The National Museum of Australia has an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated professional to join the Collection Care and Management team as a Conservator in the Objects Conservation Laboratory. The Conservation team supports the strategic endeavour of the Museum to become a recognised world-class museum.
The Conservator will be part of a diverse team, reporting to a Senior Conservator in a busy and dynamic environment. While the position is based in the Objects Conservation team, the role will also involve developing skills and working across all types of materials. There will be a wide range of activities associated with exhibitions, collections care and maintenance of the lab and equipment. The role includes varied conservation tasks such as condition, pest and hazard assessments, interventive conservation treatments, preventive conservation programs, preparation of objects for display, gallery maintenance, exhibition installs and de-installs, mount assessments and preparation, storage advice and collection rehousing activities. There will also be opportunities to participate in public programs, respond to occasional public and sector enquiries and work on collaborative projects within the sector. They will also represent the team at meetings where appropriate and occasionally travel domestically and internationally to support touring exhibitions.
The position entails working closely with conservation, registration and curatorial colleagues and a broad range of internal stakeholders across the organisation, external clients, volunteers and contractors on a variety of collection matters. The role will also contribute to cross-skilling other conservators by providing training and mentoring in materials conservation and collection activities related to areas of expertise and knowledge.
The key duties of the position include:
The successful candidate will have proven well-developed conservation skills and experience across a broad range of material types and collection preservation activities. They embrace a flexible working approach and are willing to support the team by working across all conservation areas when required. They have an understanding of complex conservation treatment practices, including risk management, preventive and interventive. They can apply their skills to interventive treatments using established and new techniques, while being willing to experiment and take measured risks in developing treatment alternatives and improvements. They can demonstrate their capacity to work collaboratively with peers to implement initiatives to drive long-term preservation outcomes.
They have good analytical skills with the capacity to research efficiently then analyse and present complex data to support decision-making processes. The candidate will have proven experience in preparing treatment proposals and the ability to implement, organise, monitor, report and deliver quality conservation outcomes.
They are good communicators who can effectively negotiate, influence and persuade to achieve results and positive outcomes. They are flexible, adaptable and outward looking and able to navigate changing and competing demands with professionalism. They collaborate with a broad range of museum colleagues to deliver conservation and exhibition outcomes.
They show commitment to supporting corporate goals and priorities and can plan and organise their own work, as well as actively engage with planning the work of their team to ensure effective delivery of program objectives.
They have good IT skills and prior experience of collection management systems and have proven capacity to use a range of information systems and tools to improve efficiency and productivity.
Ready to apply?
Visit https://www.nma.gov.au/about/employment and apply online.
