Cultural attraction exhibits technician job description
An exhibits technician builds and fixes the cases, mounts, hands-on stations and graphics that visitors see in galleries, habitats and gardens. Before the doors open, they walk every exhibit and fix dark screens, stuck buttons and loose labels. The rest of the day goes to shop work or the next install.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, museums, zoos and gardens · BLS, May 2025
Our Exhibits Technician builds, installs, and fixes the exhibits guests see every day. You build cases, mounts, and displays; repair interactives; install graphics and lighting; and help move [objects, plants, or habitat features] under the Curator's direction. Your walkthrough before opening means guests don't find broken buttons, dark screens, or loose labels.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Build exhibit cases, mounts, platforms, and props from wood, metal, acrylic, and [other materials].
Install and change over exhibitions on schedule, including graphics, lighting, and audio-visual equipment.
Repair interactives, touchscreens, buttons, and hands-on stations, and keep spare parts on hand.
Move and install objects only under the Curator's direction, following your handling rules.
Help build [habitat features, display cases, or garden structures] with facilities staff, following the collection's safety rules.
Keep the shop safe: guards on tools, clean work areas, and chemicals labeled and stored.
Clean and sanitize hands-on stations and touchscreens on a set schedule.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Walk every exhibit before opening and fix or close anything broken.
Work the repair list: dead bulbs, loose labels, worn floor graphics, and broken interactives.
Build or paint parts in the shop for upcoming exhibits.
Help the Curator and collections staff with installs or object moves.
Clean the shop and lock up tools and materials at the end of the day.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Interactives working at opening: [your target].
Repair tickets closed on time: [your target].
Installations finished on schedule: [your target].
Damage to objects or habitats during work: [your target].
Shop safety incidents: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[2+] years of carpentry, fabrication, or exhibit work.
Safe use of power tools, shop tools, ladders, and lifts.
Basic electrical skills for low-voltage lighting and audio-visual equipment.
Reads drawings and builds to measurement.
Works carefully around fragile [objects, plants, or animal areas].
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in a museum, zoo, theater, or exhibit shop.
Metalwork, welding, or CNC router experience.
Painting, graphics installation, or sign experience.
Aerial lift or forklift training.
7. Physical Requirements
Lift and carry materials up to [50] pounds.
Climb ladders and work from lifts at heights.
Use loud tools with hearing and eye protection.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Full-time. Early starts so repairs are done before guests arrive.
Work happens in the shop, the galleries, and outdoor exhibit areas.
Evenings or after-hours work during exhibit changeovers.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new exhibits technician gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What makes exhibit work at a zoo, museum or garden different
Shop carpenters and scenic builders use the same saws and drills. Here the work sits next to objects that can't be replaced, animals or growing plants, and visitors touch it all day.
Some materials harm the objects
Wood, fabric and paint can give off gases that tarnish metal and damage objects inside a closed case. Conservators use a lab check called the Oddy test to see whether a material is safe near artwork and artifacts. A good tech asks before swapping in a cheaper board, glue or sealant. Source: AIC Conservation Wiki: Oddy test.
Built for visitors who sit, stand or roll
The Smithsonian's own exhibit design guidelines, not a law, say every case must give a clear view to people who are short or seated. Controls on interactives must be in reach of wheelchair users and short visitors, not only people standing. For flat objects on a deck, the top of the case should be no higher than 36 inches. Source: Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Exhibition Design.
Animals and plants set the work rules
At a zoo, the tech goes into a habitat only after keepers have moved the animals out and cleared the space, and leaves nothing behind an animal could chew or swallow. In a garden, builds go around roots and beds the plant staff mark off. The Curator approves any material that will touch animals or their water.
Forklift drivers need employer sign-off
Crates, cases and rockwork panels often move by forklift. Under OSHA's forklift rule, the employer trains each operator, evaluates them on the truck, and certifies both in writing with the trainer's name and the dates. The evaluation is repeated at least every three years. Keep those records in the tech's file. Source: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178: Powered industrial trucks.
Hands-on stations take a beating
School groups press, pull and lean on every interactive. The template asks the tech to clean touchscreens and hands-on stations on a set schedule and keep spare buttons, bulbs and parts on the shelf. That way a broken station is closed and fixed the same week, not left with a sign.
How much cultural attraction exhibits technicians make
The closest BLS group for cultural attraction exhibits technicians is museum technicians and conservators. Museum technicians and conservators who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $23.34 an hour ($48,540 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $51,440 median for museum technicians and conservators in all industries. About 5,980 of the 12,310 museum technicians and conservators in that survey work for museums, zoos and gardens.
Usually hourly, with overtime on changeover nights. Welding, CNC router or lift experience can earn a higher starting rate, so say which of those skills you need.
Museums, zoos and gardens
$48,540$48,540 median Middle half $38,110–$62,900 10th–90th $31,910–$78,460
All industries
$51,440$51,440 median Middle half $41,050–$67,640 10th–90th $33,780–$87,530
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k$100k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Museums, zoos and gardens
$31,910
$38,110
$48,540
$62,900
$78,460
All industries
$33,780
$41,050
$51,440
$67,640
$87,530
BLS groups museums, zoos, botanical gardens and historic sites together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Builds to drawings and measurements without close supervision
Safe, tidy habits with power tools, ladders and lifts
Low-voltage wiring for lights, screens and sensors
Slows down and asks before working near objects or animals
Finishes the morning repair list before the gates open
Teach these on the job
Your object handling rules and who may touch what
Mount making and case work to conservation standards
Your AV hardware, show controllers and spare parts
Keeper sign-off steps for work inside habitats
Graphics install, vinyl and sign repair
The shop runs on table and miter saws, a router or CNC, metalworking tools, paint gear, and a scissor or boom lift for high graphics and lights. Out in the galleries, the work is touchscreens, projectors, media players and push-button interactives. A candidate who has kept AV gear running in a theater or attraction will start fast.
Cultural attraction exhibits technician interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Set these after a season of repair tickets, not before. Review them with the Curator ahead of each big changeover.
Interactives working at opening
On the morning walkthrough, count the interactives, screens and hands-on stations running at opening against the total on the list. Note the ones that fail again and again.
Repair tickets closed on time
Compare each ticket's close date with the due date its priority sets. Anything that puts a visitor at risk gets the shortest window.
Installations finished on schedule
For each install or changeover, log the planned and actual finish dates and what caused any delay: materials, drawings, objects or staffing.
Damage to objects or habitats during work
Log every scrape, drop or habitat damage from shop or install work, with its cause. Review each entry with the Curator, even the small ones.
Shop safety incidents
Count injuries, near misses and first aid cases from the shop and installs each month. After each one, walk the shop with a checklist and fix what you find.
Career path
Carpenter, scenic builder or theater techBrings shop and build skills from construction or stage work.
Exhibits TechnicianBuilds, installs and repairs what visitors see.
Lead preparator or exhibits managerRuns the shop and schedules every changeover.
Facilities managerSome techs move into running the buildings and grounds.
An exhibits technician builds cases, mounts, platforms and props. They install new exhibits and keep interactives, lights and graphics working. Most days start with a walk through every exhibit before opening. Then comes the repair list, shop work for the next show, and help moving objects or habitat features when the Curator asks.
How much does a cultural attraction exhibits technician make?
Museum technicians and conservators who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $23.34 an hour ($48,540 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $38,110 and $62,900 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What training should an exhibits technician have?
Ask for proof of safe tool use and lift time, and train the rest. Under OSHA, a forklift driver needs your own evaluation and written sign-off, even after years on one at a past job. Keep techs on low-voltage work, as the template does, and call an electrician for building power.
Does an exhibits technician need museum experience?
No. The template lists museum, zoo, theater or exhibit shop work as a plus. Scene shop builders know hard opening dates, building from drawings and painting to a finish. What they learn here is slower: how to work around objects that can't be replaced and animals that can't be rushed.
How is exhibit work at a zoo different from a museum?
Zoo techs build outdoors and in habitats, with rockwork, signs, barriers and weatherproof graphics, and they plan each job around keeper schedules. Museum techs spend more time on cases, mounts and lighting, in rooms where temperature and humidity are controlled. Garden techs build seating, structures and signs that stand up to sun, rain and irrigation.
What should an exhibits technician job ad include?
Give the start time, how many changeover nights to expect, and the heights and lifts involved. List the materials and machines in your shop, such as wood, acrylic, steel or a CNC router, and the AV gear on the floor. Say whether the job includes driving a truck or forklift.
