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Head, Arches Initiative Getty Conservation Institute

Position Description

The Role:

Reports to:           Associate Director, Getty Conservation Institute

Location:               Los Angeles, CA

Overview:            The Head, Arches Initiative will lead the activities of the department with budget, planning, and staffing oversight, and is accountable for the maintenance and development priorities of Arches software, the governance efforts of the Arches open-source community, and the dissemination of Arches publications, branding changes, and community resources.

This leader will not only direct the Arches team but also liaise with the global and interdisciplinary heritage open-source community, including representatives from various leading heritage organizations, software developers and service providers, funding groups, and individual heritage professionals such as IT staff, archaeologists, architects, conservators, researchers, scientists, and educators.

The ideal leader will bring strong project and team management skills combined with a passion for cultural heritage, heritage data management, open-source technologies, and a general understanding of the benefits of modern semantic technologies. They will also excel at fostering effective collaborations with software users and contributors in global communities.

Key Responsibilities:

This leadership role will be pivotal to the successful future of Arches by:

Stakeholder Engagement and Governance

• Ensuring alignment between Getty leadership and the broader Arches heritage community regarding governance and needs.
• Facilitating the development, oversight and implementation of Arches’ strategic priorities and effectively relationship-building to ensure mission is centered and standards of delivery are consistent.
• Engaging key members of the global cultural heritage community, software development partners and service providers to elicit requirements, comment on potential technical solutions, share data, and participate in testing of Arches software.
• Managing the increasing intricacy of programs and the diversity of stakeholder interests, prioritizing conflicting needs in an open-source ecosystem.

Strategic Technical Alignment

• Managing the growing complexity of developing technology and gaining stakeholder buy-in regarding various interconnected Arches technologies (including core Arches, Arches for Science, Arches Lingo, and other related applications).
• Identifying areas of technical debt and establishing new priorities to reflect emerging community needs and evolving technological landscapes.
• Envisioning community events (both in-person and virtual) to strengthen alignment across a large global ecosystem.

Project Management and Resource Optimalization

• Developing budgets necessary to achieve goals and objectives with Arches software and community resources.
• Actively directing resource forecasting efforts to ensure effective delivery of strategic new Arches applications, ongoing maintenance of the platform via review of community contributions, engagement and initial support of strategic existing and new Arches adopters.
• Identifying, analyzing, and managing risks and maintaining program stability to ensure the long-term success of Arches software.
• Effectively communicating the rationale for updating Arches development, maintenance and dissemination strategies, and ensuring that they are implemented in a timely and effective manner.

Team Leadership

• Fostering a culture of collaboration, creativity, and accountability within the Heritage Data Management: Arches team.
• Managing relationships with international consultants bringing expertise to the Arches team.
• Providing regular feedback and professional development opportunities to ensure team growth and skill enhancement.

Required Experience:

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• A balanced approach to leadership, with an ease operating effectively at both a strategic and tactical/hands-on level.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify and address complex issues while balancing the needs of diverse stakeholders.
  • Excellent project management skills with a demonstrated ability to address and balance competing needs and priorities, and to frame actionable solutions for complex organizational challenges.
• Proven ability to create and nurture a culture of collaboration, partnership and teamwork, empowering team members and facilitating cross-functional collaboration.
• Demonstrated ability to build trusted, effective partnerships with vendors, service providers, and strategic community members.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to deliver both tactical and visionary messaging to global audiences and stakeholders, with diverse agendas and stakes in the initiative.
• Strong technology skill set with the curiosity and knowledge to envision, learn, communicate and implement needs, new software approaches and methods quickly.
• Familiarity with or working knowledge of any of the software components of the Arches platform.
• Demonstrated ability to provide clear, concise, and meaningful reports that are essential in strategic planning, budgeting, resource planning, and program execution.

Experience & Qualifications

• 5-7+ years of team leadership/supervisory experience
• 5+ years of progressive software analysis development and implementation experience
• 5+ IT project/process management experience with open-source experience preferred
• Significant professional experience in the global cultural heritage space is strongly preferred. At minimum, a demonstrable personal passion for the global conservation and cultural heritage space is required.
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred

Compensation:

• Getty offers competitive compensation, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment.
• For this position, the base salary range is $170,000 to $185,000. Internal equity considerations and the average salary of the peer range will be reviewed before making a final offer.

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Company/Organization Description

The Organization:

The J. Paul Getty Trust (Getty) is one of the world’s most influential cultural and philanthropic organizations dedicated to interpreting, preserving and displaying visual arts and cultural heritage for the benefit of all.

The Trust is comprised of four distinct Programs: the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. These four Programs work both independently and collaboratively to preserve and present the world’s cultural heritage through their research, scholarship, philanthropy, conservation, collections, and exhibitions.

Supported by a substantial endowment, and representing a culture of excellence, service, and innovation, Getty operates from two architecturally significant Los Angeles campuses—the Getty Center and the Getty Villa.  Getty accomplishes its work through strategic partnerships with organizations in Los Angeles and across the globe, while sharing art, knowledge, and resources with the public online, and in-person.

Getty Conservation Institute

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) works internationally to advance conservation practice in the visual arts—objects, collections, architecture, and sites. The Institute serves the conservation community through scientific research, education and training, field projects, and disseminating information. In all its endeavors, the GCI creates and delivers knowledge that contributes to the conservation of the world’s cultural heritage.

Heritage Data Management: Arches

Within the Getty Conservation Institute, the Heritage Data Management: Arches department works to improve data management internationally in support of more effective cultural heritage conservation. As part of that work, the department is responsible for supporting the Arches® platform—which is freely available for cultural heritage organizations to independently deploy to manage cultural heritage data—and its open-source community.

Arches is an open-source data management platform providing a robust suite of software tools to support a broad range of data management needs of the international cultural heritage community.  The software integrates a wide range of modern and innovative tools, including semantic, geospatial, and web technologies.

The Heritage Data Management: Arches department is comprised of team members with experience and expertise in all aspects of data management including knowledge organization and related standards, managing software development, open-source software community building, and the application of information to support the understanding, conservation, and management of cultural heritage.

Pay Range (Annual): Greater than $100,000
Location: New York, NY
Job Type: Full Time

How to Apply

To learn more about this opportunity, please contact:

Tory Clarke

Partner, Bridge Partners

tory.clarke@bridgepartnersllc.com

Priority will be given to applications submitted by April 3rd 2026

although we will continue to receive and review applications until the position is filled.

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