Associate Archivist, Art Collecting Records [End-Dated]

About the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. We are committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with a staff as diverse as the audiences we engage. Our staff members are art lovers who are passionate about working toward a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring art museum in the world.

At The Met, every staff member – from security officers to researchers to scientists and beyond – lives by our core values of respect, inclusivity, collaboration, excellence, and integrity. 

Respect: Engage one another with collegiality, empathy, and kindness, always.

Inclusivity: Ensure that all are and feel welcome and valued.

Collaboration: Reach across boundaries to exchange ideas and work together toward our shared mission.

Excellence: Lead the cultural world in quality and expertise—and inspire curiosity and creativity.

Integrity: Hold ourselves to the highest moral standards, admit when we fall short, and then evolve. 

GENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

Under the direction of the Managing Archivist, you will be responsible for the appraisal and processing of a recently acquired collection of business, legal, and historical art-collecting records. In collaboration with the Museum Archives team, you support the organization and access to this collection and the integration of collection records into Museum repositories and databases.  

This is a position with an established end-date or time frame. Time frames will begin upon hire: 2 Years

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

• Survey and appraisal of the collection to be processed

• Collaborate with Museum Archives team to draft a processing plan, including the determination of necessary supplies

• Performs basic preservation tasks, such as removing staples and paperclips, sleeving delicate items within mylar, etc. and implementing other conservation measures as necessary

• Arranging and describing the archival collection, and related sub-collections, in accordance with Museum cataloging standards

• Rehouse the collection in archivally stable storage materials

• Creating detailed and descriptive DACS-compliant finding aid in ArchivesSpace

• Collaborating with Digital Archivist to identify potential materials for digitization

• Providing basic reference services for the collection as needed (pulling materials, digitizing for research)

• Other related duties in support of access to this collection and the integration of the collection records and data into Museum repositories and databases

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS:

• MS in Information/Library Science

• 3-5 years of professional experience in an archives or special collections library

• Successfully demonstrated experience creating accession records and archival finding aids utilizing ArchivesSpace

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Outlook and Access

• Experience with The Museum System (TMS) and ArchivesSpace databases preferred

• Strong oral and written communication skills Knowledge and Education:

• Demonstrated knowledge of Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS), Encoded Archival Description (EAD) and other professional standards

• Background in art history preferred.

• Pay Rate: $80,000.00 - $85,000.00 / Annually

The advertised pay scale reflects the good faith minimum and maximum salary range for this role. The advertised pay scale is not a promise of a particular wage for any specific employee. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may be dependent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, special licensing or qualifications, and other factors.

Visa Sponsorship

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Location Requirements

At time of employment, employees are expected to be located within commuting distance of the Museum. “Commuting distance” means that they are located in one of following states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania (the “Tri-state and PA” areas), and be able to commute to and from the Museum in a single day.

Benefits Offerings

The Museum provides competitive compensation, and generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees. Note: Benefits Offering may differ based on Employee Status.

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• 403(b) basic retirement plan and optional matching retirement plan with an outstanding employer match
• Considerable paid time off, including annual leave, sick leave, and 13 Museum holidays
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible Spending Accounts & Health Savings Account (pre-tax income for eligible health care expenses)
• Commuter benefits (pre-tax income for parking or mass transit expenses)
• Free financial-planning services
• Financial assistance for relevant coursework, seminars, and training programs
• 25% discount for staff in Museum shops
• A subsidized staff cafeteria
• Access to the Museums Council pass, which grants free admission to various museums and cultural institutions

We recognize that it is highly unlikely that someone meets 100% of the desired attributes for a role. If much of this job description describes you, then please apply for this role.

The Met is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, The Met will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed in this process, please contact [email protected].  

The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides equal opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, alienage or citizenship status, marital status or domestic partner status, genetic information, genetic predisposition or carrier status, gender identity, HIV status, military status and any other category protected by law in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, lay-off and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.