Job Description

Who We Are

Founded in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a private, not-for-profit educational, historic, and cultural institution that owns and operates one of the largest and best-known museum complexes in the world. Our mission is “that the future may learn from the past” through preserving and restoring 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia’s colonial capital. We engage, inform, and inspire people to learn about this historic capital, the events that occurred here, and the diverse peoples who helped shape a new nation.

Today, Colonial Williamsburg is the largest living history museum in the U.S. The Historic Area is the 301-acre restored colonial capital with 89 original buildings and 525 buildings reconstructed to how they appeared in the 18th century through extensive archaeological, architectural, and documentary research. The Historic Area is staffed by highly trained, historically dressed interpreters and expert tradespeople who bring the 18th century to life. The Foundation also owns and operates two world-class museums, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, The Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute , and a renowned research library, the John D Rockefeller Jr Library.

Additionally, Colonial Williamsburg is home to five world class accommodations at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge Autograph Collection, the Griffin Hotel, the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotels and Suites and the unique Colonial Houses in the Historical Area. Visitors may also indulge in food and drink at our many on site restaurants and taverns that blend a historically inspired dining experience with today’s evolved tastes. Each year over 5 million people visit Williamsburg and another 20 million engage with us digitally.

About the Position

The Director of Conservation is responsible for enhancing the protection and preservation of Colonial Williamsburg’s cultural and historic assets by providing leadership and oversight of the Foundation’s innovative conservation department. To accomplish this, the Director oversees departmental priorities and production, manages the operating budget, and ensures the quality of analysis, care, surveys, treatment, and documentation. Additionally, the Director represents the department and articulates conservation issues throughout the institution; supports educational and interpretive efforts in the Historic Area and museums; participates in activities associated with donor development, grant writing, and other fundraising events; and acts as a liaison with outside individuals and organizations on conservation matters as needed.

Main Duties:

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Oversees the effective operation and leadership of the conservation department, including supervision of conservators and the preventive conservation group. Functions include hiring, training, goal setting, guidance on professional and technical concerns, performance appraisal, and execution of corrective actions when necessary in accordance with established Foundation policies.
• Facilitates productive working relationships within and outside the department.
• Works consistently to maintain the cutting-edge status of the department, its staff, and its methodologies.
• Establishes departmental procedures and goals in accordance with Foundation and divisional policies and mission statements; develops, reviews, and refines the long-range plan for the department.
• Works with direct reports to establish, monitor, and maintain professional standards of treatment documentation, written/digital and photographic.
• Prepares and manages the department operating budget and related budgets, providing status reports to the senior vice president.
• Approves expenditures and purchases in accordance with Foundation policies.
• Collaborates with the senior vice president and the Director of Museum Design and Production to provide budget information for exhibitions as requested.
• Works with Public Safety to ensure effective emergency plans are in place, emergency preparedness and response procedures are followed, and emergency supply depots are supplied and maintained.
• Ensures conservation staff collaboration with curators and registrars on collections management issues, including exhibition, storage, preventive conservation, evaluation of accessions, surveys, and loans.
• Supports and encourages conservation staff professional development.
• Reviews manuscripts prepared for publication and promotes study and research related to the conservation needs of Foundation collections.
• Leads conservation staff in implementing conservation training for Foundation staff in collections-related areas.
• Collaborates with the senior vice president on departmental fundraising and grant applications; participates in donor development and prepares status reports to donors and granting agencies.
• Develops the department’s research and analytical capabilities in a practical, cost-efficient, and equitable manner.
• Oversees conservation equipment and facilities used by the department.
• Performs related work as directed.

Budgetary Responsibilities: Annual operating budget of approx. $2.8M

Supervisory Responsibilities: Directly supervises a team of professional conservation staff, including two (2) Conservators, five (5) Senior Conservators, two (2) Associate Conservators, and one (1) specialized conservation role supporting musical instruments.

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree (B.A./B.S.) in conservation, history, art history, American studies, or a related field.
• Graduate-level conservation studies or equivalent technical education and/or professional experience.
• Ten (10) or more years of professional conservation experience.
• Six (6) or more years of management experience, including leading teams with varied skill sets and levels of expertise within a museum or related cultural institution.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Professional conservation experience with an emphasis on 16th- to 20th-century British, European, and/or American objects.
• Evidence of scholarly or professional contributions, such as articles or other published works related to conservation practice or research.
• Demonstrated experience in bench work and the treatment of objects.
• Membership in a professional conservation organization.
• Teaching, training, or instructional experience.
• Experience working in a multi-disciplinary conservation facility.

Key Skills / Competencies:

Knowledge of:

• Conservation science and professional conservation principles.
• Current museum ethics, standards, and best practices related to the conservation of collections.
• Historic art and material culture technologies, techniques, and materials.

Skills and Abilities:

• Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to effectively present professional and technical information to diverse audiences.
• Familiarity with museum exhibition and object storage practices, including appropriate materials and environmental considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead and execute complex, multi-stakeholder projects requiring professional judgment and coordination.