In the spirit of respect and friendship, the Bata Shoe Museum recognizes that the land on which we are situated has been the ancestral home of many nations, including the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Mississaugas of the Credit, since time immemorial. Today, this area remains home to many diverse Indigenous communities, including First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples. As a staff, we at the Bata Shoe Museum are grateful to have the opportunity to meet, work, and learn together on this land.
Located in Toronto, Canada, the mission of the Bata Shoe Museum is to explore the social and cultural life of humanity through footwear by gathering, conserving, researching, interpreting, and exhibiting material evidence of the history of footwear and shoemaking. It is within this context that the Bata Shoe Museum invites nominations and applications for the role of Collections Manager & Registrar, a role truly instrumental to the continued success of the organization and its growing collection of 15,000 artifacts spanning 4,500 years.
The Collections Manager & Registrar will oversee the museum’s growing artifact collections and archives, ensuring their comprehensive care, documentation, and preservation. This role involves managing and updating the collection database, processing acquisitions and loans, and developing collection policies and procedures. The Manager will collaborate with curators, conservators, and other departments to support exhibitions and research, ensuring the integrity and accessibility of the collection. Additionally, the Collections Manager & Registrar will handle logistics for artifact transport, oversee image licensing, and manage the collections budget. This position is vital to the museum’s mission, requiring close cooperation with all departments to maintain the museum’s standards and enhance the visitor experience.
Among the qualifications being sought in candidates, the Collections Manager & Registrar must have a deep and abiding commitment to advancing reconciliation, equity, diversity, and inclusion in all its forms and must believe, intrinsically, in the importance of leading with curiosity and welcoming ideas that can later be synthesized and turned into possibility. While all candidates are encouraged to apply and, in so doing, share how they see themselves adding value to the Bata Shoe Museum environment, the following credentials and/or experiences are seen as possible markers of the candidates most likely to realize success in the role: A) several years of experience in progressively senior roles in collections management, with museum experience being an asset; B) a thorough understanding of artifact care and preservation; C) a history of effective teamwork and independent work; D) a proven track record of navigating complexity and providing compelling solutions to challenges; and, E) a reputation for delivering excellent work in their current and/or past work environments.
Full-time, Permanent
Bata Shoe Museum is partnering with BIPOC Executive Search to ensure an applicant list that is diverse and is as intersectional as possible. All interested applicants can send their résumé to Melissa Sumnauth or Laurie Toulouse by e-mailing ltoulouse@bipocsearch.com.
The Bata Shoe Museum condemns racism, injustice and violence. We have taken time to reflect on how we can effectively and meaningfully make change. We acknowledge that as a museum, we have a responsibility to support diversity, inclusion and accessibility through the work done within our own institution and outside our doors and are committed to this. We acknowledge that we must listen more, learn more, and engage in difficult but necessary conversations. We acknowledge that we have a responsibility to use our platform to amplify minoritized voices. We are committed to prioritizing the education of our board and staff on the issues of diversity and inclusivity. We are committed to changing our museum to be more inclusive to those who have felt marginalized and excluded from being part of a museum community. We are committed to having diverse voices be heard in our exhibitions and our programming. We are committed to providing space for community engagement. We are committed to supporting minoritized business owners. We are committed to making a difference and are actively working on a plan of action. Being silent is being complicit.
In accordance with the AODA Act, for applicants living with a disability accommodation will be provided throughout the search process. Should accommodations be required, please make Laurie Toulouse aware by using the above address.
We thank everyone for their expression of interest—and are truly appreciative of the time individuals put into applying—but with the limitations of time only those selected for an interview will be contacted.