Research Associate, Interpretive Planning [End-Dated]

About the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York CityThe Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. We are committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with a staff as diverse as the audiences we engage. Our staff members are art lovers who are passionate about working toward a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring art museum in the world.

At The Met, every staff member from security officers to researchers to scientists and beyond lives by our core values of respect, inclusivity, collaboration, excellence, and integrity.

Respect: Engage one another with collegiality, empathy, and kindness, always.

Inclusivity: Ensure that all are and feel welcome and valued.

Collaboration: Reach across boundaries to exchange ideas and work together toward our shared mission.

Excellence: Lead the cultural world in quality and expertiseand inspire curiosity and creativity.

Integrity: Hold ourselves to the highest moral standards, admit when we fall short, and then evolve.

The Mets Department of Educationdedicated to making art meaningful and accessible for everyoneis central to the mission of the Museum. The Department is a national and international leader in museum-based education and public programming, pushing boundaries through continuous innovation and experimentation. In-person and virtual programs include high school and college internships that promote career development and diversity; PreK12 educator programs that train teachers to integrate art into curricula across disciplines; lectures and symposia that feature preeminent artists and scholarship; daily tours in multiple languages, and so much more.

Within the Education Department, the Interpretive Planning & Evaluation (IPE) team works at the intersection of the social and behavioral sciences, museum pedagogy, and art history to advocate for visitor learning in exhibitions and permanent collection displays. IPE considers the practice of visitor research and evaluation to be the evidentiary basis for visitor-centered interpretive planning. Since its inception in 2022, IPE has contributed front-end, formative, and summative studies for exhibitions, reinstallations, and capital projects. These studies have allowed the Education Department to advise on and develop interpretive plans, in-gallery didactics and interactives, and educational programming. In addition to this work, the team also advises on the development of a program evaluation strategy for the Education Department as a whole.

As the Research Associate, Interpretive Planning, you will assist in scoping, developing and implementing visitor research for forthcoming in-gallery interpretive projects (capital projects, reinstallations and exhibitions) and other educational programing. You will assist the Project Manager to develop new strategies and processes for both interpretive planning and visitor evaluation. You will play an important role in expanding, uplifting and codifying the Museums approach to visitor research and evaluation.

This is a position with an established end-date or time frame. Time frames will begin upon hire: 3 years

• Assist in developing, executing, and analyzing studies to evaluate educational programming and in-gallery interpretive projects

• Work with the Project Manager, IPE to facilitate the enacting of program evaluations for the Education Department, advising on research approaches, methods, etc. Serve as an administrative support for this group's efforts in program evaluation, which may include: developing timelines for evaluation projects, determining methods for data collection and analysis, and scheduling opportunities for presentations

• Work with the Project Manager, IPE to develop evaluation protocol and training toolkits and other evergreen strategies for sustaining visitor research and evaluation at The Met on a broader scale

• Train and schedule temporary employees to work on in-gallery visitor research projects

• Develop interpretive plans/interpretive frameworks for exhibitions, reinstallations, and capital projects

• As both researcher and interpretive practitioner, stay abreast of best/next practices within the interpretive planning, art historical, evaluation, and museum education fields

• As needed, present research internally and externally (industry conferences)

• As needed, supervise college and graduate interns

• As needed, assist in the upkeep of in-gallery interactives

• Other duties as assigned

• MA in Art History, Art Education, Museum Studies, Psychology, Sociology, or a related field in the humanities and/or social sciences

• 2+ years of experience working in museums

• Knowledge of best practices in program evaluation for informal learning institutions. Background doing research in a museum setting is a plus, especially with regard to interpretive projects

• Knowledge of best practices for qualitative visitor research, especially focus groups

• Knowledge of best practices for interpretive planning in art museums, proven record of enacting projects

• Strong project management/administrative skills

• Team player. Strong interpersonal skills and enthusiasm for fomenting meaningful collaborations

• Strong presentation and public speaking skills

• Interest in art, art history, and creative practice

• Fluency in Spanish preferred (reading, writing, speaking)

• Ability to work evening and weekend hours as required

• Pay Range: $72,000.00 - $74,000.00 / Annually

The advertised pay scale reflects the good faith minimum and maximum salary range for this role. The advertised pay scale is not a promise of a particular wage for any specific employee. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may be dependent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the candidates experience, education, special licensing or qualifications, and other factors.

Location Requirements

At time of employment, employees are expected to be located within commuting distance of the Museum. Commuting distance means that they are located in one of following states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania (the Tri-state and PA areas), and be able to commute to and from the Museum in a single day.

Benefits Offerings

The Museum provides competitive compensation, and generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees. Note: Benefits Offering may differ based on Employee Status.

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• 403(b) basic retirement plan and optional matching retirement plan with an outstanding employer match
• Considerable paid time off, including annual leave, sick leave, and 13 Museum holidays
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible Spending Accounts & Health Savings Account (pre-tax income for eligible health care expenses)
• Commuter benefits (pre-tax income for parking or mass transit expenses)
• Free financial-planning services
• Financial assistance for relevant coursework, seminars, and training programs
• 25% discount for staff in Museum shops
• A subsidized staff cafeteria
• Access to the Museums Council pass, which grants free admission to various museums and cultural institutions

We recognize that it is highly unlikely that someone meets 100% of the desired attributes for a role. If much of this job description describes you, then please apply for this role.

The Met is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, The Met will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed in this process, please contact benefits@metmuseum.org .

The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides equal opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, alienage or citizenship status, marital status or domestic partner status, genetic information, genetic predisposition or carrier status, gender identity, HIV status, military status and any other category protected by law in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, lay-off and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.