lead instructional sessions for researchers, and guide staff in developing curriculum guides for educators.
  • Collaborate across Center departments and with partners to design, develop, execute, and analyze new services, pilot projects and programs.
  • Support the planning, curation, and implementation of online and physical exhibitions to promote and increase public engagement with collections.
  • Promote and advocate for the work undertaken by the department, including participating in coordinated outreach efforts, special tours, and maintenance of statistics on output.
  • Complete tasks associated with grant-funded projects, including proposing and helping to shape new projects; assisting in determining funding sources; building and controlling all project budgets; and contributing content to narrative and financial grant reports.
  • Contribute to discussions about user experience and the Center’s systems.
  • Determine and monitor spending in the departmental budgets, including electronic resources management.
  • Participate in professional organizations and represent the Center at relevant conferences and other events as appropriate.
  • Handle other mission-driven projects as directed by the Director of Archive and Library Services.

  Required Qualifications

  • Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited library school or similar graduate-level training, such as archival science.
  • Minimum of 2-3 years experience managing staff.
  • Minimum of 2-3 years experience managing projects from planning to completion—preferably in reference, instruction, education, and/or exhibition areas.
  • Minimum of 4 years experience in handling reference inquiries.
  • Familiarity with the current issues and current standards relevant to reference and access services in archives and libraries.
  • Commitment to fostering a collaborative work environment and presenting diplomatic, adaptable and pragmatic approaches to problem-solving.
  • Ability to work creatively in a rapidly changing complex environment, set priorities, and meet tight deadlines.
  • Excellent communication and writing skills.

  Preferred Qualifications

  • Dedicated interest in and awareness of Jewish history.
  • Acquisitions experience.
  • Familiarity with one language represented in the multilingual partner collections, such as Yiddish, Hebrew, German, or Russian.

  The Center for Jewish History is committed to diversity and inclusion. Qualified individuals who bring diverse perspectives to the workplace are especially encouraged to apply.

  Review of applications will begin immediately. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Send cover letter and resume to Rachel Miller, Director of Archive and Library Services, at rcmiller@cjh.org.

  No phone calls, please.

• Assistant to the President/CEO

  The Assistant to the President/CEO will be an enthusiastic self-starter, who is well organized and comfortable with multi-tasking. S/he will be capable of fulfilling a wide range of administrative and executive support responsibilities, and will have experience organizing a dynamic office in a fast paced environment. Attention to detail is a key component of the position. The right candidate will demonstrate ability to weigh competing requests and prioritize tasks, skill for integrating seamlessly into communication flows, and gravitas to negotiate with the Center’s multiple stakeholders while displaying smarts, grace, humor and calm under pressure.

  The Assistant to the President/CEO will support our President/CEO, and will be primarily responsible for strategic relationship management, communications and logistical support, as well as serving as a key liaison for communication with all Center staff, Board of Directors, Partners, and other members of the CJH community.

  Responsibilities

  • Arrange and ensure the seamless run of the day to day schedules of the President/CEO, including ongoing monitoring throughout the day to maintain schedule flow
  • Update all essential logistical information including booking rooms for external and/or confidential meetings and ensuring space is prepared as planned
  • Coordinate and communicate with senior management and team member schedules to ensure monthly management meetings, weekly check-ins and other internal meetings
  • Travel planning: scheduling flights/booking hotels
  • Serve as primary point of contact for the President/CEO to prioritize and escalate issues on a daily and ongoing basis to maximize the use of their time and resolve issues in advance where possible
  • Receive inbound calls for the President/CEO and route the calls appropriately
  • Respond to email traffic and inbound hard copy mail for the President/CEO in order to stay current on matters concerning him, and update calendars as needed
  • Maintain accurate and essential logistical information for meetings (attendees, location, phone numbers, etc.) in advance of travel and add to necessary calendars (including external parties)
  • Prepare and track expenses in a timely manner
  • Act as internal resource and liaison for various operational needs (technology, insurance, security, general office administration, etc.)
  • Head various projects as assigned by the President/CEO
  • Provide support to other members of the Center as directed by the President/CEO
  • Assist Center’s Development team with answering of calls and drafting of correspondence
  • Work closely with the Development team to help with the preparation of fundraiser events
  • Maintain a presence at desk in order to efficiently and expediently respond to the immediate needs of the President/CEO
  • Enter and update contacts into Outlook and occasionally Raiser’s Edge
  • Obtain the necessary information and signatures for documents touching the President/CEO, follow through with tracking to ensure that they are properly processed and/or reach the appropriate party
  • Schedule and plan meetings for board committees, prepare and distribute materials for these meetings
  • Take minutes for quarterly Board and committee meetings and draft official version to be approved by the Board
  • Copyedit documents pertaining the Board and the Center; manage updated versions of documents
  • File and update information on board members

  Required Qualifications

  • 2+ years of executive support or administrative experience
  • Bachelor's degree (or enrollment in an accredited four-year degree-granting institution)
  • Permanent authorization to work in the United States
  • Strong project management and analytical skills; demonstrated ability to take primary responsibility for a diverse number of projects and to complete them in a timely manner with limited supervision.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills
  • Exemplary interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate effectively with culturally diverse staff across teams and partner organizations
  • Proven mastery of Office applications including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint

  Preferred Qualifications

  • Ability to manage multiple tasks effectively with frequent interruptions, and to work productively in a fast paced, rapidly growing organization
  • Commitment to accuracy, attention to detail and follow-through
  • Strong interpersonal skills: courtesy, tact, patience and strong team orientation; assertive team player with a sense of humor
  • Commitment to, and enthusiasm for, the organization's mission and business model, and respect for our core values: generosity, accountability, humility, audacity, listening, leadership, and respect.
  • Dedication to working within the Jewish non-profit sector; strong willingness to affect change with an understanding of challenges often encountered

  The Center for Jewish History is committed to diversity and inclusion. Qualified individuals who bring diverse perspectives to the workplace are especially encouraged to apply.

  Please submit a cover letter, resume and writing samples, to Jordana Renick, at jrenick@cjh.org.

  No phone calls, please.