Manager Museum Technologies

About the museum A soon-to-open contemporary art museum in Vadodara, dedicated to preserving and presenting regional, national, and international art through dynamic exhibitions and public programs. The museum will use digital and immersive technologies to enhance visitor experience, extend access, and protect collections. Role summary The Manager — Museum Technologies will lead planning, deployment, and day-to-day operations of all technology systems that support exhibitions, interpretation, collections management, visitor engagement, and back-office IT. This is a hands-on leadership role combining strategic planning, project management, technical oversight, vendor coordination, staff training, and policy development to ensure technology enhances curatorial goals, security, accessibility, and long-term preservation. Key responsibilities - Strategy & planning - Develop and maintain a multi-year technology roadmap aligned with the museum’s mission and visitor engagement goals. - Assess emerging technologies (AR, VR, MR, immersive audio/visual systems) for pilot projects and scaled deployments. - Exhibition & experience technologies - Lead technical design and delivery of AR/VR/immersive installations, including content integration, hardware selection, and site-specific system design. - Collaborate with curators, designers, and external creative/technical partners on concepting, prototyping, testing, and installation. - Ensure visitor-facing systems meet accessibility, usability, and performance standards. - Collections & data systems - Oversee selection, implementation, configuration, and maintenance of the Art Collection Management System (CMS), ensuring accurate cataloguing, provenance, condition reports, digital asset management, and reporting. - Establish workflows for digitization, metadata standards, backup, and long-term digital preservation. - Integrate CMS with other systems as required (website, ticketing, CRM). - Website & digital channels - Manage the museum website strategy, content management, analytics, and technical maintenance. - Coordinate with marketing and curatorial teams to deliver multimedia content, online exhibitions, virtual tours, and e-commerce/ticketing integrations. - IT infrastructure & security - Oversee museum IT infrastructure: network, servers, Wi‑Fi, workstations, audiovisual systems, access control, CCTV, and point-of-sale systems. - Develop and enforce cybersecurity policies, disaster recovery and backup plans, and data protection measures, including compliance with applicable laws and best practices. - Operations & vendor management - Manage relationships with external vendors, contractors, and technology partners; oversee procurement, RFPs, SLAs, and budgets. - Supervise deployment, preventive maintenance, and lifecycle replacement planning for hardware and software. - Team leadership & capacity building - Build and manage a small in-house technology team (technicians, developer/engineer, digital content specialist) and coordinate volunteers or interns as needed. - Provide staff training and documentation on systems, tools, and digital workflows. - Monitoring, evaluation & reporting - Define KPIs for digital programs (uptake, engagement, uptime, performance) and deliver regular reports to leadership. - Collect visitor feedback on digital experiences and iterate improvements. Qualifications - Education: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Digital Media, Museum Studies with technology specialization, or related field. Master’s degree or relevant certifications preferred. Experience: - 6+ years of experience managing technology projects in cultural institutions, museums, galleries, or related creative/tech environments; at least 3 years in a supervisory role. Technical skills: - Hands-on experience with AR/VR systems, immersive AV setups, spatial computing platforms, and real-time engines (e.g., Unity, Unreal) or strong vendor coordination experience. - Experience implementing and administering Collection Management Systems (e.g., TMS, CollectionSpace, PastPerfect, EmbARK) and digital asset management systems. - Web CMS experience (WordPress, Drupal, or custom), familiarity with APIs and integrations. - Solid understanding of networking, servers, cloud services, cybersecurity, backup and disaster recovery. - Basic audio-visual installation knowledge (projectors, LED walls, sensors, controllers). Soft skills: - Strong project management and budgeting skills; ability to manage concurrent projects. - Excellent collaboration and communication skills; comfortable working with curators, designers, educators, and external vendors. - Problem-solving mindset, attention to detail, and commitment to accessibility and cultural sensitivity. Other: - Willingness to work occasional evenings/weekends during installation periods or events. - Fluent in English; knowledge of Gujarati/Hindi an advantage. Desirable - Experience with interactive visitor analytics, beacon technologies, spatial audio, or AI-based image recognition for collections. - Publications or portfolio of prior AR/VR or digital museum projects. - Familiarity with museum standards and ethical practices (conservation, provenance, data privacy).