Registrar of Collections

Description

The Registrar of Collections works collaboratively with the Curatorial Team to ensure the stewardship and long-term preservation of collections, including all activities related to collections of diverse types and sizes. The Registrar of Collections works in close partnership with the Registrar of Exhibitions and other key department directors to provide leadership, vision, strategic direction, and management to accomplish the museum’s goals and directions.

FLSA Status: Exempt, Full-time, NOT eligible for overtime pay. 

Annual Salary:  $63,000 - $65,000 annually

 Position Highlights:
You are…

• A doer – someone who takes initiative, solves problems, and executes tasks with precision to keep operations running smoothly. A person who thrives in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple day-to-day tasks while ensuring efficiency and attention to detail.
• A generous guardian. An organized, energetic, persistent, meticulous person with a high degree of personal responsibility, committed to preserving the safety and promoting the accessibility of objects under their care. 
• A systems and organizations builder. A person that is successful in using and creating systems and structures to organize information and objects to meet departmental and organizational priorities. 
• An arts advocate. A person who values art objects as repositories of stories that help facilitate connection across differences and communities and as sources of learning and inspiration. 
• A collaborator and team builder. A person who is comfortable operating in a co-creation and collaborative role with internal and external partners and who can engage such partners with clear communications has and ability to set and manage shared expectations and commits to finding mutually advantageous ways to work together.

Primary Duties:

• Manage the coordination and processes for acquisition, deaccession, and disposition of objects, and processes abandoned loans according to Kentucky state law, facilitates repatriation claims when appropriate, and ensures compliance with state, federal, and international laws and treaties.
• Leads day-to-day activities and long-term planning efforts for the stewardship, security, and care of collections while strategizing and consulting on improvements to storage areas, inventory management, and the movement of collections within and beyond the museum.Collaborates with the Registrar of Exhibitions and the Curators to establish and implement all policies and procedures in areas of registration and collections management following current museum standards and ethics of registration. Ensures that policies and procedures are upheld by all departments; develops new policies as needed in consultation with the Registrar of Exhibitions, the Curators, and the Museum’s senior team. 
• Manage physical safety, security, order, control, care, and accessibility of the permanent collection while in storage. With the support of the Preparations, Security, and Building Services teams, monitors environmental conditions and security at storage areas, conducts condition reports, and advises on environmental conditions and safety of objects. 
• Manages the Speed’s digital collections management system, The Museum System (TMS); oversees system upgrades and manages user licenses. Creates and modifies Crystal Reports for use with TMS.
• Supports curatorial staff with Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) protocols, including working with consultants, distribution of inventories, and management of the Museum’s NAGPRA compliance tracker and related data.
• Oversees electronic and paper documentation of permanent collections, including acquisition files, deaccession files, and object files.
• Oversees aspects of digitization of the collection, developing object metadata and images.
• Collaborates with the Senior Director of Collections on the logistics of four Collections Committee meetings per year. 
• Collaborates with the curatorial staff to facilitate collections-based engagement opportunities for area students and faculty. Participates in and provides support for other educational efforts.
• Train staff and others in proper art handling techniques.
• Consults on and writes parts of grant requests related to funding for facility improvements and digitization of the collection. 
• Manages all rights and reproductions and permissions requests related to the permanent collection in a timely manner.
• Advises the Museum on legal and tax matters relating to bequests and gifts of art, accessions, estate planning, and co-ownership agreements of works in the collection. Advises the museum on ethical and risk-management issues.
• Implement a regular pest management program.
• Assists in managing the Registrar’s Office annual budget.

Requirements

Qualifications: 

The ideal candidate will have 3 years or more of progressively responsible experience relevant to registration and collection management in an art museum or cultural organization. 

Must have a valid Driver’s License and Real ID and be able to work in the U.S. and travel internationally.

Supervisory Responsibility:

• Collections Intern.
• Collections volunteers

Physical Requirements & Working Environment:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions, which are: 

• Extensive use of telephone and computer throughout the workday.
• Sits, reaches, and lifts intermittently throughout the workday.
• Communicates using the English language so that the requirements of this position can be fully met.
• Sees and hears or uses prosthetics that will enable these senses to function adequately so that the requirements of this position can be fully met.
• Ability to access materials, tools, and supplies intermittently throughout the workday. 
• Ability to adapt to and work from various locations so the requirements of this position can be fully met. Able to travel nationally and internationally as needed to represent the Museum.
• Access to reliable transportation so the requirements of this position can be fully met.
• Willing, as necessary, to work beyond normal working hours, on weekends, and remains accessible when away from the Museum so the requirements of this position can be fully met.

Other Duties: 

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. 

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT: 

The Speed provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Salary : $63,000 - $65,000