Materials Practice Facilities Shop Tech

About AAP:
The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University (Cornell AAP) includes the departments of Architecture, Art, City and Regional Planning, the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate, jointly led by AAP and the SC Johnson College of Business, the multicollege Department of Design Tech, and the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities. The college spans three locations in Ithaca, New York City, and Rome, Italy, each with world-class facilities and cutting-edge technologies.

Cornell AAP is about acts of transformation. We are committed to reimagining and reshaping the world in new ways, every day. A vital college at one of the nation's foremost research universities, Cornell AAP brings faculty, staff, and students together from around the world to take up some of today's most urgent challenges and advance research, inquiry, and collaborative approaches to designing, making, and doing that make a more just and resilient future.

Shop Technicians work together to monitor and support the pedagogical needs of faculty and students through technical advice, training, machine set-up and operation, equipment cleaning and maintenance, space cleaning and organization, and safety oversight. This includes staffing spaces during opening hours and ensuring the safe use of equipment by all users and includes second shift hours and weekends.

Areas include both digital and analog equipment and are used by students and faculty to conduct material research, sculpture, and model building. The main areas requiring support include:

• Wood and metal shop with table saws, band saws, planer, jointer, chop saws, drill presses, MIG and TIG welders, oxy-acetylene torches, cold cutoff saw, manual metal mill, etc.
• Digital fabrication lab supporting laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC Mills, Water Jet Cutter, etc.
• Ceramics lab with throwing wheel, clay drying and storage, and electric kilns with digital programming.
• Robotics lab supporting a variety of processes and work holding in the use of 6-Axis Robotic Arms.
• 24/7 model building area.

While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a psychologically healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.

Key Success Criteria for the Shop Technician Role:

• Strategic Decision-Making: Demonstrates a deep understanding of the organization's goals, recognizing how small decisions--such as approving certain projects or requests--can impact coursework, faculty research, and the broader program.
• Life Safety Awareness: Maintains a constant, heightened level of attention to ensure safe equipment use, quickly assessing posture, stance, hand positioning, and other critical factors to prevent accidents.
• Hazard Identification and Intervention: Effectively interprets diverse sensory inputs (visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile) to identify risks, mitigate hazards, and ensure the safety of all users.
• High-Volume Oversight: Manages individual interactions and supervises the work of 40-100 students and faculty daily, consistently addressing unsafe behaviors or practices to protect users, equipment, and facilities.
• Schedule Flexibility: Availability to work an evening schedule and weekend shifts as needed, adapting to program demands and ensuring uninterrupted operations during peak times.
• Adaptability and Multitasking: Balances physically demanding tasks with mentally intensive decision-making in a high-pressure, noisy, and interruption-rich environment, maintaining focus and efficiency.
• Dynamic Workflows: Thrives in an environment where priorities, responsibilities, and schedules change frequently, responding to fluctuating workloads and adapting seamlessly to new routines.
• Commitment to Program Continuity: Understands the necessity of operational consistency, remaining focused on core responsibilities

Qualifications of the role include:

• Hold an Associate degree or equivalent; 2- 4 years of relevant experience with fabrication equipment, techniques, and safety regulations as applicable in a shop environment or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrate knowledge of digital fabrication equipment and software.
• Demonstrate knowledge of wood and metal fabrication tools, equipment, and processes.
• Must be comfortable working with students, staff, and faculty and have excellent communication skills.
• Exhibit strong communication skills.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing.

Preferences are:

• Demonstrated work experience within an Academic Shops setting.
• Advanced knowledge of CAD/Vector based software (Rhino/AutoCAD/Adobe/etc.)

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Non-Union Positions

Noted pay ranges reflect the potential pay opportunity for each job profile. The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined considering the following criteria:

• Prior relevant work or industry experience

• Education level to the extent education is relevant to the position

• Unique applicable skills

• Academic Discipline

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EEO Statement:

Diversity and Inclusion are a part of Cornell University's heritage. We are a recognized employer and educator valuing AA/EEO, and we do not tolerate discrimination based on any protected characteristic, including race, ethnic or national origin, citizenship and immigration status, color, sex/gender, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, age, creed, religion, actual or perceived disability (including persons associated with such a person), arrest and/or conviction record, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender expression and/or identity, an individual's genetic information, domestic violence victim status, familial status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also recognize a lawful preference in employment practices for Native Americans living on or near Indian reservations in accordance with applicable law.

Cornell University embraces diversity and seeks candidates who will contribute to a climate that supports students, faculty, and staff to all identities and backgrounds. We encourage individuals from underrepresented and/or marginalized identities to apply.