MANAGER MUSEUMS

Job ID: 56619
Job Category: Economic Development, Arts & Culture
Division & Section: Economic Development & Culture, EDC Museum & Heritage Services
Work Location: Metro Hall, 55 John Street
Job Type: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: $113,683.00 -$ 155,216.00
Shift Information: Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week
Affiliation: Non-Union
Number of Positions Open: 1
Posting Period: 1-Aug-2025 to 18-Aug-2025

The Economic Development and Culture (EDC) Division at the City of Toronto works to advance Toronto's prosperity, opportunity and liveability by fostering employment and investment opportunities, encouraging cultural vibrancy through enhanced cultural experiences, and engaging partners in planning and developing economic and cultural resources.

EDC's Museum & Heritage Services section operates 10 historic sites - including Toronto's Fort York National Historic Site and Spadina Museum - that collectively tell the story of Toronto. As Manager, Museums you'll play a vital role within this team by providing strategic leadership, expertise and oversight of the City's museum facilities and working closely with the Section's management team to support the visitor experience, operations, programming, capital planning and the curatorial development of these museums. Your collective goal will be to ensure that key divisional priorities are met and that multiple voices are represented in the sharing of the stories arising from the programming at these sites.

Reporting to the Director, Museums & Heritage Services, you'll plan annual work programs, and develop revenue generating programs (grants, sponsorship, fees), overseeing and monitoring the annual budget for the Unit, and ensuring that all expenditures are controlled and maintained within approved budget limitations. You'll ensure that the Unit's program objectives are met by providing leadership and oversight to Todmorden Mills Museum and Art Centre, Spadina Museum Historic House and Gardens, Mackenzie House, Colborne Lodge, Gibson House Museum, Zion Schoolhouse, Montgomery's Inn, Fort York National historic Site and Scarborough Historical Museum historic sites. Innovative, adaptable, and creative, you're well equipped to meet the changing needs of industries and customers served, as well as emerging directions.

Major Responsibilities:

Develops and implements detailed plans and recommends policies/procedures regarding program specific requirements.
Manages, motivates and trains assigned staff, ensuring effective teamwork, high standards of work quality and organizational performance, continuous learning and encourages innovation in others.
Manages the day-to-day operation of all assigned staff including the scheduling, assigning and reviewing of work. Authorizes and coordinates vacation and overtime requests. Monitors and evaluates staff performance, approves salary increments, hears grievances and recommends disciplinary action when necessary.
Develops, recommends and administers the annual budget for the unit, and ensures that the unit's expenditures are controlled and maintained within approved budget limitations.
Plans annual work program and budget; oversees and monitors expenditures and adjusts program to reflect achievement of revenue targets.
Develops revenue-generating programs (grants, sponsorship, fees) and implements them to achieve unit budget goals within City guidelines.
Cultivates a culture of continuous improvement within the Unit, evaluating program delivery on an ongoing basis in consultation with staff, senior management, service users and partners and implementing and managing change improving effectiveness and efficiency.
Builds positive relationships with senior representatives outside the corporation, in other City Divisions and with Councillors as may be required to develop new partnership opportunities, leverage resources and build support for carrying out the mandate.
Ensures excellent customer service is provided to both internal and external customers.
Develops and manages requests for proposals in accordance with the City's policies and procedures and manages evaluation and selection processes and contracts with suppliers.
Develops and implements detailed project plans and links with appropriate external partners and management regarding program specific requirements, ensuring program support for the project.
Defines resources required for project implementation and service delivery and works with senior management and partners to source and secure requirements.
Recommends capital needs and priorities on a system-wide basis.
Develops and implements service standards, fiscal management strategies and effective operational plans to ensure delivery of quality service to efficiently and effectively meet customer service needs and requirements and achieve Divisional goals.
Ensures the unit's program objectives are met by providing management oversight for programs and operations across all the historic sites.
Provides management oversight to ensure that the museums operate in accordance with accredited museum standards and practices, provincially, nationally and internationally.
Reviews national and international best practices and incorporates into City of Toronto museum practices as appropriate.
Reviews museum operations and programs to ensure Standards for Community Museums in Ontario are met in order to ensure operating grants are not jeopardized.
Liaises with other heritage operations in the City and Region to leverage leanings and market development opportunities.
Initiates reviews of how museums are meeting standards and liaises with the province to negotiate changes, e.g. negotiates with provincial representatives on how museums will meet governance standard in light of changes to museum board structure.
Reviews and monitors all museum programming to ensure services provided meet both client needs and museum standards.
Reviews hours of public operation of all museums to ensure that hours match service needs with staffing/budget efficiencies as well as meeting granting standards.
Work with site managers to develop cross site programming to raise awareness about all sites to locals and visitors alike.
Works with Manager, Support Services to review public programs from an attendance and revenue perspective and makes recommendations for changes, improvements and deletions.
Works with Manager, Support Services and Manager, Marketing on marketing and communications strategies.
Works with Manager, Sponsorship on fundraising/sponsorship strategies.
Works with Section management leads to review education programming, ensuring curriculum needs are met and key education stakeholders are consulted.
Establishes and implements process to review visitor orientation, admissions, security, way finding, facility presentation, and front-of-house operations and staffing requirements at each museum. Makes recommendations to integrate these into a positive experience.
Works with staff in Operational Support to recommend changes/improvements in security and physical maintenance as well as other capital improvements to improve front-of-house orientation and program delivery and makes recommendations on priorities between sites.
Facilitates the attainment of service and program objectives by streamlining and improving work processes at the individual museum level, working in consultation with Section management leads. Develops recommendations and detailed implementation plans.
Reviews visitor admission, registration, and data collecting practices (financial data, visitor data, performance measure data), and budget monitoring practices at the museum site level in order to streamline operations and maximize the visitor experience.
Reviews museum staffing needs and recruitment practices to improve program delivery across all museums.
Coordinates staffing needs and balances workloads between sites, especially in periods of shortage.
Reviews gift shop operations across the sites and develops and implements plans for improvements. Ensure proper handling of financial transactions.
Identifies issues and makes recommendations to ensure City's trusteeship responsibilities are met in relation to its cultural resources at each site.
Reviews, updates and identifies gaps in documentation required for decision making and planning; consolidates and updates as required Statements of Significance and Designation reports, ensuring that the inventory of cultural resources at each site is documented and understood for visitor programming and capital planning.
Reviews and develops Interpretive Plans for each site in partnership with the Chief Curator.
Provides management oversight to re-restoration projects, identifying issues from site perspective and liaising with the Chief Curator and Capital Assets staff as appropriate.
Works with Chief Curator and Director to develop long term plans for each site and supporting capital requirements.
Meets regularly with Supervisor Capital Assets to review status of existing capital projects, resolve issues and develop long term capital plans.
Oversees community engagement activities for museums facilities and ensures continuous improvement. Attends community consultations, meetings and functions representing the Museum & Heritage Section.
Leads community consultation projects related to major projects at sites or projects involving more than one site. Consults and meets with Councillors, outside agencies, community groups, businesses, resident associations and other stakeholders.
Provides leadership, guidance and expert advice in building relationships with volunteers, advisory bodies and other related organizations.
Prepares reports to City Council and Committees.
Represents the City of Toronto on major cultural projects of national and international scope involving other government partners and the cultural sector. Ensures that the City is aware of activities and trends in other jurisdictions and that the City is making a contribution to national and international cultural development.

Key Qualifications

Among the strengths you bring to the role of Manager, Museums, will be the following key qualifications:

Post-secondary education from an accredited institution, etc. or an equivalent combination of education and/or relevant experience.
Extensive experience leading the visitor experience and engagement, and managing guest relations, public engagements, and program execution within a site, a cultural institution, or a similar customer/visitor-centric environment.
Extensive experience in the preparation, evaluation, and administration of operating and/or capital budgets, including variance analysis and forecasting, within a large private or public sector organization.
Extensive experience managing/leading diverse teams through the planning and implementation of complex programs, projects, or transformation/change initiatives.
Considerable experience in program development and evaluation, delivering short- and long-term initiatives while effectively balancing a range of internal and external stakeholder interests.

As a result, you possess excellent interpersonal, consensus-building, consultation, and negotiation skills, can make sound decisions, and are familiar with government legislation in applicable areas, including the Occupational Health & Safety Act, the Employment Standards Act, and the Ontario Human Rights Code. These strengths will also enable you to act as a senior representative of the museum at internal and external meetings, events, and public speaking opportunities, acting with discretion and professionalism to create a positive image for the museum among supporters and maintaining good departmental relations with trustees, collectors, donors, artists, the media and the general public. Strong knowledge of various software applications, including MS Office 365 (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Project), is essential.

Lived experience as a member of an Indigenous, Black and/or equity-deserving group, with a strong understanding of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion obtained through lived experience and demonstrated through daily interactions, is an asset. Equally important, you’re able to support the Toronto Public Service values to ensure a culture that champions equity, diversity, and respectful workplaces.

Note To Current City of Toronto Employees

City of Toronto employees are eligible to apply for the posted job opportunity, but cannot hold two different jobs. To be considered for this job posting, you must indicate that you are a "Current City of Toronto employee" on the on-line application form, and provide your "Employee Number".

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The City is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to creating a workplace culture of inclusiveness that reflects the diverse residents that we serve. Learn more about the City’s commitment to employment equity.

Accommodation

The City of Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We are committed to providing barrier-free and accessible employment practices in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Should you require Code-protected accommodation through any stage of the recruitment process, please make them known when contacted and we will work with you to meet your needs. Disability-related accommodation during the application process is available upon request. Learn more about the City’s Hiring Policies and Accommodation Process.

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