Assistant Manager/ Manager – Collections Management

THIS IS A 2-YEAR RENEWABLE CONTRACT ROLE The jobholder will be part of the Curatorial & Collections (C&C) Department at Defence Collective Singapore (DCS), supporting the management, stewardship, and governance of artefact collections across its five entities: Singapore Discovery Centre, Singapore Army Museum, Singapore Air Force Museum, Singapore Navy Museum, and the NS Gallery. Working within a dynamic and collaborative environment, the jobholder will oversee collections management operations and contribute to the acquisition, documentation, care, storage, movement, and long-term stewardship of MINDEF’s collections under DCS’s custodianship. The role will also support the planning and delivery of exhibitions, gallery refreshes, loans, and collections-related projects, ensuring that collections management practices align with professional museum standards and organisational objectives. The jobholder will work closely with the Curatorial and Oral History teams within C&C, as well as internal stakeholders from the Exhibition Team and Museum Teams, and external stakeholders from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Heritage Management Department from MINDEF, to ensure effective collections governance, operational coordination, and the preservation of Singapore’s defence heritage. Key Responsibilities Collections Stewardship, Operations & Governance · Plan, coordinate, and oversee collections management operations, including acquisition, loans, registration, documentation, storage, movement, and return of museum collections, ensuring compliance with established policies, standard operating procedures, and recognised museum standards. · Ensure the long-term care, preservation, security, and accessibility of collections through preventive conservation, environmental monitoring, and appropriate collections management practices. · Maintain accurate collections records and inventory within the Collections Management System (Qi), ensuring the integrity and traceability of all collection data. · Drive continuous improvements to collections policies, procedures, systems, and operational workflows to strengthen collections stewardship, governance, and organisational effectiveness. Exhibition Support & Artefact Display Management · Partner with Curators, Exhibition Team, Service Museum, and POCs from the SAF, to support the planning and delivery of permanent galleries refreshes/ revamp, temporary exhibitions, loans requests, and other collections-related projects. · Assess, plan, and coordinate collections requirements during exhibition planning, including object suitability, conservation, environmental, security, mounting, and display requirements to ensure operational feasibility and the safe display of artefacts. · Lead the end-to-end operational delivery of artefact display for exhibitions and projects, including artefact preparation, condition reporting, framing, mount fabrication, display installation, art handling, logistics coordination, post-display object returns, and storage, ensuring compliance with conservation requirements, established polices, standard operating procedures, and recognised museum standards. Stakeholder & Project Management · Build and maintain effective collaboration with internal stakeholders, including the Curatorial, Oral History, Exhibition and Service Museum teams, and with external stakeholders from the SAF Services, MINDEF, conservators, art handlers, mounters, fabricators, and logistics providers to ensure the timely and successful delivery of exhibitions, collections-related projects, and operational requirements. · Support the Senior Manager in overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Collections team by leading the operational coordination of collections-related projects and cross-functional workstreams, developing implementation plans, coordinating collections requirements and procurement activities, monitoring project timelines and deliverables, proactively identifying and mitigating project risks, resolving operational issues, escalating matters where appropriate, and ensuring compliance with collections policies, governance requirements, and recognised museum standards. Challenges The role operates within a dynamic, multi-museum environment where the jobholder will be expected to balance competing operational priorities, coordinate diverse internal and external stakeholders, and manage multiple concurrent projects. The jobholder should be comfortable navigating ambiguity, ad…