Assistant Registrar, Collection Documentation

National Gallery of Australia

Closing date
04 Aug 2024 12:00 AM
Location
Canberra

The National Gallery is one of Australia’s leading visual arts institutions. The National Gallery is based in Canberra and is a vital part of the Australian cultural landscape. Our Purpose is to collect, preserve, promote and share the national collection of art. The Vision of the National Gallery is to be the international reference point for art in Australia, inspiring all people to explore, experience and learn. Our Values include Boldness, Integrity, Respect and Excellence.

WORKING AT THE GALLERY
When you work at the National Gallery you will be exposed to some of the world’s leading Australian and international art and artists. We are located in the National triangle on the waterfront and your lunchtimes can be spent in our beautiful sculpture garden or around Lake Burley Griffin.
We support flexible working practices, including working from home, and you will have access to low-cost, onsite car parking.
The National Gallery is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of our people and we expect our people to share this commitment and work safely at all times.

We value the contribution that a diverse workforce brings and encourage people from a diverse background to apply. This might include identifying as First Nations peoples, people with a disability, culturally and linguistically diverse people and LGBTQIA+ people.

OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE
The Assistant Registrar, Collection Documentation leads a small team within the Registration Department to manage to manage the daily operations of the National Gallery’s Collections Management System (CMS), EMu, a database designed to facilitate the care of collections through recognised standards of museum documentation and practice. The CMS reflects the breadth and size of the national collection and the National Gallery’s responsibility to ensure all works of art in its care are documented, tracked, securely stored, properly insured and appropriately accessible.
The national collection is comprised of more than 155 000 works of art, including the largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art in the world. The National Gallery hosts a dynamic exhibitions program, has an ambitious touring program and is a generous lender, sharing the national collection with Australian and international institutions. The Assistant Registrar, Collection Documentation plays a pivotal role in the delivery of the National Gallery’s business by ensuring excellence in documentation and recordkeeping, supporting periodic system upgrades, and implementing training for internal users to ensure best practice data standards are maintained.

The Assistant Registrar, Collection Documentation provides strategic and policy advice to the Associate Registrar, Documentation and Storage regarding the documentation of the national collection and provides advice and recommendations to the Governance team on Commonwealth and organisational reporting requirements.

This position reports to the Associate Registrar, Documentation and Storage and is responsible for two direct reports. This position of Assistant Registrar, Collection Documentation is an ongoing full-time role with the Registration team, within the Artistic Programs Portfolio.

OUR IDEAL CANDIDATE
Our ideal candidate will have experience in a museum or gallery environment with demonstrated experience in or a high-level awareness of contemporary registration practices, including an understanding of cataloguing procedures, preferably within an art gallery environment.
You will have demonstrated experience with collection management systems, including experience with the Collection Management System, EMu, Unix/Linux servers, Crystal Reporting, along with other applicable computer applications including proficiency in Microsoft Office suite of products.
You will be able to demonstrate a high level of administrative and project management skills relevant to museums and galleries with a focus on Registration.
You will be able to demonstrate an effective ability to communicate and negotiate with various internal and external stakeholders within other cultural institutions.
Your superior ability to effectively lead, train and work with others in a co-operative team environment will assist the National Gallery to achieve its corporate plan.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?
In accordance with the APS 6 work level standards, you will:

  • Provide advice and direction on best practice in collection documentation systems and processes, as well as assisting in the development of initiatives to enable access to information contained in the Gallery’s CMS.
  • Manage the continued development and improvement of collection documentation by implementing procedures and programs to address new developments in standards and information needs in relation to the Gallery’s CMS and associated requirements.
  • Develop and maintain best practice documentation standards for works of art and related activities recorded in the Gallery’s CMS and be able to edit data and generate reports and provide collection statistics from the CMS as required.
  • Ensure ongoing integrity and operation of the CMS and oversee all CMS system upgrades. This includes working with the Gallery’s ICT to ensure all servers meet the CMS upgrades and optimum functionality of the CMS is maintained within the scope of wider ICT system corporate planning.
  • Supervise, train and develop the team of CMS support staff, as well as all Gallery staff users of the CMS in all aspects of documentation practice in accordance with the Gallery’s purpose and values.
  • Liaise with external contractors and a variety of Gallery staff to ensure the best possible use of the CMS and in line with best practice documentation standards for documentation related to this important collection management tool.
  • Contribute to Registration projects or other projects on behalf of Registration, commensurate with your skills and abilities.

WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

To be successful in this role you will need to demonstrate, or have the ability to develop the following:

  • Nurture and build positive working relationships with team members, stakeholders and clients across the Gallery by pro-actively responding and anticipating stakeholder needs and expectations.
  • Take responsibility for managing work projects to achieve results by guiding projects to completion, monitoring and adjusting plans as required for the team in liaison with your supervisor.
  • Display personal drive and integrity, by taking personal responsibility for meeting objectives and progressing work, demonstrating both initiative and doing what is needed.
  • Have sound judgement and flexibility in order to support strategic directions by analysing and identifying problems and working to resolve them which will promote improved work practices.


HOW TO APPLY
To apply for this role please forward your CV, statement and personal particulars form to [email protected].

You should provide a tailored CV (maximum of three pages) along with a statement of no more than two pages that outlines your skills, capabilities and experience, against the ‘Our ideal candidate’ information above.

In your statement response you should keep in mind the capabilities and behaviours required to be successful for this role, as identified in the ‘Who are we looking for?’ section. Try not to duplicate information that can be found in your CV but do highlight any specific examples or achievements that demonstrate your ability to perform the role.

As part of your application process, we ask that you also complete the personal particulars form as well (https://nga.gov.au/media/dd/documents/Personal_Particulars_form_2024.pdf).

An order of merit may be established from this selection process and may be used to fill future identical vacancies over the next 12 months. Selection may be based on application and referee reports only. If you do not wish to be added to an order of merit, please notify us in your application.

ELIGIBILITY:
Citizenship - To be eligible for employment with the Gallery, you must be an Australian citizen.

Police Check: To be eligible for this role you must complete a police check.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION  

Qualifications, Certifications and Registrations
Role specific mandatory qualifications certification and/or registrations include:

  • A minimum of 3 years of experience administering a CMS.
  • Tertiary qualification in collection management or museum studies or similar is Desirable

WORK, HEALTH & SAFETY OBLIGATIONS
The National Gallery is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of our people and we expect our people to share this commitment and work safely at all times.

This role is required to ensure that they meet duty of care obligations as required under WHS legislation. This is achieved by:

  • being accountable and taking ownership of health and safety matters within their control or ability to promote a culture of health and safety within the National Gallery
  • working with colleagues to enhance health and safety and ensure that it becomes a part of everyday National Gallery business.
  • completing health and safety reporting in an accurate and timely manner.

CONTACT
Further information about the position may be obtained by contacting Bronwyn Gardner on +61 2 6240 6776 or [email protected].

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