Project Manager, Design

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

Our cross-disciplinary team consists of 31 members, representing Exhibition Design, Graphic Design, Lighting, Production and Project Management. The scope of the department is significant, and includes approximately 50+ exhibitions and rotations per year, capital construction and buildings projects, as well as permanent collections and gallery reinstallation projects. In addition to exhibition materials, the department produces approximately 200+ communication design projects a year, including branded collateral and bespoke event identities. The studio provides design services for a building that is over 2 million square feet and contains objects from 17 curatorial departments.

General Statement of Responsibilities and Duties

As a member of the Design team, you will be engaged in strategy, planning, and processes for the Design studio, overseeing project coordination for exhibition and communication design projects in a high-volume, high-caliber museum environment. You will actively communicate with all members of the design team as well as external stakeholders throughout the museum, as well as manage two full-time staff members: the Communication Design Coordinator and Exhibition Design Coordinator. This position requires a high level of engagement to refine project scopes and expectations, and determine schedules and budgets. An active knowledge of print, digital, and graphic design production methods (Including environmental signage), and the ability to maintain quality and integrity of The Met brand are required.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

• Work with the Head of Design to maintain assignments, workflow and staffing needs

• Oversee the Communication Design Coordinator to ensure that all communication assets (banners, signage, etc.) are produced and installed on-time and that vendors maintain standards of quality

• Oversee the Exhibition Design Coordinator in collaboration with the Exhibition Design Manager and Exhibition Project Managers to ensure exhibition projects are assigned, managed and scheduled effectively

• Assign incoming exhibition and communication design projects with the Design managers and meet regularly with project teams to review progress, communicate deadlines, project budgets, and approvals

• Actively communicate with Design Managers on project status and maintain engagement between disciplines; maintain project management tools and protocols and communicate best practices consistently and effectively

• Oversee external sourcing, negotiate fees, draft RFPs and coordinate contracts with external creative professionals (i.e., illustration, photography, cartography) as well as designated vendors for print production, signage fabrication and installation.

• Assess and innovate project management systems with the team to optimize support of communication design and exhibition design processes

• Actively uphold and support The Met’s core graphic identity with internal and external partners

• Analyze time tracking data for efficiencies in collaboration with the Exhibition Design Coordinator and Data Analytics team

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS:

Experience and Skills:

• 5+ years of experience in a related role

• Project management experience in the graphic design, graphic production, or architecture/exhibit