Associate Director for Preservation and Conservation, The Harry Ransom Center

Job Posting Title :

Associate Director for Preservation and Conservation, The Harry Ransom Center

Hiring Department : Harry Ransom Center

Position Open To : All Applicants

Weekly Scheduled Hours :

40

FLSA Status : Exempt

Earliest Start Date :

Dec 01, 2025

Position Duration : Expected to Continue

Location : UT MAIN CAMPUS

Job Details : General Notes

About the Harry Ransom Center

The Ransom Center is an internationally renowned humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin. Its extensive collections provide unique insight into the creative process of writers and artists, deepening our understanding and appreciation of literature, photography, film, art, and the performing arts. Visitors engage with the Center's collections through research and study, exhibitions, publications, and a rich variety of program offerings including readings, talks, symposia, and film screenings.

The Ransom Center encourages discovery, inspires creativity, and advances understanding of the humanities for a broad audience through the preservation and sharing of its extraordinary collections.

Purpose

The Ransom Center seeks an energetic and experienced leader to join our team as the Associate Director for Preservation & Conservation. The Preservation & Conservation Division at the Ransom Center includes an expert team of five conservators plus preservation technicians who house, treat, and preserve book, paper, and photographic collection materials.

This position provides vision and leadership for preservation and conservation initiatives of the Harry Ransom Center, including management of the Preservation and Conservation Division, composed of labs dedicated to book, paper, and photograph conservation, and a preventive unit. Serves on the senior leadership team of the Center.

Responsibilities

• Manage the Ransom Center Preservation and Conservation Division of approximately nine staff comprised of conservators and preservation technicians, strategically plan for and oversee division activities, and manage the departmental budgets and grant administration.
• Serve on the Ransom Center senior leadership team and other institutional committees as appropriate.
• Consult with the Ransom Center curators, librarians, and archivists to establish preventive and conservation treatment priorities, balancing institutional priorities with the needs of the active exhibition and loan program of the Center. Consult with Library Technical & Digital Services on a program of digital reformatting of sound and moving image recordings and long-term preservation of born digital content.
• Cultivate a culture of innovation and continuous improvement and foster the ongoing growth and professional development of the Center's highly skilled conservators and preservation technicians through supervision, coaching, and mentoring.
• Maintain an effective disaster recovery plan and conduct periodic training and drills to ensure preparedness for a variety of threats to the collections of the Center. Train and educate the staff of the Center on proper handling of collection materials.
• Investigate new strategies and technologies to address challenges to long-term preservation and access.
• Working closely with the Center's Director and Chief Development Officer, conceive of and develop funding proposals to advance and sustain the Center's preservation and conservation program, including project-based initiatives that further the collection care goals of the Center.
• Liaise with UT campus libraries, archives, and museums on various joint initiatives; lead and cultivate the Campus Conservation Initiative and chair the initiative's Steering Committee
• Advise the Ransom Center Director and the Facilities Management Librarian on maintaining an optimum preservation environment for materials stewarded by the Center. Represent conservation priorities in long-range space planning and capital improvement projects. Act as back-up facilities manager when Facilities Management Librarian is away from the office.

Required Qualifications

Master's degree / certificate from a recognized conservation education program or a Master's in Library and Information Science with a certificate in conservation

Minimum of 10-12 years post-graduate experience at progressively advanced levels of responsibility

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Salary Range

$100,000+ depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

Standard office conditions, including repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation.

Moving and lifting of up to 40 lbs.

Walking or traversing on campus for up to 20 minutes.

Required Materials

Resume / CV

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers : You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure thatALLRequired Materials have been uploaded. Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers : As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questionspresented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.

Employment Eligibility :

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion / transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

Retirement Plan Eligibility :

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

Background Checks :

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

Equal Opportunity Employer :

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer ,complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Pay Transparency :

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information.

Employment Eligibility Verification :

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

E-Verify :

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university's company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following :

Compliance :

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031 .

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.