Head of Digital Collections Initiatives

Chicago History Museum

Job Description

JOB TITLE: Head of Digital Collections Initiatives

DEPARTMENT: Collections

REPORTS TO: Director of Collections

FLSA STATUS: Exempt

WORK LOCATION: Hybrid (minimum 2 days/week onsite)

JOB SUMMARY

Under the guidance of the Director of Collections, the Head of Digital Collections Initiatives leads strategy for the Museum's digital collections ecosystem, coordinating cross-departmental efforts, and overseeing the development of systems, integrations, standards, and workflows that advance the Museum's digital transformation.

The position manages and coordinates all aspects of the Digital Collections Initiatives unit, including the areas of digitization, digital asset management, and rights and reproductions, generating institutional revenue, managing the unit budget and supporting digital access to collections for internal and external audiences. The role ensures that the museum’s digital assets are responsibly managed, widely accessible, and leveraged to support research, exhibits and public engagement.

This position works closely with Collections, Curation and Exhibitions, IT, Communications, Education, and Institutional Advancement to align digital initiatives with institutional priorities, secure philanthropic support and strengthen the museum’s role as a leading research institution.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Manage the day-to-day operations of the Digital Collections Initiatives unit, including supervising staff, interns and volunteers and coordinating their work.
• Lead the strategic planning and governance of the museum’s digital collections ecosystem, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities, best practices, available resources and long-term sustainability.
• Serve as project manager for digital collections initiatives, including Digital Futures, collaborating with relevant staff, overseeing strategy, budgets, timelines, and milestone tracking and communicating project progress to internal and external stakeholders.
• Oversee and/or support the planning, implementation, and optimization of collections-related digital systems, including digital asset management systems (DAMS), collections management systems (CMS), and public discovery platforms, ensuring they meet the needs of internal and external audiences and support collections stewardship.
• Oversee the Museum’s Rights and Reproductions program, maximizing revenue while supporting research, exhibitions, publications, and partnerships, and ensuring responsible rights management; submit accounting and royalty reports as needed.
• Advise the Director of Collections in developing annual departmental goals, objectives, and budget.
• Collaborate with IT and internal stakeholders to ensure systems integration, scalability, and long-term sustainability.
• Lead the development, implementation, documentation and improvement of cross-departmental workflows for collections-related digitization, digital asset management, digital preservation and digital access, ensuring work is coordinated efficiently, consistently, and in alignment with institutional priorities.
• Establish and maintain technical standards, quality assurance practices, and governance for image capture, metadata creation, digital preservation, and digital asset management, ensuring consistent implementation across collections systems.
• Develop an institutional digitization strategy and priorities that support collections stewardship, exhibitions, digital scholarship, community outreach, and revenue-generating opportunities. 
• Oversee digitization initiatives, coordinating priorities, resources, staff, and external vendors to ensure projects are completed efficiently and in accordance with established standards.
• Expand public access to digitized collections through user-friendly digital platforms and improved discovery tools.
• Develop and implement processes for collecting and analyzing internal and external user feedback and metrics to evaluate performance and inform continuous improvements to the digital collections ecosystem.
• Participate in institutional committees and working groups to represent digital collections priorities, advocating for digital transformation across the institution and promoting best practices.
• Monitor emerging technologies, standards, and best practices related to digital collections management, digital preservation, and cultural heritage technologies, recommending solutions that are practical and sustainable.
• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with technology providers, academic institutions, funding organizations, community groups and peer museums to advance digital initiatives and promote public awareness of the collection.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and service-oriented culture within the Digital Collections Initiatives unit and across the Museum.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: The Head of Digital Collections Initiatives leads the Digital Collections Initiatives unit, consisting of the Rights and Reproductions Coordinator, Digital Asset Specialist, two Photographers/Imaging Specialists, Metadata Specialist and project staff, volunteers and interns as needed. The unit is part of the Collections department, and the Head will collaborate closely with other unit supervisors (Senior Archivist, Senior Collection Manager, Senior Conservator, Senior Registrar and Senior Research Librarian) and their unit staff. This position also works closely with Curation and Exhibitions, IT, Communications, Education, and Institutional Advancement to advance digital collections initiatives.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in library and information science, museum studies, digital humanities, archival studies, or related field required. Advanced degree preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience managing digital collections, digital asset management, or digital initiatives within a museum, archives, library, or cultural heritage institution.
• Demonstrated success leading complex, multi-year digital projects involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• Experience supervising staff and leading cross-departmental teams and initiatives.
• Experience developing and improving workflows, policies, and standards for digitization, digital asset management, metadata, and digital access.
• Experience overseeing or implementing digital collections systems, including Digital Asset Management Systems (DAMS), Collections Management Systems (CMS), and/or digital discovery platforms.
• (Preferred) Knowledge of photographic and digitization standards (e.g., FADGI), color management, and quality assurance practices for cultural heritage.
• (Preferred) Knowledge of copyright, licensing, and intellectual property law and guidelines as they relate to the creation, management, and distribution of digital collections.

Technical Knowledge

• Working knowledge of Digital Asset Management Systems (DAMS), Collections Management Systems (CMS), and digital collections platforms.
• Knowledge of metadata standards and frameworks such as Dublin Core, MODS, or VRA.
• Familiarity with digital preservation standards, practices and tools (e.g., OAIS, FADGI).
• Understanding of system integrations, APIs, and digital infrastructure.
• (Preferred) Experience using analytics and user feedback to evaluate digital engagement and inform improvements.

Leadership and Professional Skills

• Strong strategic planning, leadership and project management skills.
• Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to advocate for digital initiatives and guide change across the institution.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and responsible stewardship of cultural heritage materials.

Application Instructions: PLEASE SUBMIT BOTH A COVER LETTER AND RESUME AS PART OF YOUR APPLICATION. APPLICATIONS THAT DO NOT INCLUDE BOTH DOCUMENTS MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED.