Manager, Exhibit Production

ngs; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The National Geographic Society is seeking an Exhibit Production Manager to lead daily exhibits operations, manage fabrication, and coordinate with engineering and creative teams at the Museum of Exploration.

This role requires weekend and varied hours, supervising 4-6 staff, and travel up to 20% annually, with responsibilities spanning logistics, budgeting, and vendor management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or relevant experience required.
• 7+ years of relevant exhibitions operations experience.
• 3+ years of supervisory/managerial experience.
• Knowledge of museum standards and practices.
• Strong construction and fabrication knowledge.
• Experience with budgeting, contracting, and vendor management.
• Ability to travel 0-20% annually.

Responsibilities

• Manage the daily exhibits operations, logistics, scheduling, production and digital archive of exhibit construction and installation. (30%)
• Manage vendors, subcontractors (internal and external) and security on the exhibit operations needs at the museum and other programming facilities. (10%)
• Manage the daily exhibit fabrication needs and maintenance for the Museum of Exploration. (20%)
• Work with Exhibitions and Public Experiences staff to plan future Museum and Traveling exhibitions. (10%)
• Support the production, shipping and condition reporting of traveling photo exhibits. (10%)
• Manage operation of the Museum workshop fabrication areas and off-site storage operations. (15%)
• Manage IPM plan for Museum workshop and on-site storage areas. (5%)

Skills

Exhibitions operations

Team management

Scheduling

Budgeting

A/V knowledge

Fabrication/construction

Engineering coordination

Communication

Travel readiness

Safety compliance

Education

Bachelor's Degree or relevant experience

Tools

Google Suite

MS Office

Adobe Suite

Framing/woodworking tools

Forklift operation

Job description

How You'll Contribute

The Campus and Experiences division creates and supports inspirational experiences for live audiences and delivers excellent service and operations at National Geographic Society facilities. The division is responsible for our Base Camp headquarters, including all aspects of the Museum of Exploration. This division also produces and generates revenue through National Geographic Live, Speakers Bureau and National Geographic's Traveling Exhibitions programs.

The Operations team provides an outstanding experience to everyone who comes to our headquarters, including visitors, donors, and staff. We are focused on planning for and operations of visitor experiences and campus-wide operations. The team is responsible for providing services that all staff rely on, including cleaning, mail and packages, office space management, building engineering, interactive technology, and sustainability.

The Exhibit Production Manager reports to the Director, Experiences Production and Fabrication and manages the Fabrication Specialists, logistics, construction, installation and maintenance of exhibitions. This position works directly with NG, carpenters, painters, and engineers, to manage the build and construction of museum and traveling exhibits. The role supports the Exhibit Creative Team for the planning, development, and fabrication of new exhibits at the Museum of Exploration. The position will manage the fabrication staff and coordinate with other building services divisions. The Exhibit Production Manager manages the exhibit operations and maintenance of all the exhibition spaces within the Museum of Exploration. The role supports the Print Lab and frame shop with production and installation, as well as the Manager of Traveling Exhibitions on storing, crating and shipping of National Geographic traveling exhibits.

Due to the nature of this role in supporting live exhibitions and museum operations, regular weekend shifts and weekend availability are a core requirement of the position.This role requires evening, weekend, holiday, and/or non-standard work hours.

Your Impact

Responsibilities Include:

• Manage the daily exhibits operations, logistics, personnel scheduling, production and digital archive of exhibit construction and installation. (30%)
• Manage vendors, subcontractors (internal and external) and security on the exhibit operations needs at the museum and other programming facilities. (10%)
• Manage the daily exhibit fabrication needs and maintenance for the Museum of Exploration. (20%)
• Work with Exhibitions and Public Experiences staff to plan future Museum and Traveling exhibitions. (10%)
• Support the production, shipping and condition reporting of traveling photo exhibits. (10%)
• Manage operation of the Museum workshop fabrication areas and off-site storage operations. (15%)
• Manage IPM plan for Museum workshop and on-site storage areas. (5%)

What You'll Bring

Minimum Education Required

Bachelor's Degree - or relevant experience required.

Minimum Years and Type of Experience

• 7+ years of relevant technical exhibitions operations experience.
• 3+ years of team management experience.

Knowledge and Skills Required

• Ability to effectively work with others cross departmentally and manage a team
• Demonstrated experience scheduling equitable work shifts for a team to ensure operations and maintenance are supported during core hours
• Knowledge of museum standards and practices
• A strong aptitude for tools and standard construction practices
• Familiarity with A/V, electronic and mechanical principles and techniques
• Technical knowledge of fabrication and construction, electronics and other relevant skills related to the production and transport of exhibition and experiences.
• Knowledge of budgeting, contracting and other business practices
• Comfortable working at heights, either on a ladder or a mechanical lift and working with heavy objects
• Experience operating a forklift
• Excellent oral and written communications skills
• Computer fluency; specifically working in the Google Suite, Word, Excel and the Adobe Suite.
• Ability to travel for projects (to include training, conferences, vendor site visits) is required at 0-20% annually.

Supervision

4-6 staff and contractors

Due to the nature of this role in supporting live exhibitions and museum operations, regular weekend shifts and weekend availability are a core requirement of the position.This role requires evening, weekend, holiday, and/or non-standard work hours.

Salary Information

The National Geographic Society offers a competitive and holistic total rewards package. Our compensation structure and transparent pay philosophy are based on industry-specific market data for similar-sized nonprofit organizations.

The salary range for this position accounts for a wide range of factors including but not limited to organizational need; specific skill sets; experience and training; certifications; and more. At the National Geographi