Collections Systems Administrator
3 days ago
Los Angeles
Job DescriptionABOUT THE LUCAS MUSEUM OF NARRATIVE ARTOpening in September 2026, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is dedicated to illustrated storytelling. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the museum’s collection features works by artists including Norman Rockwell, Kadir Nelson, Jessie Willcox Smith, N. C. Wyeth, Beatrix Potter, Judith F. Baca, Frida Kahlo, and Maxfield Parrish; as well as comic art legends such as Winsor McCay, Jack Kirby, Frank Frazetta, Alison Bechdel, Chris Ware, and R. Crumb; and photographers Gordon Parks, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Dorothea Lange. The Museum also houses the Lucas Archives, containing models, props, concept art, and costumes from Lucas’s filmmaking career. Designed by Ma Yansong of MAD with a landscape by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA, the Museum is in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, on an 11-acre campus that includes new green space and a 300,000-square-foot building with galleries, two theaters, a library, restaurant, café, retail store, and community spaces. POSITION SUMMARY The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art seeks a Collections Systems Administrator to manage all aspects of maintaining the museum’s collections management database (The Museum System (TMS) and digital asset management system (NetX), while providing back-end and front-end user support for staff across the museum. This position sits within the Registration Department and serves as lead liaison with multiple stakeholders across the institution, interfacing with art and image data, establishing workflows to improve both access to and the quality of data and assets, e.g. completeness, accuracy, inclusivity, etc. and underscore TMS and NetX as the central repositories for the most current institutional information and assets. Collaborating with the entire Registration team, the Collections Systems Administrator is the point person on collection systems functionality, standards, and protocols, and will coordinate logistics of larger TMS and DAMs-related projects such as database upgrades, collection inventories, and interdepartmental system workflows. This role will collaboratively develop and monitor systems and metadata standards for a range of media to ensure they are aligned with national cultural object documentation standards. This position reports to the Head of Registration and supervises contractual assistants and related vendors.RESPONSIBILITIES • Administer and troubleshoot day-to-day TMS and DAMs operations; maintain user accounts, security groups, auditing, data syncs, data hierarchies and standards, • Create/update training materials including help site content, and implements best practices and standardization, • Provides advanced system training and guidance for TMS and NetX users as well as general user support, • Create and modify Crystal Reports, SSRS Reports, SQL queries and custom data views, • Oversee the intake of collection and non-collection assets into the museum’s digital asset management system through both manual upload and automated workflows, • Apply accurate and relevant metadata to assets and organize files within the digital asset management system to support search and retrieval accessibility, • Manage planning and execution of data clean-up, batch updates, record import/updates, and other data and asset migration projects ensuring adherence to data entry standards and cataloging guidelines, • In collaboration with the Head of Registration and IT, plan and execute system upgrades, plugins, implementation projects, and maintenance, • In coordination with the museum’s Information Technology (IT) and Digital departments, oversee the integration and transfer of data between TMS, NetX, CMS, and museum collections online or other digital platforms, • Assist asset contributors, including museum staff and external contractors, in entering additional metadata and organizing assets to support discovery, sharing, and department workflows, • Partner in the planning of collection information-related projects throughout the Museum, including creating workflows, suggesting database functions, designing custom views/fields, and writing reports, • Serve as the primary liaison between the Registration department and collection systems vendors and freelance contractors for information and asset-related projects as needed, • Perform other duties or special projects as assigned by Head of Registration and Director, Museum ServicesCORE COMPETENCIES, • Analytical Rigor: Simplifies complex problems by using critical thinking to evaluate problems, gathering information, incorporating multiple perspectives, understanding causes, and identifying best-possible solutions. Invests time in planning, discovery, and reflection to drive better decisions and more efficient implementations. Adopts an audience-centric approach, understanding the needs of the audience and incorporating them, as appropriate, into the decision., • Courageous Communication: Intentionally works well with others both on the team and cross-functionally to achieve individual, team, department, or organizational goals. Values diverse input and working with others as a way to achieve the best output possible., • Collaborative Excellence: Displays courage when handling difficult conversations and genuinely and intentionally communicates. Relays key messages effectively, targeted to specific audiences. Identifies others' communication styles and perspectives, adjusting language and approach accordingly. Employs active listening to understand, rather than reply. Asks for, integrates, and values feedback from team, peers, and leaders., • Adaptive Resilience: Thrives and grows in a rapidly changing and complex environment. Displays flexibility, activates networks, and adopts a continuous growth mindset to learn from mistakes and bounce back from adversity., • Inclusive Interaction: Actively contributes to an environment in which all employees feel a sense of belonging, valued for their differences and empowered to participate and contribute freely., • Building Trust & Relationship Management, • Accountable Ownership and clearly shares information and the "why" behind decisions., • Asks for and values the opinions of others. Displays empathy when listening., • Acknowledges when trust has been broken and focuses on rebuilding., • Relates comfortably with people across levels, functions, cultures, and geographies. Identifies interpersonal and group dynamics and reacts effectively., • Accountable Ownership, • Takes ownership of outcomes, positive or negative, without blaming others within the team or cross-functionally., • Recognizes when they are not approaching a situation with accountability but instead with a blame mindset., • Takes accountability for assigned tasks and executes on deliverables in a timely manner., • Strategic Alignment & Execution, • Contributes to the organization by understanding and aligning actions with the organization's goals, core functions, needs, and values., • Seeks out and incorporates multiple perspectives, experiences, and industry trends to develop a holistic perspective. Operationalizes ideas within the business model., • Displays critical thinking when faced with a challenge by asking probing questions and looking for connections.QUALIFICATIONS, • Education & Experience, • Advanced degree and demonstrated experience in library information or data sciences, museum registration, archives management or related field are required, • Knowledge of data and asset structures and standards for museum collection management and culturally inclusive practices, • Minimum 5-8 years of administrative experience with a museum collections management database, preferably TMS. Experience with SQL, SQL Server Reports, Crystal Reports; advanced knowledge preferred, • Minimum 3 years of administrative experience with a museum data asset management system, preferably NetX., • Experience with DAM taxonomy and metadata in a cultural heritage setting. Knowledge of published vocabularies, standards, and linked data tools such as the AAT, TGN, ULAN, LCNAF, and Wikidata, • Experience providing user support and training in a team environment