Open Forum

Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional. 

Hi Cricket, 

I really feel this question! I've been there. My initial thoughts while reading your description were that you fall into a more general administrator category, but when you suggested "Digital Architect," I thought maybe I was missing something. Are you building the software systems for your ticketing, finance, etc, systems? If not, I would not claim that title. If you are doing the work of figuring out how to bridge the systems with internal processes and accountabilities for maintaining those systems, I would again suggest that you are an Administrator. It might sound generic, but someone who can problem solve anything within a museum infrastructure is absolutely indispensable. Feel free to sjuh up that name with other descriptors, so suggestions are: Museum Administrator, Administrative Manager, Executive Administrator, Business Administrator. If you have any other questions about this, or want to share more particulars so I can rethink the titling, feel free to reach out! 

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Eliza Coviello
Deputy Director
National Academy of Design
New York NY

Original Message:
Sent: 03-19-2025 11:56 PM
From: Cricket Kaya
Subject: Help me figure out what my museum job is called!

Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional. 

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Cricket Kaya
Grants Coordinator
First Americans Museum
Oklahoma City OK
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Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional. 

Cricket, This might not be the answer you are looking for, but museum titles don't always reflect what we actually do in real life. That doesn't mean you shouldn't advocate for a title and compensation that befits your work duties (and performance).

If you are already looking for related positions on job posting websites, you can stop reading here, but if not: I would do that, and look for positions with lots of overlap in both nonprofit and for profit sectors. With your research, you should find a few job titles with duties that describe most of what you do, and reflect your training/education. Then you have something to use when speaking with your supervisor about a job plan. I recommend having a conversation about a path forward rather than an ultimatum. It is more likely to be a positive experience that way.

Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional. 

Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional. 

Hi Cricket!

If you need a laugh, maybe check out the Museum Title Generator.

I work at a large state historical society that employs over 300 staff and operates a network of 26 sites. The tasks you describe fall into the departments of finance, merchandise, facilities, development. Typically the titles of director or manager are saved for people with direct reports -- but at a small institution I could see those titles still being used if you complete the work tasks as well. My thought would be Director/Manager of Museum Systems or Financial Operations.

Best,

Angelica Maier, Curator of 3D Objects, Minnesota Historical Society

Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional. 

Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional. 

Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional. 

Hello friends!

I am an emerging museum professional with just over a year of career experience. Recently, I have begun to learn all of the ins and outs of the systems within our museum and have been tasked with finding a way to make them all work together. My museum opened in a rush in 2020, and there are still many big processes that need to be figured out, from ticketing, to our store and restaurant, to budgeting, to accounting for our grants and donations. The past year, I have worked alongside development as a grant coordinator, and in finance as accounts receivable to establish financial workflows and processes with our accounting software. I am learning how the many different softwares and programs our teams use work, and I am also developing APIs to connect them all. 

As I begin to lean more into this role, I am wondering if anybody out there has someone at their museum who does this kind of work, and if so, what is their title? Where do they live in the museum ecosystem? With the opportunity to change my title on the horizon, I'd love to know what kind of standards are already out there. Purely for IT reasons I feel that I am some kind of digital architect, rather than a developer or an analyst. 

Let me know what you think, and I would love to meet with anyone who fits this description! Mentors are everything to me as an emerging professional.