Senior Director & Curator, Museum Experience and Campus Development

National Museum of Wildlife Art; Honolulu (HI); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum seeks a Senior Director & Curator to lead visitor experience, curatorial, and campus development efforts. This role oversees multiple teams, drives major exhibits, and guides a broad strategic vision for a transformative visitor journey.

The position requires strong leadership, project management, and collaboration across departments to execute complex projects and elevate the museum experience for generations of visitors.

Qualifications

• Progressive leadership experience in museums, historic sites, or related settings.
• Experience leading exhibit, interpretation, visitor experience, or capital-related initiatives with diverse stakeholders.
• Strong fluency in museum stewardship, interpretation, and visitor-centered practices.

Responsibilities

• Establish leadership cadence and priorities for curatorial, collections, archives, library, and restoration teams.
• Create an integrated delivery roadmap for Hangars 79 and 37 with milestones and owners.
• Lead visitor experience elevation plan and measure service outcomes.
• Align restoration, collections, and campus priorities with available resources.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Communication

Writing

Collaboration

Financial judgment

Team-building

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree welcomed

Job description

SENIOR DIRECTOR & CURATOR, MUSEUM EXPERIENCE and CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Location: Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
FLSA Status: Full-time, exempt
Salary range: $110,000–$150,000 annually

THE OPPORTUNITY

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is seeking a museum leader to help transform one of America’s most consequential historic aviation sites. Located on Ford Island, our authentic World War II aviation battlefield, historic hangars, aircraft, collections, and stories create an extraordinary platform to preserve history and inspire future generations. The Museum is undertaking major capital investment and battlefield campus development that will redefine how visitors experience this place and help shape Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum for the next generation.

Reporting to the CEO, the Senior Director will lead the Museum’s visitor experience, curatorial and collections functions, and museum- side implementation of major exhibits and campus development. This is a hands‑on leadership opportunity for someone who can guide talented staff, establish clear priorities, execute complex projects, and translate an ambitious vision into an exceptional museum experience.

WHAT THIS LEADER WILL OWN

Museum experience and interpretation

• Own the end-to-end on-site museum experience, including arrival, orientation, wayfinding, interpretation, exhibits, tours, and the quality and consistency of public-facing visitor operations and service.
• Work across departments to improve accessibility, guest engagement, satisfaction, and operational readiness; use visitor feedback and performance measures to drive improvements.
• Set institution-wide standards for historical interpretation and storytelling, connecting the historic battlefield, aircraft, artifacts, personal stories, and the larger Pacific War narrative.

Battlefield campus transformation and capital projects

• Lead museum-side implementation of the World War II Aviation Battlefield initiative and major exhibit and campus-development work, especially Hangar 79, from approved design through installation, opening, and sustained operations.
• Serve as the primary museum owner for visitor, interpretive, curatorial, collections, and operational requirements; coordinate design partners, exhibit fabricators, historians, contractors, and internal departments.
• Partner closely with the capital projects and facilities team, who retain responsibility for technical construction management, contracts, building systems, code compliance, and site safety.
• Manage institutional milestones, owner decisions, scope integration, exhibit quality, transition planning, operating impacts, and escalation of risks to the CEO.

Curatorial, collections, library, and people leadership

• Direct the curatorial, collections, archives, library, and associated research staff; provide visible senior guidance, regular coaching, clear work plans, professional standards, and accountability.
• Oversee collections stewardship, acquisition and loan recommendations, cataloging and documentation, preservation priorities, interpretive research, and appropriate access to collections and archives.
• Create practical priorities for staff and volunteers and build coordination among curatorial work, exhibit development, restoration, and visitor experience.
• Work with the CEO and appropriate board committee on collections priorities, policies, major acquisitions, and institutional stewardship.

Restoration and historic campus stewardship

• Provide strategic oversight of restoration priorities and supervise restoration leadership, aligning aircraft and large‑artifact preservation with collections standards, display plans, visitor experience, budgets, and donor commitments.
• Coordinate with Facilities, Capital Projects, Security, and military partners on historic-campus presentation, preservation-related priorities, construction impacts, visitor access, and long‑range campus activation.
• Ensure restoration and conservation work are interpreted appropriately for guests and integrated with future exhibitions and campus development.

Leadership and collaboration

• Set annual plans, budgets, staffing priorities, project milestones, and measurable outcomes for assigned teams; deliver regular progress reports and clear recommendations to the CEO.
• Collaborate closely with Education on school visits, interpretation, public programming, and Aviation Pathways connections. Education strategy, curriculum, program delivery, and education staff do not report to this role.
• Partner with Philanthropy and Marketing on capital‑project storytelling, donor engagement, interpretive content, and campaign‑related milestones.
• Represent the Museum with exhibit and design partners, military stakeholders, collections peers, donors, and community organizations.

QUALIFICATIONS

• At least 7 years of progressive leadership experience in museums, historic sites, heritage attractions, cultural institutions, or closely related settings, including staff management and experience working with facility or campus operations.
• Demonstrated experience executing substantial exhibit, interpretive, visitor‑experience, historic‑site, or capital‑related initiatives involving diverse stakeholders, budgets, schedules, facilities, and outside partners; experience opening or significantly transforming a museum, historic site, major gallery, or exhibition is strongly preferred.
• Strong museum fluency, including sound judgment on collections stewardship, interpretation, historic preservation, and visitor‑centered practice; ability to lead and develop specialized curatorial staff without personally serving as sole subject‑matter expert.
• Excellent project management, communication, writing, collaboration, financial judgment, and team‑building skills.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of relevant education and substantial professional experience. Advanced degree in museum studies, public history, history, preservation, or a related field welcomed, not required.
• Knowledge of World War II, military or aviation history, historic battlefields, aircraft restoration, and federal or military‑site partnerships is an advantage.

THE FIRST 12 MONTHS

• Establish leadership cadence, staff development plans, and clear priorities for curatorial, collections, archives, library, and restoration teams, while working across departments to advance the visitor experience.
• Create an integrated museum‑side delivery roadmap for Hangars 79 and 37 and the broader battlefield campus, with milestones, decision owners, launch requirements, and documented risks.
• Work with staff to implement a practical visitor‑experience elevation plan and identify measurable service and interpretive outcomes.
• Agree with the CEO and department partners on restoration, collections, and campus stewardship priorities aligned with available resources.