Collections Specialist, Modern & Contemporary [End Dated]

About the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. We are committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with a staff as diverse as the audiences we engage. Our staff members are art lovers who are passionate about working toward a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring art museum in the world.

At The Met, every staff member – from security officers to researchers to scientists and beyond – lives by our core values of respect, inclusivity, collaboration, excellence, and integrity. 

Respect: Engage one another with collegiality, empathy, and kindness, always.

Inclusivity: Ensure that all are and feel welcome and valued.

Collaboration: Reach across boundaries to exchange ideas and work together toward our shared mission.

Excellence: Lead the cultural world in quality and expertise—and inspire curiosity and creativity.

Integrity: Hold ourselves to the highest moral standards, admit when we fall short, and then evolve. 

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT:

The Modern and Contemporary Art department at The Met is devoted to the study, collection and exhibition of art from 1890 to the present. An era marked by seismic cultural, social and political shifts across the globe, artistic responses to these changes have shaped multiple modernities and diverse contemporary practices. The department is committed to foregrounding the interconnected and richly variegated narratives and experiences that inform the art of this period from around the world.

Historically focused on the art of Western Europe and North America, since 2012 Modern and Contemporary Art has greatly expanded and diversified its collections, especially through works by women and artists of color, with particular emphasis on acquisitions from Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and African diasporas. Today, its holdings span a range of media, including paintings, sculpture, works on paper, design, decorative arts, and time-based media. The department presents rotating selections from its dynamic collections in its galleries and special projects throughout the museum.

GENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

As the Collections Specialist, you will work closely with the departments Senior Manager, the collections managers and other Met staff in all activities related to the care and assessment of the collection during the enabling work and renovation of the Tang Wing. You will demonstrate a high degree of project management experience, organizational coordination, knowledge of collections care, including best practices for art handling and movement.

This is a position with an established end-date or time frame. Time frames will begin upon hire: 2 years

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

• Work with Senior Manager and collections team to review collection assessments;

• Work with Senior Manager and other departments to oversee the Modern and Contemporary Tang Wing project budget including the processing and tracking of invoices;

• Work with the collections and conservation team to order supplies and materials;

• Coordinate viewings of the collection in storage by curators, conservators, collection managers, photographers, and others to assess objects and to update record keeping;

• Compiles and maintains collections documentation associated to the project, both digitally and in physical files;

• Perform basic post-production on images for upload to the NetX Digital Asset Management System;

• Coordinates and works with contract and  staff hired to assist in the assessment of the collection and the move offsite;

• Monitors and updates collection-move data, such as dimensions, locations, components, etc., into The Museum System (TMS), collection management software working with other members of the Collections Team;

• Other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• BA degree required; MA in Museum Studies or Collections Management preferred.

• Demonstrate experience working with museum collections.

• Strong interpersonal skills required.

• Excellent organizational, management, and communication skills required.

• Collections Management database experience in TMS.

• Intermediate knowledge of archival materials a