Job Posting Title

OKPOP Collections Manager

Agency

350 HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Supervisory Organization

Historical Society–OKPOP

Job Posting End Date

Refer to the date listed at the top of this posting, if available. Continuous if date is blank.

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the posting end date above.

Estimated Appointment End Date (Continuous if Blank)

Full/Part-Time

Full time

Job Type

Regular

Compensation

$50,000.00 a year plus benefits

Job Description

Position Summary

The Collections Manager is responsible for the day-to-day care, documentation, movement, and access of OKPOP’s collections—3D objects, archives, photos, AV/born-digital media, and artworks representing Oklahoma’s impact on popular culture. Reporting to the Curator of Pop Culture, this role ensures professional standards in registration and preventive conservation while supporting the Storytelling department’s needs for exhibitions, education, and media production.

Key Responsibilities

Collection Care & Registration

• Accession, catalog, and update records in the collections management system (e.g., Argus); maintain accurate metadata, provenance, location control, and credit lines.

• Perform intake/outgoing processes, condition reporting, barcoding, object numbering, and movement logs.

• Implement preventive conservation: proper handling, storage, housing, environmental monitoring, IPM, rotation schedules, and object preparation for display.

• Maintain orderly, safe, and well-documented storage areas; conduct regular inventories.

Loans, Acquisitions & Documentation

• Process deeds of gift, loan agreements, and related paperwork; coordinate with donors, lenders, artists/estates, and studios.

• Arrange packing/shipping/insurance with approved vendors; serve as courier when required.

• Track rights and restrictions; document permissions for photography, digitization, and reuse.

Digitization, DAM & Access

• Prioritize and execute digitization projects; apply file-naming, metadata, and backup standards.

• Coordinate with Digital/Media teams to ingest assets to DAM (e.g., Starchive) and fulfill internal requests while safeguarding preservation and rights.

• Support researcher and staff access to collections materials per policy.

Exhibition, Education & Production Support

• Work with Exhibits to vet object feasibility, mounts, and environmental needs; prepare items for installation and rotations.

• Provide accurate object data, images, and rights status for labels, curricula, and media pieces.

• Pull, stage, and rehouse objects for education or production needs with appropriate supervision and handling.

Administration & Reporting

• Maintain up-to-date policies, procedures, and checklists; generate routine reports (accessions, loans, inventories, digitization progress).

• Participate in emergency preparedness and collections risk-mitigation activities.

• Train and coordinate volunteers or interns on basic collections tasks as needed.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in History, Museum Studies, Library/Information Science, Art History, or a closely related field or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

• Demonstrated experience with object handling, registration/cataloging, and preventive conservation in a museum or archive setting.

• Working knowledge of collections documentation standards, storage materials, and exhibition prep.

• Clear, professional communication; strong attention to detail; ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with Argus (or other CMS) and a Digital Asset Management workflow (e.g., Starchive).

• Experience processing loans with private collectors, artists/estates, or studios (media, prop