About the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. We are committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with a staff as diverse as the audiences we engage. Our staff members are art lovers who are passionate about working toward a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring art museum in the world.

At The Met, every staff member – from security officers to researchers to scientists and beyond – lives by our core values of respect, inclusivity, collaboration, excellence, and integrity. 

Respect: Engage one another with collegiality, empathy, and kindness, always.

Inclusivity: Ensure that all are and feel welcome and valued.

Collaboration: Reach across boundaries to exchange ideas and work together toward our shared mission.

Excellence: Lead the cultural world in quality and expertise—and inspire curiosity and creativity.

Integrity: Hold ourselves to the highest moral standards, admit when we fall short, and then evolve. 

GENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

As the Senior Editor, you are responsible for managing the editorial process of promotional and event content for all Met Education and Live Arts programs, from concept to strategic content development to final approval. You will oversee and edit a high volume of work, with multiple active projects at any given time. You will bring a Marketing and audience-centric eye to content strategy, working with the Senior Manager of Marketing to guide selection of images and graphic design choices., . You will work closely with the broader Marketing team and the Education and MetLiveArts departments; serve as a key liaison to the Design and Digital Product Departments; and are responsible for oversight of collaborative editorial-related projects.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

• Work closely with Education and MetLiveArts staff to strategically plan and direct execution of program promotional materials to reflect audience needs.

• Work with Marketing, Design, Digital Content, and Digital Product colleagues to develop and maintain optimal presentation of web program listings and materials, including on-site messaging and print materials.

• Oversee editorial process from inception to completion for all Education and MetLiveArts publications, including selected internal documents such as grants and other reports.

• Coordinate production of program-related publications with Education and MetLiveArts program staff and the Design department.

• Coach authors on writing style and negotiate content and scope, with focus on accessible content for a broad audience. Able to synthesize complex scholarly material into content that can be understood at a high school level.

• Draft, rewrite, and edit content as needed. Must be able to craft snappy and clear marketing copy for everything from an email newsletter subject line to an event title. The ability to generate messaging or title variants and options on short notice or on-the-spot in a meeting is key.

• Be aware of all scheduled projects and their status, delivering materials on time with clear communication. A desire to continually streamline and improve processes and listen to feedback on processes is a must.

• Represent the editorial voice of The Met and maintain editorial guidelines and standards publications to ensure consistency with Museum's editorial style

• Understand and enforce Marketing best practices; in collaboration from Senior Manager for Marketing and channel specialists, ensuring that written materials support the broader Marketing strategy and instituational goals

• Manage and/or edit all content pertaining to program activities on the Museum's website, including event listings, educator resources, and digital features

• Supervise independent contractors, interns, volunteers and vendors, working within budget as required

• Other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor of Arts in Marketing, Communications, English, Art History or other relevent fields.

• 5 years of marketing and editing experience. Marketing background preferred (e.g. experience in advertising, digital marketing, social media, or other content production).

• Excellent creative writing and editing skills, with keen attention to grammar and tone.

• Excellent negotiation and communication skills; ability to work productively and cooperatively in a team environment.

• Experience in writing and editing materials for a variety of audiences relevant to the Museum (visitors, arts audiences, families, students, teachers, etc),

• Strong project management skills, including excellent organizational and time management skills; ability to prioritize and track a wide variety of ongoing projects while meeting deadlines consistently.

• Experience with web content management systems (CMSs); project management tools like Airtable, Asana, Jira, or similar; deep knowledge of Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, and software relevant to editorial process, including tracked editing functions. Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite preferred.

• Previous experience working in a publication production environment, ideally at an arts, cultural, or mission-based organization.

• Some knowledge of art history and its customs of publication.

COMPENSATION RANGE:

• Pay Range: $105,000.00 - $115,000.00 / Annually

The advertised pay scale reflects the good faith minimum and maximum salary range for this role. The advertised pay scale is not a promise of a particular wage for any specific employee. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may be dependent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, special licensing or qualifications, and other factors.

Visa Sponsorship

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Location Requirements

At time of employment, employees are expected to be located within commuting distance of the Museum. “Commuting distance” means that they are located in one of following states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania (the “Tri-state and PA” areas), and be able to commute to and from the Museum in a single day.

Benefits Offerings

The Museum provides competitive compensation, and generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees. Note: Benefits Offering may differ based on Employee Status.

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• 403(b) basic retirement plan and optional matching retirement plan with an outstanding employer match
• Considerable paid time off, including annual leave, sick leave, and 13 Museum holidays
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible Spending Accounts & Health Savings Account (pre-tax income for eligible health care expenses)
• Commuter benefits (pre-tax income for parking or mass transit expenses)
• Free financial-planning services
• Financial assistance for relevant coursework, seminars, and training programs
• 25% discount for staff in Museum shops
• A subsidized staff cafeteria
• Access to the Museums Council pass, which grants free admission to various museums and cultural institutions

We recognize that it is highly unlikely that someone meets 100% of the desired attributes for a role. If much of this job description describes you, then please apply for this role.

The Met is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, The Met will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed in this process, please contact [email protected].  

The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides equal opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, alienage or citizenship status, marital status or domestic partner status, genetic information, genetic predisposition or carrier status, gender identity, HIV status, military status and any other category protected by law in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, lay-off and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.