Collections & Gallery Operations Manager

The Collections & Gallery Operations Manager is a senior operational and curatorial-adjacent role responsible for the stewardship, documentation, and movement of artworks and design objects, as well as overseeing day-to-day gallery operations.

This role ensures the professional handling of artworks across exhibitions, sales, consultancy projects, and collections while maintaining museum-standard documentation, lead buying, compliance, and logistics coordination. Reporting to the Director of Commercial Art & Design, this position oversees workflow execution across collection management, operations, and design buying, manages two Gallery Associates, and acts as the primary operational lead in the Director’s absence.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary registrar for the gallery, overseeing all artwork and design object records, supporting provenance documentation, and managing condition reporting .

• Maintain the gallery inventory management system, ensuring accurate cataloguing, inventory tracking, and digital archiving of artworks, design objects, and client data .

• Coordinate incoming and outgoing rentals, consignments, and sales, including contracts, insurance, shipping documentation, customs clearance, and courier coordination .

• Establish packing specifications, installation requirements, insurance coverage, and risk mitigation strategies for artworks in transit, storage, and on display .

• Liaise with artists, collectors, and shipping partners to ensure professional handling and compliance with international museum standards .

• Provide oversight of day-to-day gallery operations, managing operational policies, workflows, and systems across front-of-house, back-of-house, vault storage, exhibition, and consultancy delivery .

• Coordinate operational planning for exhibitions, events, private views, and VIP appointments in collaboration with executive leadership and marketing teams .

• Manage relationships with external vendors and service providers, including fabricators, facilities, security, and maintenance contractors .

• Oversee Gallery Associate workflows, including scheduling, task delegation, performance standards, and art handling protocols .

• Act as deputy operational contact in the Director’s absence for logistics, staffing, and client-facing matters .

• Contribute to strategic planning, budgeting, and forecasting related to roster artworks, design items, and gallery operations .

• Lead acquisition procedures for the design gallery as Lead Buyer, sourcing design-related retail items, books, objects, and limited-edition design works aligned with curatorial and commercial strategy .

• Present purchasing, inventory mix, and stock levels to procurement teams, while managing purchase orders, pricing structures, and margin frameworks .

• Build relationships with local, regional, and international designers, studios, manufacturers, and suppliers, tracking stock levels, sales performance, and replenishment strategies .

• Conduct targeted artist and artwork research (availability, pricing, provenance, commission history) and prepare formatted materials for proposals, reports, inventories, and presentations .

• Support large-scale art consultancy commissions, serving as a primary point of contact with galleries, artists, clients, architects, and commercial galleries regarding onsite artwork handling .

• Ensure full compliance with international best practices in collections care, customs regulations, and anti-money laundering documentation, producing quarterly and annual inventory and risk reports .

Requirements

· Minimum 8+ years of experience in a commercial gallery, museum, or art logistics environment with collections management and sourcing responsibilities.  

· Degree or equivalent certification/experience in Art History, Museum Studies, Fine Art, or a related field.

· Demonstrated buying/procurement experience in a museum or commercial gallery enterprise.  

· Expert knowledge of international artwork handling, documentation, shipping, customs regulations, and insurance processes.  

· Hands-on experience with collections management systems (e.g., ArtLogic, Arternal, ArtBase, TMS, or similar).  

· Exceptional organizational, project management, and documentation abilities.  

· Strong negotiation, procurement, and vendor management skills.  

· Detail-oriented with a risk-aware, commercial, and compliance-focused mindset.  

Work Location:

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