The National Gallery of Australia are seeking to fill two full-time, fixed-term NGA6 positions, both with the possibility of becoming ongoing.

OVERVIEW OF THE ROLES

Assistant Registrars at the National Gallery of Australia are responsible for coordinating, preparing, and processing complex documentation associated with inward, outward, and long-term domestic or international loans. While both roles share identical classification benchmarks, they drive distinct areas of the department’s portfolio; Position 7215 focuses on coordinating core operational inward and outward loans, major exhibitions, and standard collection logistics, whereas Position 7217 provides dedicated project management, outward loan administration, and partner-venue logistics for the high-profile Sharing the National Collection (STNC) initiative.

Across both streams, these positions ensure strict compliance with contractual, transport, legal, and security requirements, while establishing appropriate insurance coverage, packing, crating, courier arrangements, and other special conditions of loan. To achieve this, the positions require active liaison with borrowers, lenders, shipping agents, art services, conservators, and curatorial teams to successfully schedule and allocate resources for specific projects.

Furthermore, these roles require the capacity to lead multi-disciplinary project teams, track complex workflows, manage budgets, and report progress directly to the Associate Registrar. For Position 7217, this includes generating innovative solutions to enable wide, seamless participation in the landmark STNC initiative across regional, remote, and suburban institutions.

To be successful in this environment, the ideal candidates will possess proven experience in project delivery and complex negotiations, often executed under tight deadlines, alongside demonstrated knowledge and experience in museum registration operating practices, administrative systems, and contractual loan conditions.

KEY DUTIES OF THE POSITION

In accordance with the APS 6 work level standards and working to the Associate Registrar, Loans and Exhibitions, you will:

• Coordinate and prepare documentation associated with the movement of inward and outward loans from/to the Gallery. Ensure compliance with contractual, transport, security and legal requirements. Establish appropriate insurance coverage, packing, crating, courier arrangements and other special conditions of loan.
• In accordance with the Gallery’s policies and procedures, the successful candidates will coordinate loan requests to ensure they are delivered on time and within budget. This requires active liaison with borrowers, shipping agents, and key internal stakeholders, including Art Services, the STNC project team, Design and Exhibitions, Curatorial, and Conservation, to seamlessly manage the scheduling and allocation of resources for specific loans. Additionally, the roles are responsible for identifying all associated costs, completing required procurement, conducting comprehensive risk and loan assessments, drafting formal briefs, determining packing requirements, and coordinating and overseeing complex invoicing arrangements.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams, liaising with internal and external stakeholders to develop deadlines and monitor and report on progress.
• Provide planning advice and cost estimates for the effective implementation of inward and outward loan activities. Prepare and monitor workflows and budgets as well as reporting on their status.
• Generate innovative solutions to enable wide participation in domestic and international lending programs as well as strategic collection-sharing initiatives, facilitating seamless access to the national collection for a diverse range of regional, remote, suburban, and international institutions.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for this role please go to the National Gallery’s Careers portal.

You should provide a tailored CV (maximum of three pages) along with a statement of no more than two pages that outlines your skills, capabilities and experience, against the information above.

In your statement response you should keep in mind the capabilities and behaviours required to be successful for this role, as identified in the information above.  Try not to duplicate information that can be found in your CV but do highlight any specific examples or achievements that demonstrate your ability to perform the role.

An order of merit or merit pool, may be established from this selection process and may be used to fill future identical vacancies over the next 18 months. Selection may be based on application and referee reports only. If you do not wish to be added to an order of merit, please notify us in your application.