Senior Curator & Exhibition Strategy Director

National Museum of Wildlife Art; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

MOPOP in Seattle seeks an Associate Director, Curatorial to provide day-to-day leadership of the Curatorial Department and shape the museum's exhibition program. The role balances direct exhibition ownership with people leadership, long-range planning, and stewardship of consistent curatorial standards.

The position requires 8+ years in curatorial work, 3+ years of management, and strong collaboration across teams to deliver engaging exhibitions and stories for MOPOP's audiences.

Qualifications

• Minimum eight years of curatorial or exhibition development experience in museums or related cultural institutions.
• Experience leading large-scale exhibitions and complex initiatives.
• At least three years of managerial experience.
• Strong knowledge of exhibition development, interpretive planning, collections stewardship, and museum standards.
• Excellent organizational, communication, writing, presentation, leadership, and collaboration skills.
• Familiarity with traveling exhibitions, budgeting, grants, contracts, and institutional partnerships preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee MOPOP exhibitions (on-site and traveling) from concept through post-opening operations.
• Collaborate with Curatorial, Exhibition Design + Planning, Collections, Exhibition Fabrication, Video, Marketing, Advancement, Facilities, and other teams.
• Lead interpretive framing, storytelling, and visual aesthetics across exhibitions and digital platforms.
• Develop exhibition content across themes, didactic text, media narratives, and visitor experiences.
• Manage budgeting, vendor coordination, contracts, and traveling exhibition planning.
• Support long-range planning and institutional curatorial initiatives with the Chief Collections + Exhibitions Officer.
• Coordinate with related teams on exhibition calendars, rotations, and gallery refreshes.
• Assist with installation, deinstallation, and post-opening stewardship as needed.
• Conduct oral history interviews and contribute to institutional storytelling related to exhibitions and collections.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and rigorous departmental culture.

Skills

Curatorial leadership

Exhibition development

Staff management

Museum standards

Communication

Tools

Collections management systems

Exhibition software

Digital interpretation platforms

Job description

MOPOP in Seattle seeks an Associate Director, Curatorial to provide day-to-day leadership of the Curatorial Department and shape the museum's exhibition program. The role balances direct exhibition ownership with people leadership, long-range planning, and stewardship of consistent curatorial standards.

The position requires 8+ years in curatorial work, 3+ years of management, and strong collaboration across teams to deliver engaging exhibitions and stories for MOPOP's audiences.