Media Coordinator

About the Obama Foundation

At the Obama Foundation, we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. Our mission is to inspire those people to take action, empower them to change their world for the better, and connect them so they can achieve more together than they can alone.

We were founded by community organizers, so when we seek change, we do it by bringing people together.

That approach begins at home, on the South Side of Chicago, where we are building the Obama Presidential Center. The Center represents a historic opportunity for Chicago: a chance to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady, steps away from where he began his career, where she was raised, and where—together—they made their home.

But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity.

As President Obama has said, “we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together.” So join us.

For more information, please visit www.obama.org.

Purpose of the Role

As a member of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) Museum team, the Media Coordinator will support the Museum Media team over the entire production process for exhibition media, with additional focus on linear media production. You will work to ensure that exhibition media is produced efficiently, inclusively, at a high level of quality, on-time, and on-budget toward the OPC’s planned opening day. You will support project coordination and management of external linear media producers, serving as a day to day project manager maintaining and managing schedules and budgets, documenting and tracking decisions, and coordinating reviews, prototyping, and user testing efforts.

This will be a term position continuing through the museum’s opening in 2025.

Core Job Responsibilities

Media Project Coordination

• General project coordination in support of the Museum media team (linear and interactive media) and Director of Integrated Media, including scheduling reviews, regular check-ins, and asynchronous updates with external media producers; documenting meetings and workshops; following up on tasks, open questions, and action items.
• Support and, when needed, lead media-specific meetings and workshops; create agendas; track and document decisions, action items, and open questions; and facilitate cross-functional communication
• Monitor and revise all media production schedules, tasks, and statuses using the Foundation’s tracking tools (Asana, Google Sheets)
• Track and consolidate comments and feedback from Foundation team and stakeholders to external media producer
• Support on-site media installation, quality assurance, and punch-list processes

Linear Media Production Coordination

• Support Media team members in coordinating image and footage assets to be used in the media.
• Serve as internal administrative point of contact for media prototyping and production activities throughout the production process, including scheduling, planning, and communication.

Communications and Presentations

• Coordinate, facilitate and contribute to internal memoranda, presentations and briefings on media production-related topics
• Contribute to external-facing presentations and briefings related to media production updates, including coordination with external advisors and advisory groups

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Organized linear and interactive media production documentation, files, budget, schedule, and vendor communications
• New and refined tools and processes that build on and improve established OPC Museum team conventions for documentation and tracking
• Strong relationships with Museum media and exhibitions teams and wider Obama Foundation team members, external consultants, and external media producers that enable proactive communication and problem-solving throughout a complex production process

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in media production coordination across linear and interactive media, ideally with experience in the non-profit or cultural sector
• Driven to create welcoming, inclusive, and accessible museum and digital experiences for all visitors
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, without losing track of the big picture
• Exceptional communications skills, both written and verbal
• Fluency with a range of software SaaS programs, including Google Suite, Microsoft Suite, Adobe Creative Suite, Asana, Slack, Zoom
• Willingness and ability to travel and work unusual hours as necessary to accommodate operational requirements

This role is temporary, full-time (culminating December 2025) and anticipates 1-2 days of travel a month. While we are open to considering candidates who currently reside in a number of US jurisdictions, this role will require 3-4 days per week in the Chicago office and relocation to the Chicago area is expected.

In the interest of employee health and safety during the pendency of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Obama Foundation is requiring that all prospective employees present proof that they are fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, or seek a reasonable accommodation for religious or medical reasons, prior to their first day of employment.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at [email protected] if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.