Director of Public History

The Rome Group; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 75,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The Missouri History Museum in St. Louis, MO seeks a Director of Public History to lead a team of public historians and provide strategic direction for storytelling across exhibits, programs, media, partnerships, and emerging initiatives.

The successful candidate will be an accomplished storyteller, collaborative leader, and creative thinker who will help define and grow the role as the museum evolves its public profile.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in public history or related field.
• 7–10 years of public-facing communications or storytelling experience.
• Experience supervising and mentoring staff.
• Experience leading interdisciplinary teams and managing multiple projects on tight timelines.

Responsibilities

• Leads a team of public historians and sets strategic direction.
• Oversees storytelling across exhibits, programs, media, partnerships, and emerging initiatives.
• Manages tours programs and expands audience reach.
• Collaborates with Exhibitions, Curatorial Affairs, Education and Communications.
• Acts as a public representative via media appearances and partnerships.
• Leads workshops for writers and content developers.

Skills

Leadership

Staff development

Public history

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in public history or related field

Job description

Director of Public History Missouri History Museum – St. Louis, MO 63112 Salary Range: $75,000.00 – $85,000.00 Salary Position Type:Full Time

Description

One of the largest, oldest, and most-visited historical societies in the country, the Missouri Historical Society is in the midst of a transformative decade focused on sharing more history with more people than ever before through major new initiatives, including a 12,000-square-foot St. Louis history gallery opening in 2028, expanded programs and education efforts, new communications strategies, and new visitor-centered spaces. At this important moment for MHS and for St. Louis, we seek a Director of Public History to lead a team of public historians and provide strategic direction for storytelling across exhibits, programs, media, partnerships, and emerging public-facing initiatives. The successful candidate will be an accomplished storyteller, collaborative leader, and creative thinker who is excited to help define and grow a new role as MHS innovates, evolves, and expands its public profile.

Essential Functions

• Leads a team of public historians, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and professional growth.
• This team does some of the Missouri Historical Society’s most visible and diversified storytelling about St. Louis through exhibits, programming, tours, public appearances, social media features, and broadcast media spots.
• Provides strategic oversight for content development in collaboration with the Directors of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs, helping ensure storytelling is compelling, accessible, visitor centered, and aligned across projects.
• Oversees MHS’s internal and external tours programs, working with staff across departments to grow the ways these successful programs reach even larger audiences and align with the institution’s storytelling priorities.
• Maintains awareness of current events, community conversations, and emerging issues relevant to the St. Louis region to inform timely and meaningful storytelling through exhibits, content-writing, and programming.
• Identifies emerging opportunities for MHS to engage audiences through new storytelling formats, partnerships, and experiences like programs and tours, collaborating closely with the Director of Education & Community Engagement.
• Collaborates with the Missouri Historical Society’s communications department to share the St. Louis story as boldly and broadly as possible, identifying and executing on timely opportunities to connect MHS’s exhibits, collections, and storytelling to current events in social media, blog posts, broadcast media, and more.
• Initiates and maintains storytelling collaborations with external partners.
• Balances strategic leadership with hands-on content work, periodically serving as content lead for exhibit projects and contributing as an author for MHS publications.
• Leads regular workshop and skills-building sessions for writers and content developers in departments across the Missouri Historical Society.
• Serves as a visible public representative of the Missouri Historical Society through media appearances, public presentations, and community partnerships. Mentors other staff to grow their skills in these areas.
• Manages planning and budgets for the Public History department in collaboration with the Managing Director of Public History.
• Serves as a department head in the Missouri Historical Society’s Public History division, which encompasses much of the institution’s public-facing work. This role reports to the Managing Director of Public History.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree relating to public history, storytelling, or creative communication. This can include but is not limited to history, American studies, museum studies, journalism, or mass communications.
• 7-10 years of progressively responsible experience in public-facing communications, exhibit development, writing, or storytelling roles.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, and developing professional staff.
• Experience leading interdisciplinary teams and managing multiple projects on tight, simultaneous timelines.

Skills & Attributes

• Demonstrated leadership abilities that can be applied to mentor, motivate, and organize non-traditional teams of creative thinkers and storytellers.
• Ability to inspire colleagues, partners, and public audiences through compelling storytelling and collaborative leadership.
• Outstanding problem-solving abilities.
• Comfort operating in a new role in an evolving environment and helping shape new programs and approaches to storytelling.
• An appreciation for museum storytelling and interpretation, visitor experience, and a commitment to staying up to date on best and emerging practices in the museum field.
• Familiarity with museum collections and collections-based storytelling is preferred but not required.
• Excellent overall communication skills and a demonstrated ability to write for a public audience. Applicants will be asked to submit samples of past writing, exhibition, and / or public programming work and respond to a writing prompt as part of the interview process.
• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to meet deadlines and help teams stay on track across multiple projects.
• Flexibility, professionalism, creativity, and a passion for sharing St. Louis history are all required
• Ability to think big picture and a desire to understand, promote, and deliver on the Missouri Historical Society’s mission to protect, preserve, and share the St. Louis story.