Senior Project Manager, Exhibitions

Museum of Fine Arts•Boston, MA

About The Position

The Senior Project Manager, Exhibitions is a key leader in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Exhibitions Department, responsible for strategic planning, management, and execution of a portfolio of complex exhibitions. Working under the direction of and in close partnership with the Senior Director of Exhibitions and Publications, the role leads projects throughout the exhibition lifecycle, from approval through installation, deinstallation, and close-out. The position ensures alignment with institutional priorities, Museum standards, visitor experience goals, and budgets, while advancing cross-departmental collaboration, project management practices, and operational processes. The role leads major, large-scale, multi-year, attendance-driving, and high-priority exhibitions, including projects in the Gund and Torf galleries. It coordinates with departments and partner museums; oversees schedules, milestones, risk management, meetings, documentation, project-management systems, and exhibition information; and provides on-site leadership during installation and deinstallation. The Senior Project Manager also mentors colleagues, develops workflows and training materials, and represents Exhibitions in institutional initiatives and committees. The position leads annual exhibition budgeting and financial tracking, manages payments, contracts, and vendor relationships, and supports institutional planning, grant proposals, and donor stewardship. It maintains project records and documentation in Museum systems and may serve as a courier for collection loans. The position is full-time at 35 hours per week and is affiliated with the United Auto Workers Union.

Requirements

7–10 years of museum or project-management experience.
Bachelor’s degree in Arts Administration, Art History, Museum Studies, or equivalent knowledge in planning and producing art exhibitions.
Exceptional analytical, planning, time-management, organizational, and follow-through skills.
Outstanding communication skills.
Strong relationship-building, diplomacy, and cross-departmental collaboration skills.
Quantitative skills to develop, monitor, and track budgets.
Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously while navigating competing priorities.
Ability to lead major exhibition projects, cross-functional teams, and institution-wide processes.
Demonstrated initiative, strategic thinking, and proactive problem-solving in complex situations.
Ability to handle confidential information with care and discretion.
Proficiency in Microsoft programs.
Ability to remain stationary for up to six hours a day.
For travel as an art courier, ability to provide strict oversight, navigation, and visual inspection of valuable assets during commercial flights and truck transport; the work does not involve physical freight handling or heavy lifting.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree.
PMP certification.
Experience with SmartSheet, Trello, TMS, and other project-management tools.

Responsibilities

Lead the comprehensive planning and execution of assigned exhibitions, including complex, large-scale, multi-year, attendance-driving, and high-priority projects, from approval through close-out.
Serve as primary project lead and liaison across Museum departments and, for co-organized exhibitions, between the MFA and partner museums.
Coordinate and manage exhibition installation and deinstallation, providing on-site leadership and decision-making to resolve administrative, logistical, and production issues.
Develop and oversee multi-phase project schedules, set and enforce deadlines for milestones and deliverables, and proactively identify and resolve or escalate risks, capacity challenges, and scheduling conflicts.
Implement accountability structures and maintain transparent communication when deadlines or deliverables are at risk.
Collaborate with the Senior Director of Exhibitions and Publications to improve exhibition planning processes, workflow tools, and cross-departmental coordination systems.
Lead the production and enforcement of the post-approval exhibition process document.
Facilitate and monitor use of project-management platforms, including Trello, SmartSheet, Microsoft Planner, and others; promote accuracy, integration, and institutional adoption.
Strengthen data consistency and reporting, and oversee updates to the Exhibitions intranet page and Exhibitions Module in TMS.
Develop templates, processes, training materials, and documentation to improve project-management capacity across the Museum.
Mentor and support project-management staff and other colleagues contributing to project workflows.
Lead internal project meetings, prepare agendas and notes, set next steps, and ensure follow-through; run project review meetings with the Director and Leadership Team.
Serve as the central information hub for assigned projects, communicating milestones, issues, updates, and decisions to stakeholders.
Represent Exhibitions in institutional initiatives, capital-planning conversations, and cross-functional committees as requested.
Lead the annual exhibition budgeting process with the Senior Director of Exhibitions and Publications; forecast costs, approve and track expenditures, reconcile shared costs, and monitor financial and contractual requirements.
Manage payment schedules, contractual obligations, and vendor relationships; prepare invoices and payment documentation with Finance.
Provide financial insight for institutional planning, grant proposals, and donor stewardship as needed.
Create contracts for artists and contractors and contribute to drafting, reviewing, and editing contracts for MFA co-organized exhibitions.
Maintain and archive digital project files and records on the Museum server, TMS, and internal systems; oversee project schedules, reports, installation plans, and meeting summaries.
Identify workflow improvements and cross-departmental practices that enhance efficiency and collaboration.
Stay current on museum-industry practices in exhibition planning, visitor experience, sustainability, accessibility, and project management.
Complete additional projects assigned by the Senior Director of Exhibitions and Publications.
Serve as courier for collection loans as needed.