Protohaven’s Shop Tech program is a co-development program where participants build their design, fabrication, interpersonal, and shop management skills while helping shape and support our community. It is ideal for individuals who are enthusiastic about design, fabrication, and helping to lead a clean, welcoming, and functional community shop.
Shop Techs represent our maintenance and member support corps at Protohaven—this support comes in the form of greeting and helping members, maintaining and repairing equipment, keeping the shop clean and tidy, and being representative of our Community Guidelines and Shop Rules. This program is critical in growing our community in a way that emphasizes inclusion, togetherness, mutual support, and social engagement.
This is an unpaid, volunteer role where you receive general membership and free training – you must be 18+ to apply to participate in the program. The link to apply is at the very bottom.
Responsibilities
- Weekly Shop Shifts: Serve one regularly-scheduled weekly (M-Su 9:50am – 4:10pm OR 4:00pm – 10:10pm) on-site shift to ensure the shop is a safe, clean, and welcoming place to work. Enforce Community Guidelines and Shop Rules. Perform shop tasks like cleaning, organizing, performing regular maintenance, developing maintenance documentation, and supporting members. We will attempt to accommodate folks with consistent obligations that prevent them from attending their full shift, but we cannot guarantee placement.
- Monthly Tech Meeting: 1 hour, regularly scheduled for group check-ins. This will be usually be hybrid (in-person and virtual via Zoom)
- Ongoing Community Engagement: Actively engage with the #techs and #maintenance channels on our community Discord server throughout the week to keep up with ongoing shop operations and community updates.
- Front Desk Assistance: Respond to calls to the front desk and greet members and visitors.
- Give Tours: Tours of the space are given every day at 1:00pm and 6:00pm. Each Shop Tech will be responsible for (1) tour per shift (dependent on tour registrations).
Qualifications
- Responsible, empathetic, conscientious, and friendly
- Experience collaborating with diverse groups of creative people to accomplish common goals
- Ability to represent and communicate our Shop Rules and Community Guidelines with accuracy and clarity
- Enthusiasm for workspaces that are safe, clean, organized, and functional
- Skills in technical troubleshooting, problem solving, and critical thinking
- Ability to use and/or learn email, Google Apps, and Discord
Details and Benefits
- 1 year General Membership
- Free access to equipment training and classes in Protohaven’s woodshop and laser fabrication areas with additional free classes available by request (based on availability and budget)
- Dedicated equipment maintenance training
- Participants qualify as volunteers (during non instruction hours), and benefits are non-taxable (educational benefits and no-additional cost services)
- Protohaven is committed to serving the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities, and members of these communities are enthusiastically encouraged to apply. Individuals re-entering society after incarceration are also encouraged to apply.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
Protohaven seeks to create an inclusive and equitable organization at all levels. To that end, Protohaven is committed to recruiting candidates that represent our diverse community in race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and ability. With inclusion as one of our core values, we strive to create an environment where all feel welcomed and are treated with dignity and respect.
Physical Demands
The person in this role needs to regularly sit, stand, and move throughout the space, utilize manual dexterity and repetitive finger motion, speak, hear and see with close vision. Individuals must be able to lift up to fifty pounds, push or pull, reach or stretch, and utilize distance vision, color discrimination, peripheral vision, depth perception and focusing ability.
Work Environment
This opportunity is primarily performed at Protohaven, in both administrative and workshop areas, with occasional exposure to outdoor weather conditions.
Please direct any questions or concerns about the program to hello@protohaven.org.