JOB TITLE: #1806 Exhibitions & Loans Registrar
LOCATION: History Center - 345 W Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102 COMPENSATION: $55,702.40 annual minimum
STATUS & HOURS: Full-time, regular (approximately 2080 annual hours) position.
BENEFITS: Eligible to participate in the State Employee Group Insurance Program and a retirement program with employer contribution. Generous vacation and sick time accruals with additional paid holidays.
DESIGNATION: Bargaining Unit AFSCME Local 3173
POSTING DATE: August 2, 2023
DEADLINE DATE: Open until filled
TO APPLY: Interested applicants must apply online at the Minnesota Historical Society’s career center at www.mnhs.org/jobs and include a resume and cover letter by the application deadline date.
DESCRIPTION: The Registrar, Exhibitions & Loans position exists to administer, negotiate and coordinate all loans of Society collections to other institutions as well as loans from individuals and other organizations to the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS).
The ability to think through a project in order to anticipate and avoid potential problems is extremely important for this position. The ability to plan, schedule and collaboratively coordinate the work of all stakeholders in a project is critical.
The Registrar, Exhibitions & Loans (here forward known as “Exhibitions & Loans Registrar”) must routinely prioritize projects so that all loans and exhibit requests, as well as other responsibilities, are processed in a timely fashion. Most projects require the Exhibitions & Loans Registrar to work under the pressure of deadlines set by others, and they must be committed to meeting those deadlines while ensuring high quality collections care.
The Exhibitions & Loans Registrar will frequently need to use problem-solving skills to seek out and efficiently use a variety of information sources in different MNHS departments to locate and retrieve requested items and their documentation. Also, important is the ability to anticipate the wide variety of possibilities (such as incomplete citation, incorrect accession/locator number, data entry error, or some other aberration in the collection management data) that might hinder retrieval of an item from MNHS collections.
The Exhibitions & Loans Registrar must be able to anticipate a wide variety of possibilities when gathering data resources necessary to complete the loan process via the thoughtful and efficient use of limited resources (including human, space and financial) while maintaining high standards of collections stewardship and concern for artifact and human safety.
The Exhibitions & Loans Registrar must also understand the professional standards and expectations of collection curators, exhibit developers, and conservators in order to facilitate the loan and exhibit processes. While collections curators have ultimate responsibility for care of the MNHS’ collections, the registrar assumes responsibility for the care of collection items that are requested for loan or exhibit use. Questions and problems that are beyond the scope of the registrar’s knowledge or authority are referred to the appropriate MNHS staff person for answer and resolution.
SUMMARY OF WORK: 1) Manage the coordination, handling and record-keeping related to incoming loans to the MNHS from other individuals and institutions; 2) Manage the coordination, handling and record-keeping related to outgoing loans from MNHS’ collections to other museums and to MNHS exhibits; 3) Write and maintain loan processing procedures; and 4) Serve on various MNHS oversight and cross-departmental committees as assigned.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in history, museum studies, or a related field.
- Five years of museum registration experience or equivalent.
- Thorough knowledge of and commitment to standard museum/archives registration practices for handling, storage, facilities, preservation, display, transit and general stewardship.
- Knowledge of collection types and their physical and intellectual management requirements, such as 3D objects, art work, ephemera, and paper documents.
- Experienced in packing collections objects for transit, and familiarity with standards and best practices for ground and air freight transit.
- Must be able to maintain and act on confidential information without disclosure to unauthorized parties.
- Strong proficiency including at least 2 years’ on-the-job experience using databases and/or collections management systems, report-writing software such as Crystal Reports, and Microsoft Office Professional software including Word, Excel and Access. An understanding of relational databases and how to build queries is essential.
- Great attention to detail and the ability to produce accurate and complete records.
- Strong organizational skills in order to maintain electronic and paper files, including loan and exhibit documentation records.
- Strong written and oral communications skills.
- Demonstrated ability to manage numerous projects on discrete timetable, often with competing imperatives and to work cooperatively with staff from multiple departments as well as a variety of outside parties.
- Demonstrated ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
- Demonstrated ability to provide clear work direction to other staff, volunteers and interns.
- Ability to lift and maneuver files and objects weighing up to 25 pounds; up to 50 pounds with assistance.
- Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience in museum/repository or historic site context.
- Knowledge of fine art insurance.
- Knowledge of Minnesota and U. S. history.
Should you have questions with the application process, email humanresources@mnhs.org.
At MNHS, we don’t just accept difference — we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on diversity for the benefit of our employees, our products and services, and our community. The Minnesota Historical Society believes that an inclusive culture among our team members is critical to our success as a historical society and museum, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. The Minnesota Historical Society is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and employer.