Director of Collections

Position Summary

The Flagler Museum seeks a collaborative, intellectually curious, and institutionally committed Director of Collections to lead and strengthen the Museum’s expanding exhibition and programming strategy during a significant period of institutional growth and increased cultural visibility.

Reporting to the Chief Curator, the Director of Collections will serve as the operational backbone of the curatorial department, providing the systems, standards, and day-to-day management that allow an ambitious exhibition and loan program to function at the highest institutional level. The position is designed for a thoughtful and highly organized curatorial professional who combines strong scholarly instincts with excellent project management skills, public-facing confidence, and a collaborative approach to institutional work.

The Director of Collections will work closely with the Chief Curator to help realize the Museum’s growing exhibition program, support institutional partnerships, coordinate curatorial staff and exhibition logistics, and contribute to the Museum’s broader audience engagement and institutional development efforts. The role also includes public-facing responsibilities such as VIP tours, donor engagement, lectures, institutional representation, and collaboration across departments.

This position is ideally suited for a curator, collections or registration professional who is energized by interdisciplinary thinking, audience engagement, and institution-building within a culturally ambitious museum environment.

About the Museum

Flagler Museum preserves and interprets Whitehall, the historic estate of Henry Morrison Flagler, while advancing educational and cultural understanding through exhibitions, scholarship, public programming, and community engagement focused on Florida and Palm Beach history.

The Museum is entering a dynamic phase of institutional growth centered on:

• expanded exhibitions and programming,
• increased audience engagement,
• strengthened institutional partnerships,
• elevated cultural visibility,
• and a more integrated relationship between scholarship, public engagement, and philanthropy.

Major exhibitions are increasingly positioned as platforms for broader cultural dialogue and audience growth, while smaller exhibitions continue to support focused scholarly interpretation and exploration.

Key Responsibilities

Exhibition Development & Curatorial Coordination

• Support the planning, research, development, and execution of exhibitions and related curatorial initiatives.
• Coordinate smaller exhibitions and related projects while supporting the Chief Curator’s development of major seasonal exhibitions.
• Help manage exhibition timelines, project coordination, loans, logistics, installation planning, and interdepartmental communication.
• Supervise the Assistant Curator and Registrar and support the effective coordination of curatorial department workflows.
• Assist with exhibition interpretation, research, writing, and related curatorial materials as needed.
• Contribute to institutional partnerships and collaborative exhibition initiatives with peer organizations and lenders.

Public Engagement & Institutional Representation

• Lead VIP tours, donor tours, exhibition walkthroughs, and public-facing curatorial experiences.
• Represent the Museum in public programs, lectures, institutional partnerships, and community engagement opportunities.
• Serve as a public-facing curatorial representative when the Chief Curator is unavailable.
• Help connect exhibitions and interpretation to broader cultural and contemporary conversations in ways that remain intellectually rigorous while broadly engaging.

Cross-Department Collaboration

• Work closely with the Chief Curator, Director & CEO, Education Department, Director of External Affairs, and senior staff to support integrated institutional initiatives.
• Collaborate with advancement and external affairs efforts where appropriate, including donor engagement, exhibition cultivation opportunities, and institutional events.
• Support the Museum’s broader strategic direction through collaborative and institution-minded curatorial leadership.

Collections & Curatorial Operations

• Support curatorial oversight of collections-related activities in coordination with the Registrar.
• Assist in maintaining professional museum standards across curatorial operations and exhibition practices.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Significant experience in collections management, registration, or related museum operations, preferably within a historic house museum, decorative arts institution, or comparable environment.
• An MA in museum studies, art history, history, decorative arts, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to coordinate multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfort in public-facing and donor-facing environments, including tours, lectures, and institutional representation.
• Intellectual curiosity and an interest in connecting historical subjects to broader cultural and contemporary themes.
• A collaborative, emotionally intelligent, and institution-minded approach to leadership and teamwork.
• Comfort working within a highly collaborative curatorial structure focused on partnership, execution, and shared institutional goals.
• Experience with institutional partnerships, exhibition coordination, and collaborative project development.
• Knowledge of AAM standards, collections care best practices, and current ethical frameworks in collections stewardship.
• Experience with scholarly writing, catalogues, or interpretive materials is a plus.
• Development or donor engagement experience is welcomed but not required.

The Museum seeks a Director who is precise, proactive, and deeply committed to the professional stewardship of objects and institutional knowledge, thoughtful, collegial, adaptable, and excited by the opportunity to contribute to a growing exhibition program within an increasingly ambitious and publicly engaged institution