Manager, Collections

Location

New York State | United States

Job description

S ummary:

The National Urban League is seeking a Manager, Collections for The Urban Civil Rights Museum (UCRM). The Manager, Collections helps UCRM build a new collection. The museum plans to acquire artifacts, artworks and primary source material, which will be displayed in permanent and temporary museum exhibitions onsite and, potentially, loaned to other cultural institutions. The Manager, Collections is charged with properly building, conserving, and creating proper access to the collection to ensure careful and consistent collections care. S/he is responsible for the acquisition, care, storage and management of the collection under the supervision of the Director of Exhibitions. The Manager, Collections catalogs and processes all collection items, manages incoming and outgoing loans, helps with research requests and with other tasks associated with the collection, creates collection and acquisition policies, processes acquisitions, obtains permissions and licenses, and manages the collection database. S/he is responsible for ensuring high standards of collections care and making recommendations for conservation. S/he will assist the staff and public, as needed, with tasks related to the museum’s collection.

The National Urban League will open the Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem, New York, (UCRM) in 2025/2026. As New York’s first museum dedicated to civil rights – and one of the first in the nation to focus on the history of civil rights in the North. The Urban Civil Rights Museum will tell the story of the struggle for civil and human rights in urban environments across America. It will empower people to continue to struggle to improve their lives and the lives of all Americans. It will be a place where you can see and feel the work of the many people who fought for justice in urban centers in the North, a place to reflect on past civil rights efforts, to imagine new possibilities of collective work and to inspire future action.

Essential Functions:

• Support senior staff in identifying items appropriate for loan, accession, de-accession and display for permanent and upcoming exhibitions and programs.
• Create and maintain systems, policies and long-term plans for collections-related projects.
• Complete and implement Collections Plan and Policies.
• Maintain relationships with repositories, library collections, archives and collections of other museums and cultural institutions
• Set up and maintain Museum’s Collections Database.
• Perform routine inventories of collections on display and in storage areas, providing condition reports when necessary
• Develop and Manage Museum’s Digital Asset Management System
• Orchestrate orderly unpacking or packing of collections and display items as needed
• Develop plans to support access to the collection for scholars, artists, researchers, and institutional and community partners
• Work with library, Special Collections, university and museum archives staff as needed for research and potential loans
• Secure and manage collections permissions, photographic and usage rights
• Conduct occasional collections workshops for staff and partners.
• Create and implement plan for transferring objects and artifacts, as needed
• Catalog instiututional archives and collections with integration into collections database.
• Develop and maintain a formal maintenance plan, schedule and housekeeping manual for collections on display and in storage
• Develop Disaster Preparedness Plan for collections on display and in storage
• Develop conservation budgets manage all conservation projects
• Work with Development Department to research and pursue restoration and collections related grants

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, Master’s degree preferred in Museum Studies, Collections, Archival Studies, Library Science, Decorative Arts, Material Culture and African American History, Art history, Museum Studies, Anthropology.

Experience:

• 3 to 5 years of professional experience in collections care management in a museum, library, or archive.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Demonstrated experience, interest, enthusiasm in material culture, history, art and social justice
• Strong organization skills, attention to detail and ability to work independently
• Demonstrated experience in managing projects and community engagement
• Creative approach to thinking about collections work
• Excellent project management skills
• Strong communication skills, capable of thinking and working strategically and handling administrative tasks thoroughly.
• Have a dedicated work ethic, including being a self-starter with the ability to work independently as well as part of a team;
• Well-organized, detail-oriented, and able to handle multiple projects simultaneously, often under time constraints.
• Excellent database, computer, and time management skills.
• Experience with digital collections, digital photography and oral histories is a plus.

Working Conditions

• Candidate must be able to maneuver through narrow passageways, climb up/down stairs and move heavy collections objects with assistance.
• Must be able to stand, stoop, bend, sit and climb for extended periods of time
• Must be able to demonstrate visual acuity to accurately assess assets and artifacts
• Ability to stand in varied institutions and collector environments to assess potential acquisitions
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

Following extensive monitoring, research, and advice from internal and external experts, the National Urban League has required all full-time and part-time employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment as of September 13, 2021. “Fully vaccinated” is defined as both Pfizer or Moderna vaccine doses or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and a booster shot. Anyone unable to be vaccinated, either because of a medical condition or disability or a sincerely held religious belief, can request a reasonable accommodation. Successful applicants for this position must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 per the above policy. Mandatory vaccinations support the National Urban League’s commitment to making our workplace and public events as safe and welcoming as possible . 

To Apply: Submit a cover letter and resume, by clicking the link:

Deadline to apply: April 6, 2024

WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER The National Urban League is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to complying with all federal, state, and local equal employment opportunity (“EEO”) laws. The National Urban League strictly prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of the individual's race, color, sex (including pregnancy), religion or creed, national origin, alienage, citizenship, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, sexual and reproductive health decisions or decision making (of employees or their dependents), familial status, marital status, partnership status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment criminal conviction record, or any other characteristic protected by law. This policy applies to all National Urban League activities, including, but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, compensation, assignment, training, promotion, discipline, and discharge. This policy also bans discriminatory harassment. Employment at the National Urban League is at will.

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