Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Assistant Curator

🎯 Role Definition

The Assistant Curator supports the curatorial department in developing, managing, and interpreting the museum or gallery's collections and exhibitions. This role combines collections care, research, exhibition planning, loans and registration, documentation, community engagement, and administrative tasks to ensure the accessibility, preservation, and strategic use of cultural assets. The Assistant Curator works closely with curators, registrars, conservators, educators, development staff, and external partners to deliver high-quality exhibitions, publications, and programs.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Collections Assistant or Collections Technician
Curatorial Assistant or Research Assistant (Art History, Anthropology)
Registrar or Exhibition Coordinator

Advancement To:

Curator (e.g., Curator, Assistant/Associate Curator)
Senior Curator or Head of Collections
Exhibitions Director or Chief Curator

Lateral Moves:

Collections Manager / Registrar
Exhibitions Producer or Project Manager
Digital Collections or Metadata Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Conduct original research and provenance investigation for objects and artworks in the collection, producing well-documented object histories, bibliographies, and acquisition recommendations that support ethical collecting and compliance with institutional policies and international cultural property laws.
Manage accessioning and deaccessioning workflows including preparing accession records, acquisition paperwork, donor agreements, and deaccession documentation consistent with institutional policy, professional standards, and legal/regulatory requirements.
Prepare and maintain detailed condition reports and conservation assessments for collection items prior to exhibition, loan, treatment, or storage, coordinating with conservators to prioritize preventative care and conservation treatments.
Plan, develop, and execute exhibition projects from concept through installation, writing interpretive texts and label copy, preparing object lists and loan requests, coordinating mount and case design, scheduling timelines, and managing budgets to meet exhibition objectives and visitor engagement goals.
Administer internal and external loan programs: draft loan agreements, manage inbound and outbound loan logistics, coordinate insurance and courier services, oversee packing and crating specifications, and ensure timely compliance with loan conditions and environmental requirements.
Maintain and update collection management databases (e.g., The Museum System/TMS, PastPerfect, Emu, CollectionSpace), ensuring metadata accuracy, consistent use of controlled vocabularies, and adherence to cataloguing standards (CDWA, CCO, Dublin Core) for discoverability and data integrity.
Lead or support digitization initiatives including high-resolution imaging, metadata creation, rights and reproductions documentation, and the upload and quality-control of digital assets for online collections, catalogues raisonnés, and virtual exhibitions.
Coordinate object handling, storage optimization, and environmental monitoring in storage and exhibition spaces to protect collections against risks such as light, humidity, pests, and physical damage; implement integrated pest management and climate control best practices.
Prepare budgets, cost estimates, and procurement plans for curatorial projects, negotiate and manage vendor contracts for framing, crating, conservation, and freight, and work with finance and development teams to track expenditures and reconcile project accounts.
Draft grant proposals, funding narratives, and reporting documents in collaboration with development staff to secure project support for research, exhibitions, conservation, publication, and educational programming.
Curate and produce interpretive and educational content—gallery texts, exhibition catalogs, online essays, and program scripts—ensuring accessibility, audience relevance, and alignment with the institution's mission and intellectual framework.
Conduct outreach and donor stewardship activities including cultivating relationships with collectors, artists, galleries, lenders, and community stakeholders to support acquisitions, loans, fundraising, and public programming.
Supervise and mentor interns, volunteers, and temporary staff assigned to research, cataloguing, digitization, and installation tasks; develop training materials and enforce safe handling and documentation procedures.
Collaborate with education and public programs teams to develop tours, workshops, public talks, and special events anchored to current exhibitions and collection strengths; contribute to interpretive strategies that expand audience engagement and inclusion.
Oversee or contribute to risk assessments, emergency preparedness planning, and incident reporting for collections, coordinating with facilities, security, and conservation to minimize potential loss or damage.
Produce scholarly and public-facing publications, wall labels, and presentation materials, and represent the institution at conferences, academic symposia, and community meetings to promote the collection and institutional research.
Coordinate photography, imaging, and reproduction rights processes, liaising with photographers and rights specialists to ensure accurate credits, usage permissions, licensing terms, and fee structures for publication and marketing.
Analyze visitor data, web analytics, and program evaluations in collaboration with audience development staff to inform curatorial decision-making, exhibition design, interpretive plans, and accessibility improvements.
Support acquisitions processes by preparing proposals for new purchases and gifts, conducting market research, developing acquisition justifications, and presenting recommendations to acquisition committees and boards.
Ensure legal and ethical compliance across collections activities, including provenance research to identify contested materials, working with legal counsel on repatriation claims, and adhering to national and international cultural heritage regulations.
Participate in cross-departmental project teams—registrar, conservation, exhibitions production, marketing, and education—to coordinate timelines, resource allocation, and communications for successful exhibition launches and long-term projects.
Maintain strong recordkeeping practices for accession and loan files, conservation treatments, and exhibition documentation, ensuring transparency, audit readiness, and future research utility.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist with routine departmental administration including meeting coordination, minute-taking for curatorial committees, and maintenance of shared project trackers and calendars.
Help coordinate public-facing communications with marketing and digital teams to ensure accurate exhibition descriptions, social media assets, and online collection pages.
Assist with procurement of exhibition materials, liaising with suppliers for custom mounts, signage, and installation hardware to meet conservation and design requirements.
Act as a point of contact for researchers and external scholars requesting access to the collection, managing appointments, reading room protocols, and remote research requests.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Collections management systems (TMS, CollectionSpace, PastPerfect) — experienced in data entry, exports, and maintaining controlled vocabularies for object records.
Cataloguing standards and metadata schemas (CDWA, CCO, Dublin Core) — strong ability to create structured, searchable records for objects, archives, and digital assets.
Provenance research methodologies — archival research, library resources, auction and gallery provenance tracking, and translating findings into acquisition recommendations and repatriation assessments.
Condition reporting and conservation workflow coordination — ability to write clear condition reports, prioritize treatment needs, and liaise effectively with conservators.
Loan and registration administration — drafting loan agreements, insurance valuations, packing and shipping specifications, and risk mitigation for inbound/outbound loans.
Exhibition planning and project management — experience creating timelines, budgets, object lists, interpretive plans, and coordinating interdisciplinary teams to deliver exhibitions on schedule.
Digitization and digital asset management — high-resolution imaging workflows, metadata mapping, rights documentation, and experience with DAM systems or institutional repositories.
Packing, crating, and collections handling — knowledge of packing standards, courier specifications, materials testing, and contractor oversight for safe object transport.
Rights and reproductions management — familiarity with copyright, licensing, permissions processes, and negotiating reproduction fees for publications and marketing.
Grant writing and donor stewardship — experience drafting funding proposals, preparing budgets and outcomes, and contributing to stewardship reports for funders and donors.
Budgeting and financial tracking — comfortable preparing and managing project budgets, purchase orders, and vendor invoicing for curatorial projects.
Familiarity with museum standards and professional ethics — AAM, ICOM, SPECTRUM, NAGPRA, UNESCO guidelines adherence where applicable.
Digital analytics and audience insight tools — basic knowledge of Google Analytics or similar for evaluating digital collection engagement and exhibition reach.

Soft Skills

Exceptional written and verbal communication; able to produce scholarly texts and accessible interpretive copy for broad audiences.
Strong project management and organizational skills; proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and deadlines.
Meticulous attention to detail and high standards for accuracy in documentation and recordkeeping.
Collaborative team player who can build productive relationships across departments and with external partners.
Diplomatic negotiation and stakeholder management skills for working with lenders, donors, artists, and vendors.
Problem-solving orientation with the ability to identify risks and implement pragmatic solutions to protect collections.
Public-facing presentation and teaching skills for tours, talks, and community programming.
Cultural sensitivity and commitment to inclusive practices in interpretation, acquisitions, and community engagement.
Adaptability and flexibility; comfortable working in dynamic project-based environments with shifting priorities.
Initiative and intellectual curiosity; motivated to pursue scholarly research and new public-facing opportunities for the collection.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Art History, Museum Studies, Anthropology, History, Conservation, or a closely related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Museum Studies, Curatorial Studies, Art History, Conservation, or related discipline; additional certificates in collections management, digital humanities, or registrarial studies preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Museum Studies / Curatorial Studies
Art History / Visual Culture
Conservation / Conservation Science
Anthropology / Cultural Heritage Studies
Archival Studies / Library Science
Digital Humanities / Information Science

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

1–3 years professional experience in a museum, gallery, archive, or cultural heritage institution (for early-career Assistant Curator roles).

Preferred:

3–5+ years of relevant curatorial or collections experience including exhibition development, collections management, provenance research, and loan administration; demonstrated experience with collections databases and digitization projects is highly desirable.