Assistant Director, Museum Collections

The Jewish Museum; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The Jewish Museum is seeking an Assistant Director, Collections in New York City to lead the stewardship of a 25,000+ object permanent collection. You will develop and enforce collection protocols, supervise the collections team, and ensure professional standards across acquisition, deaccessioning, documentation and access.

You will work with curators, registrars, and conservation staff on provenance research, storage strategies, and access to collections for exhibitions, publications, and

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Art History, Museum Studies, or equivalent
• Minimum 10 years of relevant Collections Management experience
• Extensive knowledge of museum collection management policies, including records management, and ethical and legal issues
• Excellent research and organizational skills; attention to detail
• Ability to multi-task and manage competing priorities

Responsibilities

• Facilitate acquisition (or deaccession) of artworks with proper documentation
• Supervise accessioning and cataloguing of each new acquisition with detailed condition reports
• Manage maintenance of all collection records and ensure accuracy
• Supervise and mentor the collections team, including interns and volunteers
• Conduct provenance research and create ownership dossiers for artworks, focusing on World War II-era items
• Propose objects for travel exhibitions in collaboration with curators and registration staff
• Maintain primary TMS administrator duties and oversee database upgrades with IT
• Develop expertise in collections management systems (e.g., Crystal Reports, ExLibris Primo) and evaluate new technologies
• Prepare artwork labels for exhibitions and publications
• Chair Collections Management Committee meetings and coordinate access to storage for researchers
• Oversee object photography and analytics reports for curators and leadership
• Collaborate with registration, conservation, and vendor teams on collections initiatives
• Ensure compliance with Collection Management Policy and related procedures

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Research skills

Attention to detail

Communication

Education

Master's degree in Art History / Museum Studies

10+ years of collections experience

Tools

TMS (The Museum System)

Crystal Reports

ExLibris Primo

NetX digital asset management

Job description

The Jewish Museum is seeking an Assistant Director, Collections in New York City to lead the stewardship of a 25,000+ object permanent collection. You will develop and enforce collection protocols, supervise the collections team, and ensure professional standards across acquisition, deaccessioning, documentation and access.

You will work with curators, registrars, and conservation staff on provenance research, storage strategies, and access to collections for exhibitions, publications, and