Senior Manager, Special Collections Acquisitions Operations

Application Deadline: 11 January 2026

Department: Collections

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Reporting To: Jason Baumann

Compensation: $100,000 - $115,000 / year

Description

Overview
The New York Public Library (NYPL) has been one of the world’s great public research libraries for more than 130 years. Its research centers provide opportunities for engagement with in-depth and unique collections, inspirational reading rooms, exhibitions, programs, and a range of research services. The Collections and Research Services division encompasses several departments focused on managing the ongoing development of our exceptional research collections, advancing unified discovery and expanded access to our collections, both in-person and online, and ensuring stewardship of the collections at every stage of the collections lifecycle.
NYPL’s special collections are among the most significant and distinctive in the world. They include original manuscripts, organizational records, prints, photographs, rare books, sound recordings, and many other formats documenting history, literature, art history, performing arts, and Black studies – materials that preserve the record of human experience and achievement. 
NYPL seeks a proven and collaborative leader to oversee the acquisitions workflow for its special collections, ensuring accountability and chain of custody, while supporting curators across the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Library, the Library for the Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. 
We are looking for someone we can count on to:
Own:

• Special collections acquisitions operations, ensuring that curators are informed, supported, and aligned around the Library’s business, legal, and acquisition processes

Teach:

• Awareness of best practices in special collections acquisitions in collaboration with curators, including professional ethics, donor and vendor management, business accountability, provenance research, and responsible stewardship

Learn:

• The range of NYPL’s special collections and its evolving collection development goals
• The systems supporting special collections acquisitions at NYPL, including Sierra, Workday, and other databases

Improve:

• Policies, workflows, and procedures for special collections acquisitions and strengthen communication to enhance staff knowledge and collaboration

Some expectations for this role are that within:
1 month, this person will:

• Understand their responsibilities, current NYPL policies and procedures, projects and assessments already underway to improve workflows and documentation
• Gain competency with key systems, including Sierra, WorkDay, ArchivesSpace, and SPEC
• Meet special collection curators and other key collaborators and stakeholders across NYPL

3 months, this person will:

• Manage the business and operational processes for special collections acquisitions, including supporting site visits, approval process, proposals, budgets, and legal agreements
• Contribute to committees and strategic planning efforts, especially related to workflow optimization, the update of NYPL’s Collection Development policy, and the refinement of the total cost of stewardship models

6 months and beyond, this person will:

• Build strong working relationships with curators, the Legal team, Finance, and other stakeholders 
• Identify gaps in policies and procedures and develop a preliminary plan for aligning curators around a shared vision for managing special collections acquisitions

Responsibilities

• Manages the acquisition operations for newly acquired special collections, including partnering with curators in their assessments and site visits and ensuring processes and procedures are aligned with the Library’s business requirements
• Manages acquisitions budgets, verifying available funds and providing regular updates to curators and other stakeholders
• Shepherds purchase agreements and deeds of gifts through their development, review, and approval, coordinating with curators and the Legal team  
• Oversees the tracking and reporting of the total cost of stewardship and contributes to its refinement in partnership with other key stakeholders 
• Reviews acquisition proposals and partners with curators to resolve issues related to provenance, format, materials, size, and preservation concerns<