We are seeking a museum interpretive planner who creates engaging and educational visitor experiences by researching content, developing interpretive themes, writing scripts, and collaborating with designers and curators to translate complex information into accessible stories for diverse audiences. Key responsibilities include developing interpretive goals, coordinating project teams, conducting audience analysis, evaluating exhibition effectiveness, and staying current with interpretive tools and trends. This role requires substantial research, writing, storytelling, and project management skills, often supported by a humanities, science, or education background.

Key Responsibilities

• Content Development: Researching, structuring, writing, and reviewing interpretive texts, storyboards, and scripts for exhibitions and other programs.
• Strategic Planning: Developing interpretive goals and themes, aligning them with the museum’s mission and audience needs.
• Team Collaboration: Working closely with curators, designers, educators, and external vendors to ensure interpretive plans are integrated into exhibition design and production.
• Audience Focus: Analyzing audience data and visitor feedback to create inclusive, accessible, and engaging experiences.
• Project Management: Managing project timelines, budgets, and resources to meet milestones and desired outcomes for interpretive projects.
• Evaluation and Improvement: Conducting and coordinating visitor and exhibition evaluations to identify opportunities for improvement and refine future interpretations.
• Technology Integration: Researching and incorporating current and next-generation interpretive strategies and interpretation tools.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Research and Writing: Strong ability to research complex topics and communicate them clearly and compellingly through various formats.
• Storytelling: Skill in crafting narratives that connect with diverse audiences and convey key messages effectively.
• Audience Analysis: Understanding different audience segments and how to design experiences that meet their needs and interests.
• Project Management: Ability to coordinate multiple stakeholders, manage budgets, and ensure projects stay on schedule.
• Education: BA, with extensive background in humanities, science, education, communication, museum studies, or other relevant fields is common.

CURATOR JOB SEARCH

Sweetwater County Historical Museum – Green River, WY

ABOUT THE MUSEUM

The Sweetwater County Historical Museum is housed in a renovated 1931 post office building in scenic southwestern Wyoming. It holds a collection of approximately 40,000 artifacts, county archives, a large historical photograph collection, and local history research materials. Sweetwater County has an ethnically diverse history and the Museum strives to tell the stories of the Native Americans, explorers, fur trappers, travelers of emigrant trails, Pony Express riders, stagecoach drivers, railroad workers, coal and trona miners, oil and gas workers, ranchers, cowboys, sheepherders, homesteaders, business people, and all who have called this unique landscape home. Please visit www.sweetwatermuseum.org for more information.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Curator is responsible for the care and interpretation of the Museum’s collections to fulfill its mission to connect people to the story of Sweetwater County by preserving and presenting its natural and cultural history.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

·         Direct the acquisition and care of collections according to best practices established by the American Alliance of Museums and the Museum’s Collections Policy

·         Oversee collection management for the Museum including both remedial and preventive conservation techniques comprising but not limited to environmental monitoring, artifact cleaning, specialty mount making and maintenance of the collections storage area

·         Develop or update collection management policies including Collections, Integrated Pest Management, and Disaster Preparedness

·         Perform research necessary to thoroughly identify and document museum collections

·         Maintain the collection database and paper records, complete cataloging of new and backlog accessions, maintain loans and other collections associated paperwork and activities, and generally manage all legal and documentary records of the collections

·         Develop and grow an educational collection

·         Assume management of the internship program including hiring, oversight, project development, and intern evaluations

·         Oversee volunteers working in collections including assigning projects, training, and evaluation

·         Work regularly with the Exhibits Coordinator and Public Engagement Coordinator to develop and produce engaging exhibits, programs, and events that promote the mission of the Museum and expand service to the people of Sweetwater County

·         Perform thorough historical research in response to research requests from the public, professional researchers, and other institutions

·         Develop and present programs on a variety of historical topics for community outreach

·         Participate in the maintenance of the website, Facebook, and other social media

·         Assist in preparing and disseminating promotional/marketing materials for exhibits and museum programs

·         Cultivate partnerships with other organizations including museums, colleges, etc.

·         Keep abreast of the latest research and trends in museums and collection management

·         Represent the museum by participating in relevant professional organizations at the local, state, and national level

·         Conduct tours of the museum and related sites as needed

·         Collaborate with the Public Engagement Coordinator to develop projects for volunteers

·         Assist the Executive Director with administrative tasks including budget development, monthly finances, and strategic planning as needed

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

·         Master’s degree in history, museum studies, public history, or closely related field PLUS a minimum of two years demonstrable experience performing similar or related duties. A combination of education and experience may substitute

·         Strong understanding of collections management and accepted curatorial practices

·         Familiarity with the cultural and natural history of southwest Wyoming and the West

·         Ability to perform historical research and write for exhibits, interpretation, news media, other publications, and research requests

·         Ability to define goals, meet deadlines, organize work, and prioritize projects

·         Strong written and verbal communication skills, including public speaking

·         Valid driver license and ability to operate a motor vehicle

·         Ability and willingness to work some evening and weekend hours

·         Ability to lift 50 lbs., bend, stretch, stand for extended periods of time, climb stairs, reach, twist, sit, and walk

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

·         Knowledge of other museum departments and procedures, including exhibit development, education and public programming, and office management

·         Experience with Catalogit database software and standard cataloging procedures

·         Supervisory experience

·         Knowledge of fabrication and/or basic hand and power tool operation

·         Background in, or ability to learn, basic accounting procedures

COMPENSATION

This is a full-time position with a salary range of $48,000-$50,000 annually. The position offers a generous and competitive benefits package including paid vacation, sick leave and retirement and life, health, dental, and vision insurance.

HOW TO APPLY

Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter, current résumé or vita and three professional references via email to director@sweetwatermuseum.org or mail to the address below. The position is open until filled, but initial review will begin on October 1, 2025.

Curator Search

Sweetwater County Historical Museum

3 East Flaming Gorge Way

Green River, WY 82935

COMMITMENT TO RACIAL EQUITY

The Missouri Historical Society commits to a process of listening attentively to one another and leveraging best practices and resources across our organization to promote a culture of inclusion where individuals from all racial and ethnic identities; ages; nationalities; social and economic statuses; sexual orientations; gender identities/expressions; religious, political, and ideological perspectives; and abilities are able to be engaged, feel valued, and thrive. click here for the full Commitment to Racial Equity

Description

The Missouri Historical Society is one of the oldest and biggest historical societies in the country. It was founded in 1866 with the intent of “saving from oblivion” the history of St. Louis. Since its beginning, MHS has collected and shared important moments in Black history – with its 1880s commission of a portrait of Dred Scott being one of the earliest examples.

Over the years, MHS has increased its efforts to share Black history and has often been a hub for community discussions and research. Since 2017, those efforts have been fueled by the African American History initiative, an initiative designed to collect more Black history, share more Black history, and to train historians to tell more Black history.

MHS is committed to telling a full story of St. Louis, and that story would be incomplete without the contributions of Black St. Louisans. In the coming years we have planned major exhibits about Mill Creek Valley, one of the largest urban renewal projects in American history, and about The Ville Neighborhood, one of the most historically significant Black neighborhoods in the country. We will also share Black history through a wide variety of exhibits focused on everything from baseball to food history. We will continue to grow our Black history collections – including through a major effort to document the May tornado that hit hardest St. Louis’ Black community. And we will continue to present a wide variety of programs that document St. Louis’ rich, proud, and joyful Black history.

MHS is excited to find new ways to share the history of St. Louis and to grow and expand its audiences.

Position Summary:

The African American History Initiative (AAHI) Manager is a creative, passionate, and inspiring leader who serves as the primary spokesperson for the initiative, who works closely with community partners, who coordinates communication between members of the AAHI team who are housed in departments across the institution, and who oversees AAHI’s efforts to develop future museum professionals through an extensive internship program.

AAHI strives to share and promote stories that explore various aspects of the Black experience throughout this region. In addition to the core values of the Missouri Historical Society (MHS), this initiative supports the collection of artifacts, stories, and other materials concerning historically underrepresented communities; the development of future museum professionals; and the preservation and sharing of Black resources and history in the greater St. Louis area. Reflecting the goals and priorities of our community, AAHI’s mission is to develop inclusive exhibits and programs that educate, empower, and enlighten our visitors. This position also serves as the point person to manage and implement the cross-divisional African American History Endowment. The African American History Initiative includes four staff who work primarily on AAHI duties, a core group of internal staff who provide direction and support, and an external advisory group that will provide community input on the direction of the initiative. The AAHI Manager coordinates with the other three AAHI staff and the internal and external advisory groups. This position reports to the MHS President and CEO.

The key roles of this position are coordination, communication, and collaboration:

Coordination

• Coordinate internal meetings that pull together various stakeholders
• Coordinate an external advisory board
• Coordinate calendars to make sure that AAHI projects are visible throughout the year and that AAHI team members are connected to projects happening across the institution
• Coordinate the AAHI internship program

Communication

• Communicate the work of the initiative internally to staff, volunteers, and board members
• Communicate the work of the initiative as a whole externally

Collaboration

• Collaborate with community partners to make sure we have a presence at community events and discussions
• Collaborate with donors to ensure AAHI has the financial support that it needs

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Acts as an ambassador of institutional mission, vision, and goals in all public programming and community engagement efforts
• Acts as the point person to manage initiatives within the components and stated objectives of the African
• American History Endowment, including consolidating and tracking goals throughout the entire institution on an ongoing basis
• Prioritizes outreach opportunities for AAHI to be represented at community events and regularly tables at those events
• Recruits and hires interns for robust summer internships and looks for opportunities to grow our internship program
• Participates in events, opportunities, and speaking engagements that are priorities for MHS
• Serves as the primary spokesperson for AAHI efforts overall, including external and internal communication as well as media interviews and staff presentations
• Assists the President’s Office with communication and messaging related to AAHI
• Identifies opportunities to collaborate with community groups and helps build relationships with other nonprofit organizations
• In partnership with the AAHI Programming Specialist, ensures that MHS programs reflect St. Louis’ diversity of complexities, connect the past and present, and are relevant to different viewpoints
• In partnership with the AAHI Public Historian, identifies compelling St. Louis history stories to tell
• Creates ways to help visitors understand their changing communities by challenging them to think critically about core issues such as diversity and empathy, justice and equity, transportation, environment, stable housing, and cityscape
• Collaborates with the curator of Urban Landscape and Community Identity to identify acquisition opportunities for oral histories, archival materials, and artifacts and helps promote this collecting initiative through programs and public outreach
• Works with the Philanthropy team to create ways to incorporate members-only program components and encourage the growth of membership at community events and programs
• Works with the MHS President and Philanthropy team to identify and solicit funds to help support and expand AAHI efforts
• Creates and leads a community advisory board that will help to inform our work
• Leads AAHI team meetings, including larger institutional meetings and a smaller work group meetings
• Coordinates communication among AAHI team members who work in departments throughout the institution

Skills:

• Ability to work well with volunteers to achieve programming goals
• Experience collaborating with community groups for events and to help share their history via programming
• Knowledge of research methods in marginalized history and sharing those stories with underrepresented and diverse communities
• Firm understanding of Microsoft Office suite, especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Solid written and oral communication skills
• Budget development and management experience, including management of grant funding or other restricted funding
• Ability to work with a team to achieve department and institution-wide strategic goals
• Aptitude for multitasking and working well under tight deadlines
• Demonstrated ability to develop productive relationships with community leaders and groups.
• Ability to effectively communicate with individuals and organizations from diverse communities and backgrounds to achieve mutual goals.
• Knowledge of historic and emerging issues in the St. Louis region and/or willingness to learn
• Ability to work as a member of a team to achieve department and museum-wide strategic goals

Education and Experience:

• Master’s degree, preferably in history, social studies, American studies, African American studies, urban studies, museum studies, or a related field
• Minimum of 2 to 3 years of experience, preferably in a nonprofit museum setting

Other: Some weeknight and weekend work required

All other duties as assigned
Deadline to Apply: Open until filled.

Please upload cover letter and resume when applying.

*External job boards: Please click this link, to apply.

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

Services Provided On A Non-Discriminatory Basis

COMMITMENT TO RACIAL EQUITY

The Missouri Historical Society commits to a process of listening attentively to one another and leveraging best practices and resources across our organization to promote a culture of inclusion where individuals from all racial and ethnic identities; ages; nationalities; social and economic statuses; sexual orientations; gender identities/expressions; religious, political, and ideological perspectives; and abilities are able to be engaged, feel valued, and thrive. click here for the full Commitment to Racial Equity

Description

The Missouri Historical Society is one of the oldest and biggest historical societies in the country and began building its collections in 1866. The collections now include more than 180,000 three dimensional objects, millions of photos, prints, and archival objects, and over 1,000 cubic feet of film. The collections feature people who have shaped St. Louis, the country, and the world – figures ranging from explores such as William Clark and Charles Lindbergh to groundbreaking entertainers such as Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham. The collections feature moments that still make headlines – including the history that is happening today – and moments that have been lost to time. The collections, in all of their variety, have one thing in common – they deepen people’s understanding of and connection to our shared past.

MHS is committed to sharing more of our collections than we ever have before through a variety of efforts including our work to digitize more of our collections, a new 6,000 square feet artifact showcase called Collected, and our new Curated Collections website. Find out more by visiting www.mohistory.org.

MHS is excited to find new ways to share more of its collections and to continue building on the legacy that was begun in 1866 by finding new ways to grow and expand its audiences.

Position Summary:

The Managing Director of Collections is a member of MHS’s leadership team and supervises a team responsible for implementing the mission and managing the operations of a division focused on collections stewardship and accessibility both online and in person. The Managing Director of Collections collaborates with colleagues and divisions across the institution to leverage its resources to engage and educate diverse audiences at its three locations, in the community, and the region. The Managing Director of Collections will be one of the primary spokespeople speaking to the importance, relevance, and excitement of our collections.

Duties/Responsibilities:

The Managing Director for Collections is responsible for assuring that the Missouri Historical Society fulfills its mission and serves the needs of its three locations and the community. To serve these needs, the Managing Director of Collections is responsible for the following areas: Library and Collections including conservation, collections management, registration, library, and archives; Digital Initiatives including photographs and prints, sound and moving images, oral history, and object photography; and Curatorial Affairs.

Administrative Responsibilities

• Provide leadership to the internal infrastructure and external partnerships that support MHS’s mission, visions, values and goals.
• Ensure healthy financial sustainability through strategic budgeting and expense management.
• Promote collaboration and efficiency through best museum practices in collections stewardship, ongoing artifact acquisition, and collections accessibility.
• Serve as a collegial and productive member of MHS’s Leadership team.
• Supervises direct reports to ensure the smooth operation of all aspects of department programs.
• Recruit, train, mentor and evaluate direct reports with the goal of achieving a department that reflects MHS’s values of diversity, inclusion and accessibility.
• Collaborates with the Philanthropy department to identify and cultivate relationships with funders.
• Participate in institutional committees and task forces including the Curatorial Collections Committee and Acquisitions Committee as well as serving as the staff lead for the Collections & Exhibitions Committee of the MHS Board of Trustees

Departmental responsibilities

Library and Collections

• Oversees the Collections Management, Registration, Conservation, Library, and Archives departments.
• Operates a public, non-circulating library that provides access to the primary sources within the MHS collections as well as facilitation of educational programs.
• Responsible for collection stewardship of the MHS collections including but not limited to preservation and conservation, temperature/humidity requirements and pest management within artifact storerooms and galleries, inventory control, cataloging and processing procedures and priorities, loan and acquisition arrangements.

Digital Initiatives

• Oversees the Photographs and Prints, Sound and Moving Images, Oral History, Object Photography, and Lab departments.
• Promotes public engagement with museum collections through social networking sites, the museum’s online collections search, and collaborative linked data projects; conceptualizing, managing, and maintaining multimedia technology projects, including mobile/smartphone applications. This includes collaboration and development of partnerships with vendors, museum technologists, and other professionals in the field to help forward the museum’s digital strategy.
• Develops and implements collections access plans across all collecting areas including management of the cross collections search.
  Actively participates in establishing and implementing accessibility initiatives of the institution as a whole.

Curatorial Affairs

• Responsible for overseeing the acquisition, research, and interpretation of artifacts including establishment and implementation of collecting priorities.
• Create or contribute work to a rotating schedule of exhibitions and conduct research on the collection which results in enhanced collections access, publications (printed and online magazine, catalogues, blog posts, etc.), and programming for the public.
• Establish and maintain policies and procedures to further best practices around collections acquisition and stewardship.

Skills:

• A seasoned professional with collections management or curatorial experience.
• Experienced manager of people with the skills to successfully hire, train, and mentor staff members reflecting MHS’s values of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
• Successful record of grant and project management including development, administration and reporting.
• Possess a collegial attitude and ability to work as a supportive member of the Leadership team.
• Demonstrate a broad range of interpersonal skills and abilities to effectively operate with all members of the organization and community collaborators.
• Ability to work with civic leaders, board members, elected officials and government administrators, and community members as needed and appropriate.
• Proven ability to create and manage a budget of approximately $3.5 million and prepare successful grant proposals and administer grant supported projects.

Education and Experience:

• A Master’s degree or PhD in relevant area such as history, education, museum studies, humanities or a related field.
• The candidate will have a minimum of four years of relevant administrative and supervisory level experience in a museum, historic site or historic park education program.
• Minimum of 5 years experience in collection stewardship best practices including collections access and engagement through active collecting, exhibition development, public programming, ongoing research and publications, and virtual experiences.
• Demonstrated experience in diversity, equity and inclusion work and in collaborations with diverse organizations and communities.

Deadline to Apply: Open until filled.

Please upload cover letter and resume when applying.

*External job boards: Please click this link, to apply.

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

Services Provided On A Non-Discriminatory Basis