Collections Manager Position at The Nantucket Historical Association

The Nantucket Historical Association seeks an innovative, agile, enthusiastic, and
knowledgeable professional to serve as Collections Manager. Individuals with diverse
backgrounds, experiences, and abilities are encouraged to apply.

The Collections Manager reports to the Director of Collections and Research Services and oversees the day-to-day activities of the Gosnold Collections Center. The Collections Manager is responsible for the registration, cataloguing, movement, storage, and conservation management of all NHA artifact collections. They oversee occasional interns, contractors, and volunteers; contribute to the preparation and installation of exhibitions; participate in public programming and social media efforts; and provide reference services related to the artifact collections. This position is full time and exempt from overtime. Salary is commensurate with experience. For a full position description, please visit: https://nha.org/wp- content/uploads/Collections-Manager-Job-Description.pdf

Required Qualifications:

  • A graduate degree in Museum Studies or a related field.
  • 3–5 years of experience with museum collections.
  • Appropriate training or on-the-job experience in museum registration techniques, preventative conservation, and collections management.
  • An interest in history and material culture.
  • Ability to work effectively and in a timely manner on a wide variety of projects concurrently, with concern for the tasks assigned and goals of the department.
  • Strong problem-solving and project management skills, with an ability to be receptive to changing priorities and to manage multiple work processes and projects simultaneously.
  • Maintain a high level of detail and accuracy in management and completion of tasks.
  • Ability to work collaboratively and in a self-directed capacity, with a solutions-oriented focus.
  • Excellent communications skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Background in object research or exhibition preparation.
  • Excellent grasp of professional descriptive standards and best practices, including CCO, CDWA, DACS, and RDA.
  • Experience taking and editing digital photographs.
  • Familiarity with laws pertaining to ownership, custody, transfer, and disposition of cultural materials; tax laws relating to charitable donations; cultural property laws; customs restrictions; repatriation issues; judicial seizures; copyright laws; insurance laws; and fine art insurance practices.
  • The ability to operate general office equipment and move artifacts weighing up to 60 lbs. on occasion.

About the Nantucket Historical Association
The NHA is a nonprofit organization that collects and preserves the objects, documents, and properties that tell the stories of Nantucket. The NHA is steward of an artifact collection of more than 30,000 objects, including complete skeletons of a 40-foot finback and a 46-foot sperm whale. The NHA’s Research Library is a special collections repository of primary resources focusing on Nantucket history and houses more than 1,000 linear feet of archival materials and more than 8,000 volumes related to Nantucket’s history. The Whaling Museum, which received national accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 2007, is the NHA’s state-of- the-art flagship venue and serves as the center of a campus that includes nineteen historic properties and sites. The association has more than 3,000 members and serves growing audiences of year-round and seasonal residents and visitors to the island from throughout the country and the world.

The Nantucket Historical Association has been voted one of the fifty best nonprofits to work for in the United States by The NonProfit Times. Its Whaling Museum is, according to travel writer Andrew Harper, “one of the top ten places to see before you die.”

About Nantucket
With a burgeoning year-round population estimated at nearly 17,000, Nantucket, an island 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is among the state’s fastest growing counties, having grown 60 percent since the 2010 US Census. With an influx of seasonal residents and destination travelers, the population swells to as many as 45,000 during the summer months. As of 1975, the entire island of Nantucket is a National Historic Landmark District.

To Apply
Please send a cover letter, resume, and the name, email address, and telephone number of three professional references to Amelia Holmes at aholmes@nha.org. Additionally, in your cover letter, please indicate where you first learned of this position. Review of applications will begin on September 21, 2020. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but preference will be given to applications received by the begin review date.