Organizer Information
The Schwules Museum (SMU) in Berlin is a museum and research centre focused on LGBTQ+ history and culture, opened in 1985 as the first museum in the world dedicated to gay history. It was founded following a successful 1984 exhibition, "Eldorado – Homosexual Women and Men in Berlin 1850–1950," at the Berlin Museum, which led Andreas Sternweiler, Wolfgang Theis, and Manfred Baumgardt to establish the Verein der Freundinnen und Freunde des Schwulen Museums in Berlin e.V. Since the summer of 2013, the museum has been located in a former printing factory (1,600 m²) at Lützowstraße 73 in Berlin's Tiergarten district, more than doubling its earlier exhibition space. Its holdings include an archive with periodicals dating from 1896, photographs, videos, films, sound recordings, artworks, and ephemera, alongside a library of roughly 20,000 books on homosexuality-related themes. The museum's scope has broadened over time to represent gay, lesbian, trans*, bisexual, and queer life stories, culture, and history more broadly, and this posting sits within its Education and Outreach Department.
Title & Description
Research Assistant (f/m/d) — Project "Queer Outreach"
The Schwules Museum is seeking a committed employee to support, conceptually and organisationally, its "Queer Outreach" project within the Education and Outreach Department. The project is made possible by the Youth Culture Initiative, funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and supported by the accompanying program of the Berlin Mondiale. The role centers on developing LGBTIQ* empowerment and educational offers for adolescents and young adults, both within the museum and archive and with youth partners in the Berlin districts of Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Spandau, and Tiergarten.
The Role Overview
- Position Type: Part-time, 75% (30 hours per week)
- Contract Type: Fixed-term, limited until 31 December 2027 (subject to further funding by the funding agency after the first half of the project)
- Salary: Based on TV-L E 11 pay scale (75%); exact amount not specified in the source
- Start Date: As of 1 September 2026
- Reports To: Not specified in the source
- Department / Programme: Education and Outreach Department, "Queer Outreach" project
- Working Hours: Part-time, 30 hours per week; remote work possible on individual days by arrangement
Position & Tasks
- Conception and implementation of LGBTIQ* empowerment and educational offers for adolescents and young adults, at the Schwules Museum, its Archive, and with youth partners in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Spandau, and Tiergarten
- Planning, booking, and management of workshop and guided tour requests
- Cooperation and networking with cultural and youth organisations
- Collaboration in the further development of the youth protection concept
- Collaboration in the support and coordination of freelancers (contract preparation, solicitation of offers, invoice verification)
- Scientific and didactic processing of the contents of the exhibitions and collections
- Preparation of texts for educational material, project reports, third-party funding applications, and public relations
- Documentation, evaluation, and quality assurance of the offers
Categories
- Museum Education
- Arts Administration
- Cultural Programming
- Community Outreach
- Archival Studies
- LGBTIQ* Cultural Work
Eligibility
- Completed university degree (e.g. art or cultural mediation, social work, education, gender studies) or a comparable course of study or comparable long-term qualification from cultural/political education
- Extensive experience in pedagogical and participatory work with adolescents and young adults, whether in activist self-organization or in educational projects
- Methodological knowledge for teaching sexual, amorous, and gender diversity, and experience with empowerment offers
- Methodological knowledge of art, culture, and/or archival education
- Extensive knowledge of LGBTIQ*, feminist, and anti-racist discourses and history
- Experience in booking and managing offers
- Fluent German at C2 level, both written and spoken
- English language skills from level B2, spoken and written
- IT skills (Excel)
- Preferred but not mandatory: applications from people with their own migration experience or family migration history are expressly welcome
- Preferred but not mandatory: the museum is preferably looking for people from LGBTIQ* communities and those who speak from a Black/Person of Color and/or inter* or trans* and/or disabled perspective
- Preferred but not mandatory: interest from people who have engaged with topics of racism, ableism, homophobia, and trans*/inter* hostility
- Recognised severely disabled persons or persons with disabilities treated as such will be given preference if equally qualified (applicants are asked to disclose a severe disability in their application)
Program Benefits
- Salary based on TV-L E 11 pay scale (75% position)
- Possibility of further education and training; educational time is recognised
- Remote work possible on individual days, by arrangement
- Varied range of tasks within an innovative non-profit organization, in an open and friendly working atmosphere
- Certificate of appointment issued for interview attendance (in lieu of travel expense reimbursement)
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
- Application documents submitted exclusively electronically, as a single document, no more than 5 MB
- Applicants are asked to point out a severe disability in their application, if applicable, for preferential consideration when equally qualified
How to Apply?
Email application to: personal@schwulesmuseum.de
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 15 July 2026
- Interviews: 29–30 July 2026
- Position Start Date: 1 September 2026
- Contract End Date: 31 December 2027 (subject to further funding after the first half of the project)
Location
Berlin, Germany
Additional Details
- Travel expenses to job interviews cannot be reimbursed; a certificate of the appointment will be issued for invited candidates upon request
- The Schwules Museum has begun to critically reflect on the exclusions of its own institution, to break down barriers, and to implement strategies in terms of personnel, programme, and audience; applicants are invited to discuss what further steps can be taken to break down existing barriers
- Applicant data protection notice (per Art. 13 GDPR) is provided separately; data is processed for the purposes of conducting the application procedure under Art. 88(1) GDPR in conjunction with § 26(1) BDSG, stored until six months after the end of the application procedure (unless separate consent is given for consideration in future procedures), and is not transferred to any third country
- For questions, applicants may contact Jutta Grelle at personal@schwulesmuseum.de