COLLECTIONS MANAGER, HERITAGE ARTS & CULTURE

Req #: 219376
Department: BURKE MUSEUM
Posting Date: 03/13/2023
Closing Info:
Open Until Filled
Salary: $4,859-$5,584 per month
Shift: Alternate Work Shift
Notes:
As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here. (https://hr.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/02/benefits-professional-staff-librarians-academic-staff-20230119_a11y.pdf)
As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.
The Collections Manager in Heritage: Arts & Cultures (HAC) is a member of a team that cares for collections by centering ethics and through building and maintaining relationships with descendant communities. The day-to-day work of the Collections Manager involves managing and supervising the long-term care and preservation of the collections, including facilitating access for community, students, researchers and staff, and overseeing the documentation and care of collections and archives. Collections care includes a range of activities, such as: overseeing research, maintaining records, inventory, communicating with donors, repatriation, arranging conservation, coordinating for exhibits and other public events, supporting storage renovation projects, assisting with efforts to digitize collections and migrating the database.
Under the direction of the Curator of Oceanic and Asian Culture, the Collections Manager will foster and maintain ethical relationships between the Burke Museum and Pacific Islander and Asian communities to facilitate community visits and research. To support this work, the Collections Manager will build upon and create new relationships with individuals, artists, communities, and arts organizations. As a member of the HAC department, the Collections Manager will work as a team with HAC Curators, Collections Managers, the Bill Holm Center, assistants, students and volunteers, and cultivate connections across all Burke departments, as well as between the cultural collections and Oceanic and Asian collections in other departments at the Burke Museum.
Job Metrics (measurables):
- Prioritize access to collections for communities with heritage connections, and balance with needs to preserve the collection for future generations, including Indigenous communities for whom we are entrusted with this responsibility;
- Create, implement and update plans for the ethical care of the collections, including ethical reviews by community members, adequate budgeting and staff support;
- Develop grants and projects that center collections care, ethics, and community access, including the management and reconciliation of budgets from a range of sources;
- Inspire and support students, volunteers and community members to research and care for the collections, including opening opportunities for student research and leadership;
- Recruit and train future museum professionals in anti-colonial museum practices, including the mentoring of students in Museology, Anthropology and related fields;
- Create annual reports and work with the Burke Museum's Communications Department to highlight community self-representation, research, and community/student engagement with the collections;
- Work a flexible schedule that occasionally involves work on weekends and holidays, or for annual fundraising or member events;
- Coordinate with fellow Collections Managers to develop and implement policies and procedures for collections care;
- Work in an environment visible to the public with visual and audible distractions;
- Wear required credentials at all times and work attire/uniforms and name tags as required by position. Basic Functions:
- Management, Maintenance and Preventive Conservation. Care and manage Oceanic and Asian cultural collections, including paperwork for accessions and deaccessions, handling, cleaning, inventory, preventive conservation, artifact numbering, storage mounts, researching, describing, cataloging, and photo-documentation of cultural and archival artifacts. Supervise undergraduate and graduate student practicum projects, hourly staff, interns and volunteers on a variety of on-going projects in the Oceanic and Asian collections as needed. Support the care and management for existing collections that do not have a curator, such as the African collections. Provide general collections management training, guidance and supervision for various projects involving students and community members. Oversee the hiring and work schedules for work-study or hourly staff as needed. (35%)
- Access to Oceanic and Asian collections. Process outgoing loans for in-house exhibits and loans to other museums and institutions, communicate with borrowers, assess artifact stability for loans, create condition reports for individual pieces (including appraisals for insurance purposes), coordinate mounts and case arrangements for exhibition, oversee packing and shipping arrangements and loan fees. Provide research access to the Oceanic and Asian collections via phone, email, and mail and facilitate general research and community visits to the museum. Review catalog records and image data for these collections for the website. (35%)
- Collaboration with the Registrar's Office and other Collections Managers. Regular coordination with the Registrar's Office on anticipated and newly acquired collections, and assignment of accession numbers. Consultation with the Registrar's Office and the Repatriation Committee about pieces in the Oceanic and Asian collections identified for return or deaccessioning. Continue conversations and policy development with other Collections Managers and related departments about best practices and opportunities for connecting knowledge and collections. (10%)
- Public Outreach. Assist the public with general information, care suggestions, and identification through individual appointments. Participate in Burke-wide behind the scenes and special events featuring collections, such as events for members and donors. (5%)
- Building Oceanic and Asian collections responsibly. Cultivate, communicate and meet with potential donors and assess possible acquisitions in conjunction with the Curator for Oceanic & Asian Culture. Purchase objects for permanent collections, with approval of the Curator. Work with donors to return collections directly to source communities rather than to the museum, when appropriate. Discuss large acquisitions with other Collections Managers to consider long-term storage impacts. (5%)
- Other responsibilities. Complete major project to inventory, sort, catalog and digitize holdings in the archives. Manage IPM program and environmental monitoring for the department. Share responsibility for managing the operations budget and rectifying this budget on My Financial Desktop. Create annual reports highlighting visitor requests, research and community requests. Assist with grant narratives as needed. Participate in general museum meetings and staff hires, and serve as representative on various committees. (10%) Minimum Requirements:
- Master's degree in Museum Studies or related field;
- Previous experience in collections management, or related experience;
- Knowledge of collection database management systems;
- Knowledge and experience working with Indigenous communities, particularly from Oceania and Asia;
- A demonstrated commitment to capacity building, mentoring and training. Desired:
- A passion and interest for developing the relationships and care practices that best support communities and collections;
- Strong interpersonal skills and able to work well as a team in HAC and with other departments;
- Interest in maintaining conversations with other museums caring for Oceanic and Asian collections;
- A commitment to anti-colonial practices and mentoring the next generation of museum professionals and students;
- Supervisory experience;
- Experience with repatriation;
- Knowledge and experience with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and environmental monitoring;
- Knowledge of scanning equipment and digital cameras, rights & reproductions, copyright law;
- Knowledge of archives management and best practices;
- Preventive conservation training;
- Previous experience inventorying collections;
- Experience with grant writing.Application Process:The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select "Apply to this position". Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your "My Jobs" page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.
University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, among other things, race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.