Strategic Leader, Digital Collections & Innovation

Chicago-History-Society; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 65,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

Chicago History Museum is seeking a Head of Digital Collections Initiatives to lead the strategy for the museum's digital collections ecosystem, coordinating cross‑departmental efforts and guiding systems, integrations and workflows that advance digital transformation.

Reporting to the Director of Collections, the role manages digitization, digital asset management, rights and reproductions, and efforts to expand access and revenue while ensuring accessibility and stewardship.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience managing digital collections and related initiatives.
• Experience supervising staff and cross‑departmental teams.
• Experience developing and improving workflows, policies, and standards for digitization, metadata, and access.
• Knowledge of metadata standards such as Dublin Core, MODS, or VRA.
• Knowledge of copyright, licensing, and intellectual property related to digital collections.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic planning and governance of the museum's digital collections ecosystem.
• Manage day‑to‑day operations of the Digital Collections Initiatives unit.
• Oversee digitization, DAMS, CMS, and public discovery platforms.
• Develop and maintain technical standards and governance for image capture and metadata.
• Expand public access to digitized collections via digital platforms.
• Collaborate with IT and other departments to ensure systems integration.

Skills

Digital collections

Project management

Cross‑functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in library and information science

Tools

DAMS

CMS

Digital discovery platforms

Job description

Chicago History Museum is seeking a Head of Digital Collections Initiatives to lead the strategy for the museum's digital collections ecosystem, coordinating cross‑departmental efforts and guiding systems, integrations and workflows that advance digital transformation.

Reporting to the Director of Collections, the role manages digitization, digital asset management, rights and reproductions, and efforts to expand access and revenue while ensuring accessibility and stewardship.