University of Minnesota

About the Job

The Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota Duluth seeks an innovative director who will build on the museum’s traditional strengths, support its efforts toward technological advancement, promote an inclusive museum environment, and continue its commitment to diversifying its collections, exhibitions, and staff. They will strengthen ties with the local academic community and expand the museum’s presence by effectively serving as a national and regional representative for the museum and its programs. The Tweed falls within the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. The director will play a key role in facilitating strong relationships between the museum and the students, staff, and faculty of the college’s 10 academic departments.

This is a full-time, 12-month continuous-appointment academic professional position offering excellent benefits and a competitive salary commensurate with experience ($70,000-$90,000). The start date for the position is negotiable, but preferably no later than July 1st, 2023. The position will remain open until filled, but applications submitted by Friday, February 17th will receive priority consideration.

Position Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and direct the short-term and long-term unit strategies supporting museum objectives, ensuring alignment with University goals and policies
• Coordinate with the University to uphold University of Minnesota Duluth policies and standards and maintain a high level of museum best practice and standards
• Work with museum governing and/or advisory boards
• Collaborate with academic departments and programs throughout the college, including the Department of Art & Design, the Museum Studies program, and the Department of American Indian Studies, among others
• Provide effective financial management for the museum, developing long-range financial objectives, building the annual budget, bringing the resources needed to mount a robust schedule of exhibitions and programs that serve the University and the community, and provide museum-level care and stewardship of the collection
• Manage budgets which includes allocating resources and monitoring expenses. Forecast unit expenses and provide input or develop assigned budgets
• Initiate and develop new museum programs and processes to facilitate academic and educational missions
• Engage the larger community in support of museums and build effective relationships and community partnerships with local and regional organizations
• Promote the university’s mission of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and build relationships throughout the university and with the wider community to ensure that the Tweed is a welcoming and accessible space for all
• Represent the unit on committees and working groups, as well as local, state, and national conferences
• Identify new grant opportunities and oversee grant application and administration process
• Oversee the appropriate care and stewardship of the building and collections
• Supervise three or more professional museum staff to include: prioritizing and assigning work; conducting performance evaluations; ensuring staff are trained; ensuring employees follow policies and procedures; maintaining a healthy and safe working environment; and making hiring, promotion, reward, termination, and disciplinary decisions
• Modify practices and procedures to improve efficiency and quality; search for better ways to effectively achieve end results by, for example, scheduling work steps, arranging/re-arranging the way work is generally performed, and adding or deleting elements of processes as necessary
• Mostly work independently according to standard operating procedures (may develop some processes/procedures); generally responsible for keeping processes moving in a productive direction, and will look for supervisory approvals when changes to process steps are considered and additional resources for task completion required

Qualifications

Required/Essential Qualifications

• Master’s degree in art, art history, museum studies, or art museum management and six years or more experience in art museum management to include supervisory experience OR a bachelor’s degree in art, art history, or art museum management and eight years or more experience in art museum management to include supervisory experience
• Oral/written communication and negotiation/conflict resolution skills

Desired Qualifications

• Terminal degree in art, art history, or art museum management with at least eight years of experience in art museum management
• Professional experience/achievement in leadership, development, success with fundraising, track record of obtaining grants, strategic planning, and budget planning
• Experience in a university museum setting

University of Minnesota