Job description

The Collections & Gallery Operations Manager is a senior operational and curatorial-adjacent role responsible for the stewardship, documentation, and movement of artworks and design objects, as well as overseeing day-to-day gallery operations.

This role ensures the professional handling of artworks across exhibitions, sales, consultancy projects, and collections while maintaining museum-standard documentation, lead buying, compliance, and logistics coordination. Reporting to the Director of Commercial Art & Design, this position oversees workflow execution across collection management, operations, and design buying, manages two Gallery Associates, and acts as the primary operational lead in the Director’s absence.

Key Responsibilities

•Act as the primary registrar for the gallery, overseeing all artwork and design object records, supporting provenance documentation, and managing condition reporting.

•Maintain the gallery inventory management system, ensuring accurate cataloguing, inventory tracking, and digital archiving of artworks, design objects, and client data.

•Coordinate incoming and outgoing rentals, consignments, and sales, including contracts, insurance, shipping documentation, customs clearance, and courier coordination.

•Establish packing specifications, installation requirements, insurance coverage, and risk mitigation strategies for artworks in transit, storage, and on display.

•Liaise with artists, collectors, and shipping partners to ensure professional handling and compliance with international museum standards.

•Provide oversight of day-to-day gallery operations, managing operational policies, workflows, and systems across front-of-house, back-of-house, vault storage, exhibition, and consultancy delivery.

•Coordinate operational planning for exhibitions, events, private views, and VIP appointments in collaboration with executive leadership and marketing teams.

•Manage relationships with external vendors and service providers, including fabricators, facilities, security, and maintenance contractors.

•Oversee Gallery Associate workflows, including scheduling, task delegation, performance standards, and art handling protocols.

•Act as deputy operational contact in the Director’s absence for logistics, staffing, and client-facing matters.

•Contribute to strategic planning, budgeting, and forecasting related to roster artworks, design items, and gallery operations.

•Lead acquisition procedures for the design gallery as Lead Buyer, sourcing design-related retail items, books, objects, and limited-edition design works aligned with curatorial and commercial strategy.

•Present purchasing, inventory mix, and stock levels to procurement teams, while managing purchase orders, pricing structures, and margin frameworks.

•Build relationships with local, regional, and international designers, studios, manufacturers, and suppliers, tracking stock levels, sales performance, and replenishment strategies.

•Conduct targeted artist and artwork research (availability, pricing, provenance, commission history) and prepare formatted materials for proposals, reports, inventories, and presentations.

•Support large-scale art consultancy commissions, serving as a primary point of contact with galleries, artists, clients, architects, and commercial galleries regarding onsite artwork handling.

•Ensure full compliance with international best practices in collections care, customs regulations, and anti-money laundering documentation, producing quarterly and annual inventory and risk reports.

·Minimum 8+ years of experience in a commercial gallery, museum, or art logistics environment with collections management and sourcing responsibilities.

·Degree or equivalent certification/experience in Art History, Museum Studies, Fine Art, or a related field.

·Demonstrated buying/procurement experience in a museum or commercial gallery enterprise.

·Expert knowledge of international artwork handling, documentation, shipping, customs regulations, and insurance processes.

·Hands-on experience with collections management systems (e.g., ArtLogic, Arternal, ArtBase, TMS, or similar).

·Exceptional organizational, project management, and documentation abilities.

·Strong negotiation, procurement, and vendor management skills.

·Detail-oriented with a risk-aware, commercial, and compliance-focused mindset.

Work Location:

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Disclaimer: Black Pearl will never ask for money or any form of charge our candidates just to process or consider their application for any of our available vacancies. If you happen to receive such a request from any members of our staff or other individuals claiming to be part of Black Pearl, please do call our office at +9712 622 55 03 or drop us a message on our website - www.blackpearlconsult.com.