Associate Archivist, Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Job Title: Associate Archivist, Egyptian Art
Job Status: Full-time
About The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas.
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. Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum’s galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.
GENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:
The Department of Egyptian Art houses irreplaceable archival material, invaluable first and foremost for the Department itself and for the Museum as a whole, but also for scholars and researchers worldwide. At the core of our holdings are our excavation archives, which document the fieldwork carried out by the Department since its first mission to Egypt in 1907 through to the present day.
Focused around three principal sites (Thebes, Lisht, and Dahshur), these archives consist of excavation notes, field and object photographs, plans and drawings, information about and lists of objects discovered (including those from our early excavations that remained in Cairo), excavation-related correspondence, and unpublished manuscripts. In addition, we have extensive archives that relate to the life of the Department, notably the correspondence and personal archives of Met curators and other important Egyptologists. These archives are used by the department daily, in order to help us understand and interpret our objects in a variety of ways, and to illuminate the history of our collection and the history of the Museum.
Under the direction of the Curator in Charge, the Archivist will survey and assess archival holdings of the Department of Egyptian Art, advise on organization and preservation of materials, process and catalogue collections, and train other Department staff to perform these duties going forward.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:
- Survey Department of Egyptian Art archives and develop processing plans for individual collections
- Prepare processing/arrangement plans for archival collections
- Process materials and arrange records to file-level and re-house records in archival folders, if needed
- Generate, proofread, and edit finding aids and catalogue records
- Train Department members to implement and sustain archival best practices, and create relevant training materials
- Other related duties as assigned.
REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS:
Fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine (or approved for an exemption as a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, sincerely held religious belief, or pregnancy, or because you are a victim of domestic violence, stalking, or sex offenses).
Experience and Skills:
- Three to five years of professional experience preferred in processing archives, personal papers, and/or manuscripts, ideally with some experience working in museums and/or with museum archives
- Basic knowledge of the preservations and conservation practices for historical records
- Strong writing and historical research skills
- Successfully demonstrated experience applying processing and descriptive standards
- Physical demands of the role include climbing a small ladder, lifting down small boxes, and bending to pick up small boxes
Knowledge and Education:
- Master’s Degree in Library Science, Information Science, Art History or History/Archival Management, with coursework or equivalent experience in archival processing is required
- Demonstrated knowledge of Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS), Encoded Archival Description (EAD) and other professional standards
- Experience in archaeology or the management of archaeological archives preferred
- Knowledge of French and German preferred but not required
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Benefits Offerings
The Museum provides competitive compensation, and generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees. Note: Benefits Offering may differ based on Employee Status.
- Medical, dental, vision and life insurance
- 403(b) basic retirement plan and optional matching retirement plan with an outstanding employer match
- Considerable paid time off, including annual leave, sick leave, and 13 Museum holidays
- Long-term disability coverage
- Flexible Spending Accounts & Health Savings Account (pre-tax income for eligible health care expenses)
- Commuter benefits (pre-tax income for parking or mass transit expenses)
- Free financial-planning services
- Financial assistance for relevant coursework, seminars, and training programs
- 25% discount for staff in Museum shops
- A subsidized staff cafeteria
- Access to the Museums Council pass, which grants free admission to various museums and cultural institutions
Research shows that women and people from underrepresented groups often apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We recognize that it is highly unlikely that someone meets 100% of the qualifications for a role. If much of this job description describes you, then please apply for this role.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides equal opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, alienage or citizenship status, marital status or domestic partner status, genetic information, genetic predisposition or carrier status, gender identity, HIV status, military status and any other category protected by law in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, lay-off and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.