Collections Manager

University of Washington Medical Center•Seattle, WA

5d•$72,000 - $73,200•Onsite

About The Position

The Burke Museum has an outstanding opportunity for a Collections Manager to join their team. The Collections Manager in Heritage: Arts & Cultures (HAC) is a member of a team that cares for collections by centering ethics and through building and maintaining relationships with descendant communities. The day-to-day work of the Collections Manager involves managing and supervising the long-term care and preservation of the collections, including facilitating access for community, students, researchers and staff, and overseeing the documentation and care of collections and archives. Collections care includes a range of activities, such as overseeing access and research, maintaining records, inventory, communicating with donors, repatriation, arranging conservation, coordinating for exhibits and other public events, supporting storage renovation projects, assisting with efforts to digitize collections and migrate the database. Under the direction of the Curator for Diasporic Oceania and Asias (DOA), the Collections Manager will foster and maintain ethical relationships between the Burke Museum and Pacific Islander, Asian and Near Eastern communities, and facilitate community access and activation of the collection. To support this work, the Collections Manager will build upon and create new relationships with students, artists, communities, and local organizations. Student-centered, collections-based research training is central to our work as a public university museum. As a member of the HAC department, the Collections Manager will work as a team with HAC Curators, Collections Managers, the Bill Holm Center, Artist Studio Coordinator, assistants, students and volunteers, and cultivate connections across all Burke departments, as well as between the cultural collections and Oceanic, Asian and Near Eastern collections in other departments at the Burke Museum.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Museum Studies, Anthropology, Ethnic Studies or related field and 2-3 years experience in collections management, or related experience
Knowledge of collection database management systems
Knowledge and experience working with Indigenous communities, particularly diasporic communities from Oceania and Asia
A demonstrated commitment to ethics, capacity building, and training and experience mentoring college students
Strong interpersonal skills, flexibility and ability to work well as a team in HAC and with other departments
Supervisory experience

Nice To Haves

A passion and interest for developing the relationships and care practices that best support communities and collections
Interest in maintaining conversations about NAGPRA, collections care, and best practices with other museums
Experience with repatriation
A commitment to anti-colonial practices and mentoring the next generation of museum professionals and students
Knowledge and experience with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and environmental monitoring
Knowledge of scanning equipment and digital cameras, rights & reproductions, copyright law
Knowledge of archives management and best practices
Preventive conservation training
Previous experience inventorying collections
Experience with grant writing
Ability to publish, present and share research findings with the public in various formats
Commitment to professional growth through participation in conferences, community gatherings and professional networking
Flexibility to work in a dynamic environment requiring departmental and institutional coordination

Responsibilities

Manage the cultural and archival collections for the Oceanic, Asian and Near Eastern regions, including accessions, cataloging, organization and storage both on and off-site, according to best practices. Along with the curator, set priorities for collection work.
Track use of the collections.
Facilitate loans and image requests.
Coordinate with Registrar and collections staff regarding Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) requests and inventories.
Work with other members of the division collections staff team to design and implement protocols for curation and equipment use. Manage and maintain equipment and relevant trainings.
Respond to public and internal research inquiries on a timely basis.
Schedule use by researchers, visiting scholars and students; coordinate, host, and oversee visitors to the collection while prioritizing collection safety and well-being.
Maintain division records and compile statistics for the cultural collections as needed.
Responsible for collection data integrity and security in conjunction with IT.
Coordinate digitization of collections data and its dissemination on the website. Initiate and/or oversee new digitization programs.
Complete data entry as needed.
Along with the other HAC Collections Managers standardize Argus data, set priorities for data clean up. Oversee new database structure.
Provide access to data.
Respond to public inquiries for cultural material identification and care.
Conduct tours for communities, school groups, university classes, and others, and facilitate visits led by student leaders.
Assist with public outreach programs such as Behind the Scenes Night.
Collaborate with Visitor Services, Communications, Education, and Development teams for relevant outreach and public facing projects.
Work with staff, students, and volunteers to facilitate collections work.
Responsible for recruiting/hiring, training, and managing teams of staff, students, and volunteers.
Develop training materials.
Order supplies and equipment for collections care, on occasion, for the entire division.
Along with the other collections managers, manage budget activity and develop quarterly budget reports.
Under the supervision of the curator, follow collection development priorities and set new ones where necessary.
Work with potential donors to build Oceanic, Asian and Near Eastern collections, manage correspondence and work with the Registrar’s office through the acquisitions process.
Coordinate new acquisition purchases utilizing available acquisition funds.
Identify and manage deaccessions, transfers, and repatriations with the Registrar and relevant curator.
Coordinate with curators and museum exhibits/public programs staff for selection and management of all outreach and exhibit materials from the collections. Serve as an advisor to exhibit teams to provide preventive conservation expertise.
Along with other departmental CMs, coordinate workroom activities for the team to help activate the visible collections and workspaces.
Help create rotating workroom window displays.
Working with the DOA curator or CMs, apply, or help develop ideas for grant funding.
Steward donors and prospective donors.
Coordinate projects for grants/contracts when applicable.
Facilitate research in the collection for descendent community members, curators, faculty, students, and external researchers.
Participate in departmental meetings.
Work collaboratively with collections staff across the museum on Burke-wide policies.
Engage with the rest of the museum through internal committees.
Represent the institution on external professional/community committees.
Maintain a collegial and collaborative environment within and across departments.
Actively work to support DEAI & Decolonization initiatives.
Pursue professional training and development.