Bilingual Visitor Services Assistant

**Bilingual Position (English & French)...**See below for more details

**Background**

Memory Lane Heritage Village provides a dynamic and inclusive working environment within a non-profit organization that is a leading community museum and tourist attraction. Memory Lane is a living history museum, depicting life in the 1940s in rural coastal Nova Scotia. This was a time of innovation, when rapid changes transformed rural Nova Scotia: electricity, road building, women’s work outside the home, and the time-saving inventions of modern living.

Memory Lane is a key anchor tourist attraction along the Eastern Shore, just 50 minutes outside Dartmouth. Every year the Village welcomes more than 13,000 visitors from around the world, and hosts a variety of special events and festivals, including the Cold Waters Seafood Festival, the Father’s Day Antique Car Show, the Nova Scotia Forest Festival as well as outdoor theatre productions, concerts and youth camps. In addition to these annual events, the Village also organizes group tours for seniors, school groups, special needs youth and adults, and tour busses.

The **Bilingual Visitor Services Assistant** plays a key role at Memory Lane Heritage Village by providing French language services to visitors and as a support person to senior staff and volunteers. This is a front-line position, which will allow students to gain valuable experience in bilingual communications, planning, coordination, visitor services.

**Main Duties**

The main duties of the Bilingual Visitor Services Assistant are to:

- Provide visitor services in both official languages as required by the Visitor Services Manager. This includes small groups, guided tours and working with the Heritage Programmer to deliver group programming.
- Demonstrate in both official languages how artifacts work and the stories behind them (artifacts can include turnip chopper, hand tools, grain grinder, hand pump, wringer washer, electric washer).
- Assist visitors with the use of the immersive, multi-media exhibits.
- Assist in the Cookhouse, Store and other Village buildings as needed.
- Assist the Communications Manager with social media programming.
- Support the work of the Heritage Programming Coordinator and the Artifact Cataloguer as required.

Attitudes & Attributes
- has critical thinking skills
- is knowledgeable, or interested in, social history
- is self-directed, logical and organized
- has a high level of spoken French & English
- has an interest in objects and how they work
- is comfortable conversing with strangers
- is outgoing and personable
- is comfortable with animals, gardens & rural living

**Specific Skills and Abilities**
- Advanced French language, oral & written
- Intermediate English, oral & written
- has experience with hand tools, agriculture, cooking, and rural way of life
- able to work in dusty and damp conditions (with appropriate safety gear)
- has a knowledge of, or interest in, the 1940s
- able to lift 15 kg unassisted
- ideally possesses a valid driver’s license
- has worked with seniors and children

**General Requirements**
- be prepared to conceal / remove visible personal fashion that is not historical to the 1940s (tattoos, piercings, etc.)
- become aware of the interpretive elements of the 1940s
- be available to work weekends, with occasional evening hours

**Terms of Employment**:
This is a position under the Young Canada Works in Both Official Languages program, so this is an opportunity for a **Francophone student** to improve their English or for a **Bilingual student** to utilize both official languages.

Twelve weeks at 37.5 hrs. / week at $16.00 per hour (negotiable) + 4% vacation pay + free cookhouse lunch.

Students living more than 100km from the job site may have an additional travel subsidy added to their weekly pay to assist with living costs. Additional funds also available to assist with moving to the area for the summer.

**Job Type**: Seasonal
Contract length: 12 weeks

Pay: $16.00 per hour

**Benefits**:

- Discounted or free food
- On-site parking

Schedule:

- Weekends as needed

Application question(s):

- We are located in a rural area in Eastern HRM (Lake Charlotte, NS) which does not have access to public transportation. Are you able to commute to this workplace?

Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 2025-03-31
Expected start date: 2025-05-12