Museum Manager - Exhibitions

About the role

The Museum Manager of Exhibitions plays a crucial role in leading the museum’s efforts to manage and develop traveling exhibitions, onsite exhibition development, and major initiatives for the Market Street campus. This position oversees the Research, Collections, Design & Fabrication team and is responsible for the overall operations of the Market Street facility.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and project management for the Exhibitions Unit, including setting long-range goals, strategic priorities, operational plans, and budgets.
• Supervise the Research, Collections, and Design & Fabrication team, ensuring staff training and professional development, and make hiring, disciplinary, and termination recommendations.
• Facilitate communication regarding the Exhibitions unit’s mission, priorities, goals, project timelines, and operational needs.
• Collaborate with other museum units to support institutional strategic planning, accreditation readiness, operational coordination, and public engagement initiatives.
• Serve as the spokesperson and advocate for the operational, staffing, facility, and project needs of the Exhibition Unit.
• Serve as the museum’s lead project manager for in-house exhibition development, traveling exhibitions, and facility renovation projects.
• Coordinate planning, scheduling, implementation, and operational oversight for exhibition projects, renovation and repurposing of the facility, and coordinate maintenance requests.
• Oversee project timelines, deliverables, budgets, procurement coordination, contractor performance, and operational readiness for assigned projects.
• Manage operational coordination for collections storage improvements, fabrication spaces, research areas, and exhibit support functions.
• Assist in the implementation of Capital Improvement Projects and other strategic facility initiatives.
• Serve as the onsite operations manager for the Market Street facility and coordinate daily operational needs associated with collections, exhibitions, fabrication, and research functions.
• Manage the exhibition planning process for both in-house and traveling exhibit programs, establishing exhibition priorities, schedules, workflows, and resource allocation.
• Support team members in the research, development, production, installation, maintenance, and evaluation of temporary, permanent, traveling, digital, and pop-up exhibitions.
• Collaborate with museum staff, community partners, scholars, and consultants to develop exhibitions that support the Museum’s mission and strategic priorities.
• Support the Historian and Science Content Developer in strategic research initiatives, programming, and community outreach.
• Support the Museum Design Coordinator in managing exhibition project timelines, budgets, fabrication schedules, contractor coordination, and installation logistics, and outreach initiatives.
• Support the Curator in developing and implementing long-range collections stewardship and collections storage plans in accordance with professional museum standards and best practices.
• Develop and manage departmental and grant budgets related to collections, exhibitions, research library, projects, facilities, and operations.
• Review invoices, approve expenditures, coordinate procurement activities, and monitor project budgets to ensure sound fiscal management and compliance with County procedures and grant requirements.
• Prepare reports, project updates, budget summaries, grant materials, and operational documentation as required.
• Recommend, write, review, and administer grants supporting collections management, exhibitions, facility initiatives, and strategic projects.
• Manage contracting process for Exhibition Unit needs with County Contract Management process and purchasing requirements.
• Work with donors, scholars, community partners, contractors, and colleagues internally and externally to support stewardship, research, exhibitions, and public engagement initiatives.
• Attend relevant public events and represent the museum in public speaking engagements, professional forums, media appearances, and community meetings.
• Maintain professional partnerships and collaborative relationships with museums, lenders, contractors, consultants, and community organizations.
• Develop, implement, and maintain policies and procedures governing disaster preparedness and emergency response related to collections, exhibitions, fabrication operations, and facilities.
• Ensure staff are trained in emergency preparedness, collections response, safety procedures, and operational protocols.
• Provide competent leadership in routine and emergency situations.
• Perform work during emergency and disaster situations.
• Support Museum educational programming and development events as needed.
• Perform work with regular and predictable attendance consistently meeting the scheduling needs as required by the county.
• Perform work during emergency/disaster situations.
• Perform other duties of a similar nature or level.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Project Management, Museum Administration, Management, Public Administration, or related field; and seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in project management, exhibitions management, facility operations, collections management, or related museum leadership work; or an equivalent combination of training and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the position.
• Experience managing complex museum capital projects, facility renovations, or major operational transitions.
• Experience working with County or municipal facilities management processes.
• Experience administering contracts, procurement processes, and project budgets.
• Knowledge of AAM standards, collections care, and museum facility requirements.
• Grant writing and project funding experience.

Benefits

A competitive benefits package is offered, including health insurance, retirement plan, paid time off, and more.

Pay

The hiring range for this position is $68,495 - $92,468 annually.

Schedule

Typical schedule is Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm. Evening, weekend, holiday, and onsite project oversight work will be required as needed. Must be available to report for emergency work assignment during emergency situations.