Museum Registrar [Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA]

Description

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are seeking a Museum Registrar. Under direction of and reporting to the Director of Registration & Collections Management, the Museum Registrar provides leadership in registration activities, with particular emphasis on an active outgoing loan program. This position structures and maintains department documentation, including records, files, and correspondence, and performs a full range of complex duties. They contribute to the financial management of the department, including purchase order requests, budgetary preparations and analysis. Provides collaborative support as needed. The Museum Registrar will document, evaluate, and report on all work activity. This position may also manage and perform inventories, schedule and supervise storage cleaning and organization.

The Registration & Collections Management department is responsible for implementation of the Museums’ policies and procedures pertaining to the acquisition, deaccession, storage, lending, borrowing, insurance, movement, transport, and overall disposition of objects in the collections as well as for loans to the Museums. The department staff coordinate, administer, document, report on, and oversee assembly, preparation, installation, and dispersal of art objects; conduct inventories; perform and refer condition reporting on art objects; assess facilities for storage and display of art; propose and manage related projects; follow all institutional procedures for financial transactions including procurement, business travel-related expense, A/P, A/R; participate in the larger museums’ range of activity.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Responsible for handling all aspects of outgoing loans program, from administering loan request evaluation process through documentation of returned loans, including coordination and scheduling of safe packing, shipping, handling of artwork to and from borrowers; assists the Director of Registration in preparing and developing ougtoing loans budgets; maintains related billing and other financial documentation; generates receipts and maintains current files; coordinates treatment and condition reports with Conservation; may measures, mark, or label objects; communicates in all modes with borrowers, vendors, packers, freight forwarding agents, insurance brokers, shippers, and internal colleagues in numerous departments.
2. Works with conservators and technicians to locate works for exhibition and for their safe return to permanent storage; track location of objects both during and after exhibition and records location changes.
3. Conduct and document condition reports on wide range of object types
4. Under direction, issues insurance certificate for artworks on loan for exhibitions, incoming and outgoing of loans; maintains insurance coverage and computing premiums when due. Consult regularly with the Director of Registration on insurance, loan contracts, or any non-standard agreement or contract.
5. May coordinate and handle multiple aspects of special exhibitions, whether those organized for travel or those received at FAMSF venues.
6. May support work to complete and improve collection documentation, labeling and housing; creates and maintains both manual and digital information management of object, exhibition, and loan records.
7. Periodically checks galleries and works with department and other staff to address potential risks; and ensures safe handling and storage of artworks.
8. Contributes to updates and tracking of FAMSF Facility Reports. Handles or secures Certificates of Insurance as needed.
9. Duties will occasionally include acting as an art courier.

The pay range for this position is $23.87 – $31.99 per hour.

This is a union position eligible for the Museums’ benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance plus a generous time off package.

Application Deadline: August 9, 2016

We accept online applications only. To apply online, please visit: http://famsf.snaphire.com/home

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are the city’s largest public arts institutions and comprise the de Young and the Legion of Honor museums. The de Young, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and located in Golden Gate Park, showcases American art from the 17th through the 21st centuries, international contemporary art, textiles and costumes, and art from the Americas, the Pacific, and Africa. The Legion of Honor displays a collection of over 4,000 years of ancient and European art including Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker and houses the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts in a Beaux-Arts style building overlooking Lincoln Park and the Golden Gate Bridge.

COFAM is the Corporation of Fine Arts Museums and is the privately funded non-profit corporation which supports the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, a department of the City and County of San Francisco.

COFAM is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in all phases of employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university in art, art history, museum studies, arts administration, or a closely related field.

Work Experience: Minimum four years of professional museum registration experience; OR

Substitution: Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in art, art history, museum studies, arts administration or a closely related postgraduate program and two years of professional museum registration experience.

Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of and diversified experience with museum registration methods and techniques.
• Thorough knowledge of and efficient mastery of software and databases, including applications such as Microsoft Office, Outlook, FilemakerPro, and collections management database systems. Comprehensive understanding of potential of and demonstrated skill with such programs.
• Familiarity with laws pertaining to ownership, custody, transfer and disposition of art objects, tax laws relating to charitable donations, cultural property laws, customs restrictions, repatriation issues, judicial seizures, TSA regulations and practices, pertinent insurance law and fine arts insurance practices.
• Familiarity with basic conservation concepts, procedures and terms. Skill and awareness in regard to the sensitive handling of works of art, including current best practices in packing, crating, and transportation of objects.
• Demonstrated organizational skills and knowledge of pertinent office and administrative procedures including: basic accounting (A/P, A/R, POs); rigorous collections documentation practices; receipting; organizing and maintaining digital and hard-copy records.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to make accurate arithmetic calculations.
• Extremely high level of accuracy and attention to detail; concern for efficiency and effectiveness of systems and schedules.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal museum colleagues, volunteers, and interns; the ability to represent the Museum professionally and effectively to outside professionals, lenders, donors, and members of the community.
• Ability to work well under pressure and with conflicting demands.
• Ability to efficiently and effectively work on a variety of projects concurrently, with attention to the goals and priorities of the department and the Museums.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with colleagues, volunteers, interns and effectively represent the Museum to outside professionals, lenders, donors, and members of the artistic community.