Need a new career? This week's top offbeat job openings

The economy is changing. Workers today are learning to reinvent their skills to match the needs of tomorrow — and switching careers can mean upping pay grades and increasing job security.

To encourage all job-searchers to think outside their professional boxes, Monitor staffers each week comb the job listings in search of interesting places to work. The most intriguing jobs we found this week are in Bellevue, Wash.; Washington, D.C.; Kansas City, Mo.; Binghamton, N.Y.; Lexington, Ky.; Sioux City, Iowa; Park City, Utah; Montrose, Pa.; Somerville, N.J.; and Verona, Va.

1. Seed research technician
Employer: Weyerhaeuser
Wages/salary: Not listed
Details: Work with a team to improve design of manufactured seeds used to better sustain yields of commercial forest lands. Job involves work in nurseries and sterile environments. (For more information click here.)
Location: Bellevue, Wash. (pop. 117,521; median family income $92,272) considers itself a “city in a park,” because its gleaming downtown high-rises are surrounded by woodsy neighborhoods and extensive green spaces just east of Seattle, between Lakes Washington and Sammamish.

2. Ballpark photographer
Employer: FanFoto
Wages/salary: Not listed (hourly plus commissions)
Details: Take photos of fans at Washington Nationals baseball games. (For more information click here.)
Location: Washington, D.C. (pop. 585,267; median family income $60,970) is famous for its many walk-up attractions, but people also flock to its three most popular ticketed attractions: the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Washington Monument, and the International Spy Museum.

3. Interactive creative director/marketing
Employer: Hallmark Cards
Wages/salary: Not listed
Details: Lead a team of interactive art directors and designers in providing creative and strategic development for all Hallmark digital initiatives, including Hallmark.com. (For more information click here.)
Location: Kansas City, Mo. (pop. 436,562; median family income $52,726) has more barbecue restaurants per capita than any other US city.

4. Nanofabrication facility director
Employer: Binghamton University
Wages/salary: Not listed
Details: Administer the daily operations of a newly constructed $2 million “clean room,” used in nanofabrication, which entails the design and manufacture of devices with dimensions measured in the millionths of a millimeter. (For more information click here.)
Location: Binghamton, N.Y. (pop. 43,059; median family income $35,446) calls itself the “Carousel Capital of the World,” a reputation established by a local shoe tycoon who donated six carousels to area parks. Children ride them from Memorial Day to Labor Day at no charge.

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