Description

The Director of Conservation is responsible for enhancing the protection and preservation of Colonial Williamsburg’s cultural and historic assets by providing leadership and oversight of the Foundation’s innovative conservation department. To accomplish this, the Director oversees departmental priorities and production, manages the operating budget, and ensures the quality of analysis, care, surveys, treatment, and documentation. Additionally, the Director represents the department and articulates conservation issues throughout the institution; supports educational and interpretive efforts in the Historic Area and museums; participates in activities associated with donor development, grant writing, and other fundraising events; and acts as a liaison with outside individuals and organizations on conservation matters as needed.

Main Duties:

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Oversees the effective operation and leadership of the conservation department, including supervision of conservators and the preventive conservation group.
• Functions include hiring, training, goal setting, guidance on professional and technical concerns, performance appraisal, and execution of corrective actions when necessary in accordance with established Foundation policies.
• Facilitates productive working relationships within and outside the department.
• Works consistently to maintain the cutting-edge status of the department, its staff, and its methodologies.
• Establishes departmental procedures and goals in accordance with Foundation and divisional policies and mission statements; develops, reviews, and refines the long-range plan for the department.
• Works with direct reports to establish, monitor, and maintain professional standards of treatment documentation, written/digital and photographic.
• Prepares and manages the department operating budget and related budgets, providing status reports to the senior vice president.
• Approves expenditures and purchases in accordance with Foundation policies.
• Collaborates with the senior vice president and the Director of Museum Design and Production to provide budget information for exhibitions as requested.
• Works with Public Safety to ensure effective emergency plans are in place, emergency preparedness and response procedures are followed, and emergency supply depots are supplied and maintained.
• Ensures conservation staff collaboration with curators and registrars on collections management issues, including exhibition, storage, preventive conservation, evaluation of accessions, surveys, and loans.
• Supports and encourages conservation staff professional development.
• Reviews manuscripts prepared for publication and promotes study and research related to the conservation needs of Foundation collections.
• Leads conservation staff in implementing conservation training for Foundation staff in collections-related areas.
• Collaborates with the senior vice president on departmental fundraising and grant applications; participates in donor development and prepares status reports to donors and granting agencies.
• Develops the department’s research and analytical capabilities in a practical, cost-efficient, and equitable manner.
• Oversees conservation equipment and facilities used by the department.
• Performs related work as directed.

Budgetary Responsibilities:  Annual operating budget of approx. $2.8M

Supervisory Responsibilities:  Directly supervises a team of professional conservation staff, including two (2) Conservators, five (5) Senior Conservators, two (2) Associate Conservators, and one (1) specialized conservation role supporting musical instruments.

More About Who we Are:

We are searching for a professional that will administer and navigate a team of colleagues that care for the Foundation’s collections and mentor tomorrow's professionals.  Our conservation department was formally established in 1983 by Nathan Stolow.  It is housed in a 75,000 square-foot purpose-built collections building. There are 9 dedicated labs for various specialties. The position directly supervises 10 conservators, who range in tenure from 2 to 30 years. The conservation staff is 30-45 individuals, including the preventive conservation team. Their work spans the entire complex of the Foundation’s 301 acres. https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/preserving-the-past/archaeology-conservation-preservation/conservation/

The department is well-resourced and collaborative; expertise and equipment are shared. Our analytical conservation lab offers essential technology such as XRF, FTIR, and SEM, and multi-modal and X-ray imaging are performed on site. The conservation labs are in purpose built spaces that serve the particular needs of the media or activities of the department.

The qualified candidate will oversee those who care for the Foundation’s decorative arts collection that spans from the 18thand early 19thcentury, the American folk art collection that has works dating through the present, and the Archaeology collection that contains materials that pre-date written history to recent memory. The Foundation’s collections more broadly include decorative arts, American folk art, archaeological media, architectural sites and fragments, rare books, and archives. CWF is the largest living history museum in the US, offering access to dozens of historic structures, including over 200 furnished rooms. Our collections are shared across the 300-acre Historic Area, in the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, and the Campbell Archaeology Center, opening in Spring 2026. https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/sources/pieces-from-the-collection/ 

The Foundation’s core mission is education, and our work supports this mission. Exhibitions, accessions, and loan programs are active, offering unique conservation challenges. We engage in research, interact with our historic trades' colleagues, and communicate with visitors and various professionals, both casually and more formally. https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/sources/pieces-from-the-collection/ 

CWF is committed to professional development for staff. We also routinely employ fellows and train conservators, using our restricted endowment for conservation education. The Foundation offers a full range of benefits and supports an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace. 

Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, this small college town offers great quality of life, with comfortable population density, access to performing and visual arts, outdoor recreation, and education at all levels. It also offers easy access to the major cities of Richmond, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach, as well as Amtrak access to Washington D.C.  

Requirements

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree (B.A./B.S.) in conservation, history, art history, American studies, or a related field.
• Graduate-level conservation studies or equivalent technical education and/or professional experience.
• Ten (10) or more years of professional conservation experience.
• Six (6) or more years of management experience, including leading teams with varied skill sets and levels of expertise within a museum or related cultural institution.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Professional conservation experience with an emphasis on 16th- to 20th-century British, European, and/or American objects.
• Evidence of scholarly or professional contributions, such as articles or other published works related to conservation practice or research.
• Demonstrated experience in bench work and the treatment of objects.
• Membership in a professional conservation organization.
• Teaching, training, or instructional experience.
• Experience working in a multi-disciplinary conservation facility.

Key Skills / Competencies:

Knowledge of:

• Conservation science and professional conservation principles.
• Current museum ethics, standards, and best practices related to the conservation of collections.
• Historic art and material culture technologies, techniques, and materials.

Skills and Abilities:

• Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to effectively present professional and technical information to diverse audiences.
• Familiarity with museum exhibition and object storage practices, including appropriate materials and environmental considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead and execute complex, multi-stakeholder projects requiring professional judgment and coordination.