Assistant Registrar

Salary Range: 30.54 to 30.54 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-hour-wage)

Responsibilities & Duties

• Team Participation 
• Encourage and contribute to an inclusive, rewarding, and inspiring workplace, where innovation, discovery, and constant learning cultivate a deep sense of belonging and shared responsibility within the Registration team.   
• Share in fostering a culture of safety, inclusivity, and equity.  
• Work in a healthy and flexible style, and models empathy and understanding.  
• Participate in nurturing collaboration and partnership across teams with fluid communication and respect for diverse expertise essential to an art museum.  
• Demonstrate a commitment to the museum’s strategic focus of making programming that engages visitors and inspires individuals to return and recommend the museum to their family and friends.  
• Represent the museum at the local, national, and international levels.  
• Participate in professional networks, workshops, and programs to stay current with relevant practices, methods, and technologies, as well adding new skills to share with the department.  


• Collections
• Assist with arrangements for acquisitions to the collection.
• Coordinate safe packing, shipping, movement, and handling of artworks. 
• Communicate with lenders, donors, packers, vendors, forwarding agents and shippers. 
• Examine artworks, produce condition reports, and generate receipts. 
• Coordinate matting and framing of artworks. 
• Oversee preparation and installation/deinstallation of works for Accessions Committee meetings. 
• Arrange for return of works not accessioned. 
• Coordinate examinations and treatments with Conservation.  
• Facilitate storage of accessioned objects. 
• Assist with arrangements for loans out from the collection.
• Coordinate safe packing, shipping, movement, and handling of artworks. 
• Communicate with lenders, donors, packers, vendors, forwarding agents and shippers. 
• Examine artworks, produce condition reports, and generate receipts. 
• Coordinate matting and framing of artworks. 
• Coordinate examinations and treatments with Conservation.  
• Generate loan reports and packets. 
• As needed, travel to borrowing institutions to oversee transport, unpacking, installation, condition reporting, and/or repacking of loans out artworks. 
• Assist with collections care and documentation projects, such as assisting with surveys, inventories, and audits.   


• Exhibitions and Rotations 
• Assist with arrangements for exhibitions, both borrowed and organized by SFMOMA, including traveling exhibitions.
• Verify condition, location, and availability of works.  
• Coordinate safe packing, shipping, movement, and handling of artworks. 
• Communicate with lenders, donors, packers, vendors, forwarding agents and shippers. 
• Examine artworks, produce condition reports, and generate receipts. 
• Coordinate matting and framing of artworks. 
• Coordinate examinations and treatments with Conservation. 
• Facilitate storage of borrowed artworks. 
• Schedule and oversee delivery, preparation, installation, deinstallation, and dispersal of artworks in staging areas or galleries, and, as needed, through virtual oversight or in-person travel.  
• Make periodic checks of the galleries and work across departments to address potential risks to works on view. 
• As needed, travel to borrowing institutions to oversee transport, unpacking, installation, condition reporting, and/or repacking of artworks.  


• Administration 
• Ensure completeness and maintenance of records and files for assigned projects by adding documentation, data, and digital assets to relevant museum systems. 
• Assist with maintaining collection insurance records and files. 
• Generate and distribute reports related to accessions, deaccessions, and displays. 
• Contribute to and monitor budgets for registration activities; process invoices. 
• Mitigate risks to artworks and to relationships with people and organizations.  
• Assist with maintaining collection insurance records and files. 
• Generate and distribute reports related to accessions, loans out, rotations, and exhibitions. 
• Perform other related duties as required. 

Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor's Degree in Art History, Museum Studies, or closely related field. 
• Minimum of two (2) year’s experience in an art museum or similar institutions: 
• Demonstrated knowledge of museum registration methods and museum purposes, organization, and procedures. 
• Skill in the sensitive handling of works of art, including crating, packing, and transportation of objects. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft applications (Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).  
• Experience with collections management systems and digital asset management systems. 
• Proficiency with Asana or other project management software.  
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with museum colleagues, volunteers, and interns, and effectively represent the museum to outside professionals, lenders, donors, and members of the artistic community. 
• Ability to work effectively on a wide variety of projects concurrently, with concern for the tasks assigned and the goals of the Registration Department. 
• Familiarity with basic conservation concepts, procedures, and terms. 
• Ability and willingness to maintain a high level of accuracy and attention to detail. 
• Ability to work independently and conduct effective problem resolution. 
• Demonstrated organizational skill and knowledge of standard office procedures, including invoicing, receipting, and maintaining files. 
• Ability to work simultaneously with multiple people who have different needs. 
• Working knowledge of twentieth century art history. 
• Successful candidates will have a strong commitment to access and sustainability, will collaborate well, and will demonstrate timeliness and effectiveness in a complex environment.    
• Demonstrated commitment to principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and sustainability in the arts sector.