Manager Experience Design

THE OPPORTUNITY

Located in the heart of San Francisco, the Asian Art Museum is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Asian art, boasting more than 18,000 inspiring artworks ranging from ancient jades and ceramics to contemporary video installations. Dynamic special exhibitions, cultural celebrations, and public programs for all ages provide rich art experiences that unlock the past and spark questions about the future.

Currently, we are seeking a Manager Experience Design to join our team. This is an exceptional opportunity to join an organization that values creativity, teamwork, collaboration, and inclusion and where you will be surrounded by a diverse, talented, and enthusiastic group of colleagues.

The Manager of Experience Design will be responsible for inspiring and influencing the creative direction of museum experiences and actively contributing to the creative direction and execution of immersive experiences. The incumbent will drive the creative output by overseeing the creative team, while executing various quality and immersive visitor-centered experiences.

The position regularly engages with staff, vendors, visitors, volunteers, members, and colleagues in a personable and respectful manner.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Ideates, designs, and creates immersive and interactive experiences within the museum.
• Works with others to create immersive visitor-centered experiences, while managing the creative process for experience centered initiatives and encouraging a culture of innovation and experimentation.
• Serves as a traffic manager, opening and assigning jobs, developing, and managing budgets and timelines. Ensures projects are delivered on time and within budget.
• Manages the development and refinement of innovative interpretive and programmatic strategies for consistent, excellent, and innovative visitor experiences for a range of audiences from youth to adults.
• Manages aspects of the audience experience, from formal and informal educational and public programming, immersive exhibition planning, design, and interpretation.
• Collaborates with curators, technologists, evaluators, and designers on storytelling and interpretive planning across special exhibition and collection rotation projects to create engaging content and programs that sparks relevant connections between today’s audiences and the museum’s content and generate maximum attendance.
• Manages and produces interpretive and programmatic plans for museum projects that articulate big ideas, key messages, visitor outcomes, and interpretive strategies; creates engaging interpretive materials and experiences such as programs, texts, videos, participatory and multi-sensory learning spaces, immersive experiences, website content, and other digital experience platforms.
• Advocates for consumer needs in the development and deployment of programs and strategies throughout the organization and evaluates the effectiveness of immersive experiences based on visitor feedback, and other evaluation systems used in the Experience Design Division etc.
• Maintains a well-informed working knowledge of museum’s operational needs, exhibits, and services for ongoing training of staff, with the goal of ensuring that the team can support visitors in designing the best possible experience during their visit.
• Represents the museum’s mission and maintains an awareness of current museum and family entertainment trends.
• Coordinates with appropriate departments to ensure a safe and accessible museum environment.
• Incorporates best practices for diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in program planning.
• Partners in the planning and managing of the department's annual budget, as well as other financial tasks and activities.
• Serves on cross-departmental teams and represents the department at internal and external meetings and events.
• Supervises staff, providing direction, mentoring, and coaching. Supervises volunteers and interns as necessary.
• Maintains knowledge of trends, best practices, regulatory changes, and new technologies.
• Establishes and nurtures strong working relationships with museum staff, colleagues from other institutions, consultants, and vendors. Performs other duties and projects as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Asian Art, History, Literature, or a related field and five years of related experience. A combination of education and experience will be considered.

• Strong understanding of Experience Design and Design Thinking methodologies.

• Strong knowledge and proficiency in VR/AR technologies, interactive multimedia design, and/ or experience with Adobe Suite, Sketchup, Vectorworks.

• Proven project management, budget, communication, collaborative, and organizational abilities.

• Proven ability to work simultaneously on multiple projects in a complex, highly demanding, and fast paced work environment.

• Excellent management skills with the ability to set a vision and lead the team to deliver.

• Ability to show understanding and practical application of critical issues in museum interpretation, visitor experience development and how people of all ages learn.

• Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams and experience with interdisciplinary collaboration.

• Knowledge of pedagogies for informal learning environments and visitor research and evaluation, for museums and other informal learning environments; visitor motivations and social needs.

• Broad understanding of museum operations (e.g., Curatorial, Conservation, Visitor Services, etc.) that affect the visitor experience and interpretive engagement.

• Strong oral and written communication skills

• Ability to write in an engaging manner for various audiences.

• Intellectual curiosity about art and its interdisciplinary connections.

• Exceptional project management and organization skills.

• Capacity to quickly learn new tools and platforms as technologies evolve.

• High level of analytical, research, team building, and problem-solving skills.

• Must be flexible, resourceful, and collaborative; expected to demonstrate initiative, positivity, and creativity with projects.

• Works collaboratively, honors multiple perspectives at once, and unites teams around common goals.

• Demonstrates a commitment to diversity, equity, access and inclusion principles and practices.

• Ability, dedication, discipline, and ambition to translate vision into concrete action.

• Ability to establish and maintain effective, positive working relationships with staff, volunteers, and members of the public; promote membership activities to ethnically and culturally diverse groups and communities.

• Ability to work under time constraints and meet tight deadlines.

• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends as necessary.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Standard museum and office environment.

• Computer, tablet, and phone use.

COMPENSATION

The Asian Art Museum is committed to practicing salary transparency. The minimum salary for this position is $90,000 and the maximum salary is $112,000. Please note that the pay range information is a general guideline only. Many factors are taken into consideration when setting starting pay including education, experience, the external labor market, and internal equity. This opportunity includes a generous benefits package, including but not limited to:

• Fully covered medical, dental and vision insurance for employee
• 12 paid holidays (2024)
• 15 days of vacation starting
• 12 days of sick leave
• Group retirement plan starting after one year of employment

OUR DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION COMMITMENTS

At the Asian Art Museum, we are dedicated to ideating, building, and holding ourselves accountable for Diversity, Equity, Accessibility & Inclusion in everything we do. We strive to foster a culture of respect, belonging and inclusivity for all employees.
Our mission is to celebrate, preserve, and promote Asian and Asian American art and cultures for local and global audiences. We provide a dynamic forum for exchanging ideas, inviting collaboration, and fueling imagination to deepen understanding and empathy among people of all backgrounds.

Diversity of thought and experience is essential to our mission, and we are committed to recruiting, hiring, and retaining a diverse workforce. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Apply online at https://about.asianart.org/careers/. Ensuring a smooth and enjoyable candidate experience is critical for us. Application materials will be screened in relation to the criteria described. Candidates deemed to be the most highly qualified will be invited to participate in the interview process. Our interview process tends to take about 4 weeks to complete but may fluctuate depending on the role. Appointment is subject to completion of a thorough background check process.

The Asian Art Museum is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories (arrest and criminal histories) consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law.