Museum Acquisitions Lead: Shape a National Collection

Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi); Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) seeks an Acquisitions Lead to oversee the collection asset acquisitions for its world-class museums. Based in Abu Dhabi, the role sits at the intersection of curatorial vision, legal compliance, and strategic relationship management.

You will lead end-to-end acquisition lifecycles, coordinate with curators, conservators, and legal teams, and ensure due diligence, governance approvals, and accurate CMS documentation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in museum studies, art history, arts management, cultural heritage, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in museum acquisitions, collections management, or a related role.
• Proven experience managing acquisition processes, including due diligence, provenance research, ownership verification, valuations, governance approvals, and accessioning.
• Experience reviewing acquisition-related documentation, working with Collection Management Systems (CMS), and coordinating with internal and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End Process Ownership from proposal to final accession.
• Due Diligence and Risk Management including provenance research and legal checks.
• Stakeholder Coordination with curators, conservators, scholars, and legal teams.
• Documentation and Records in CMS; contracts and valuations.
• Budget and Procurement oversight to ensure fiscal accountability.
• Relationship Cultivation with donors, galleries, and partners.
• Governance Support aligning acquisitions with collecting strategy.

Skills

Acquisitions leadership

Due diligence

CMS experience

Stakeholder management

Provenance research

Education

Bachelor’s degree in museum studies, art history, arts management, cultural heritage, or related discipline

Tools

Collection Management System (CMS)

Job description

Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) seeks an Acquisitions Lead to oversee the collection asset acquisitions for its world-class museums. Based in Abu Dhabi, the role sits at the intersection of curatorial vision, legal compliance, and strategic relationship management.

You will lead end-to-end acquisition lifecycles, coordinate with curators, conservators, and legal teams, and ensure due diligence, governance approvals, and accurate CMS documentation.