Director of Archives & Art Resources at SFMOMA in San Francisco, California

Job Description:

Schedule: Full Time, 35 hours/week, approximately three days working onsite

The Director of Archives and Art Resources oversees a department that provides museum staff and audiences with the best possible access to information, media, and records related to art, artists, and SFMOMA's program, encouraging creativity and multivariant experiences with modern and contemporary art. The Director of Archives and Art Resources is accountable for supporting collections activities, content creation, management, and preservation, and integrating workflows and software applications to deliver comprehensive access and opportunities to research, activate, and experience art. They direct the strategic administration and advancement of the museum's collections information management, digital asset management, archives and records management, imaging, and intellectual property programs.

The Director of Archives and Art Resources supervises and sets priorities for the workflows of five expert teams who collaboratively steward physical, digitized, and born-digital content to align with the museum's strategic priorities and the Collections, Exhibitions and Design division's goals. Reporting to and collaborating with the Head of Collections, the Director of Archives and Art Resources is a vital partner to Senior Staff and colleagues across the museum - including CED, Curatorial, Education and Community Engagement, Marketing + Communications, Information Technology, and Legal - in realizing integrated collections stewardship, collaborative collections and exhibitions research, and dynamic public programming.

Responsibilities & Duties

Team Leadership

• Encourages and contributes to an inclusive, rewarding, and inspiring workplace, where innovation, discovery, and constant learning cultivate a deep sense of belonging and shared responsibility within the Archives and Art Resources team.
• Builds and fosters a culture of safety, inclusivity, and equity, and supports the personal and professional growth of individuals.
• Works in a healthy and flexible management style that understands and adjusts to staff needs and supports strategic pursuits and sustainable workloads.
• Nurtures collaboration and partnership across teams with fluid communication and respect for diverse expertise that are essential to an art museum.
• Supports effective and efficient communication and workflows, prioritizes activities, and ensures that Archives and Art Resources team has the resources they need to do their jobs.
• Models empathy and understanding, communicates clearly, and can explain the benefits of changing practices and behaviors to meet the needs of colleagues, teams, and projects.
• Demonstrates a commitment to the museum's strategic focus of making programming that engages visitors and inspires individuals to return and recommend the museum to their family and friends.
• Supports the museum's strategic focus with processes and guardrails to ensure we move towards the same goals and pivot away from activities that do not support the strategy.
• Works collaboratively with Archives and Art Resources managers, Senior Staff, and colleagues across the museum to ensure that the department's operations around people and program-related information, media and records management, and dissemination align with internal and external needs and expectations.
• Represents the museum through conference presentations, guest lecturing, committee work, mentoring, and publications.

Area Leadership

• Supports the museum's goal of creating dynamic programming that engages visitors and inspires individuals to return and recommend the museum to their family and friends.
• Sets departmental priorities for the best possible creation, use, management, and preservation of information, media and records related to people, art, and programs.
• Ensures priorities are met in ways that are humanly, environmentally, and fiscally sustainable.
• Supports Archives and Art Resources managers in developing, evaluating, and implementing practices, training programs, and policies in their areas.
• Directs long-range development, care, and uses of the collections management system, digital asset management system, institutional archive, records management program, and photo studio spaces at the museum's two locations.
• Collaborating with the Director of Collections Management and Director of Library, ensures shared workspaces are managed, maintained, and sustained as collective workspaces.
• Plans and implements strategies for advancing the department's work by exploring promising trends and developments supporting short and long-term access and uses of content related to collections, exhibitions, Fisher collection, public programs, artists, and the museum's history by staff and audiences.
• Steps in to provide hands-on support for the five teams, including hands-on work to:
  • Add and manage content in the collections management and digital asset management systems.
  • Troubleshoot system issues and assist with user support.
  • Work with staff and external researchers to explore and answer research questions.
  • Coordinate the planning, production, and delivery of new images.
  • Assess, manage, and clear rights.

Administration

• Supervises, establishes priorities, trains, and mentors Archives and Art Resources managers, interns, and volunteers.
• In partnership with Collections department directors (Collections Management, Conservation, Library, Registration), designs, delivers, and implements new solutions and procedures to facilitate art collections stewardship and access, with human, environmental, and fiscal sustainability at the forefront.
• Works with Archives and Art Resources managers to set meaningful and measurable goals for their areas, emphasizing goals that are in alignment with the museum's strategic priorities and the Collections, Exhibitions and Design division's goals.
• Estimates, directs, and redirects resources for activities as situations change to meet critical deadlines.
• Creates and supervises department budget, which includes innovative technology projects that enhances the creation and use of information, media, and records related to people, art, and programs.
• Collaborating with the General Counsel's office, crafts, negotiates, and manages contracts and other legal agreements.
• Ensures that policies and procedures are standardized and sustainable across the department.
• Tracks project data and finds creative ways to share and apply the information for decision-making.
• Provides museum leadership and stakeholders with updates regarding the progress and impact of high-profile projects.
• Ensures that Archives and Art Resources managers have the support needed to manage relationships with vendors, contractors, and agencies, and prioritize and communicate issues and needs.

Qualifications & Skills

• Advanced degree in information studies preferred, or equivalent experience in a related field.
• Minimum seven (7) years of experience with collections management systems and digital asset management systems, archive and records management, image production, and rights management in an administrative capacity within a museum.
• Minimum five (5) years of supervisory experience.
• Knowledge of modern and contemporary art.
• Knowledge of art information and art documentation practices and standards.
• Knowledge of archival and records management practices and standards.
• Knowledge of image production workflows and standards.
• Knowledge of museum legal and ethical issues.
• Project and program management experience in the arts and culture sector is strongly preferred.
• Experience with system needs analysis, user support, training, and documentation.
• Detail-oriented and accustomed to utilizing a variety of tools to track and report the status of projects.
• Highly developed communication and networking skills including the ability to advocate for art access priorities, working with multiple stakeholder communities internally and externally.
• Outstanding management and supervisory skills that support, lead, and motivate individuals.
• Maintains a professional and positive attitude in a creative, collaborative, team-oriented environment.
• Works effectively with a broad range of internal and external constituents to build strong relationships based on trust and positive track records.
• High levels of initiative, innovation, creativity, and flexible problem-solving skills.
• Excellent proficiency with Microsoft applications (Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Expertise with collections management systems and digital asset management systems.
• Expertise with Asana or other project management software platforms.
• Ability to quickly master new tools and platforms as technologies evolve.
• Demonstrated commitment to principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and sustainability in the arts sector.

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