Museum Collections Manager
🗝️Looks after a museum's collection: cataloguing objects, storage conditions, loans to exhibitions, digitisation and research on items.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 +3.6% jobs by 2035 · 1,600 openings a year
Museum Technicians and Conservators — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £34.3k median a year
Archivists and curators — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI speeds up cataloguing and digitisation, but responsibility for the originals rests with the collections manager.
Who it suits
Interests: 🗂️ Order, paperwork, systems, 🏛️ History, society, politics, 🎨 Drawing and design.
Key strengths: attention to detail, organisation.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BA History, Art History or Archaeology
- Master's MA Museum Studies / Collections Management (e.g. Leicester, UCL)
- Course Volunteering and museum traineeships
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): History, Art & Design.
🧗 A degree in history, art history or archaeology, then a master's in museum studies; volunteering experience is almost always expected. Competition is high and pay is modest.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- University of Oxford Oxford · €43k–72.2k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (MAT, PAT, TSA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; medicine takes ≤14 international students/yr - University of Cambridge Cambridge · €33.4k–81.1k/yr
IELTS 7.5 (7.0 each); subject test (ESAT, TMUA, LNAT, UCAT), interview; apply by 15 Oct; plus college fee £12–14.5k/yr - University College London London
Attestat + UPC or A-levels/IB; IELTS 6.5–7.5 by course level; LNAT/UCAT where required; UCL site not reachable *
🇺🇸 United States
- Yale University New Haven · €63.2k/yr
SAT/ACT required; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers; need-blind for all, full need incl. travel - Harvard University Cambridge, MA · €54.1k/yr
SAT/ACT required; English test optional; aid for internationals on the same terms (need-blind), full need met - Princeton University Princeton, NJ · €59.6k–61.9k/yr
TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers; SAT/ACT recommended, required from fall 2028 entry; need-blind, full need in grants
🇩🇪 Germany
- Humboldt University of Berlin Berlin · free
No tuition; German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); apply via uni-assist; Russian certificate: via Studienkolleg * - Heidelberg University Heidelberg · €3k/yr
Non-EU: €1,500 a semester (Baden-Württemberg); German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); medicine: non-EU quota, selection by grades * - Free University of Berlin Berlin · free
No tuition; a graded C1 certificate to apply, DSH can be passed before enrolment; apply via uni-assist
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Leiden University Leiden · €14.3k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; IELTS 6.0–7.0 by programme (International Studies 6.0, LUC 7.0); medicine is numerus fixus - Utrecht University Utrecht · €13.4k–17.1k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; IELTS ≈ 6.5; veterinary medicine (225 places) and medicine are numerus fixus, apply by 15 January - University of Groningen Groningen
VWO level by file review; IELTS 6.5 (by programme); €100 fee; numerus fixus by 15 January, others by 1 May, non-EU conditions by 1 July
🇫🇷 France
- Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Paris 1) Paris · €2.9k/yr
DAP, French B2 (law C1); non-EU pay €2,902 in 2026/27 - Sorbonne University Paris · €200–2.9k/yr
DAP, French B2; medicine via PASS/LAS with selection into year 2; waiver of €2,902 under university criteria - École du Louvre Paris
First cycle: entrance exam (épreuve d’admission); in French *
🇮🇹 Italy
- Sapienza University of Rome Rome · €700/yr
12 school years; B2 in the language of study; pre-selection for English programmes, test for medicine. Russia is band B: €700 a year - University of Bologna Bologna · €1.2k/yr
English programmes: B2 (some B1), selection by SAT, TOLC-E or CEnT-S; 12 school years. Non-OECD citizens: €1,157 a year - Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa
Competitive exam: 2 written + 2 oral tests, results only; free board and lodging; students also enrol at the University of Pisa
🇪🇸 Spain
- Complutense University of Madrid Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Spanish B2 required (DELE/SIELE/CCEE); homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay 4th-attempt rate - University of Barcelona Barcelona · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; many classes in Catalan; non-EU €30/ECTS * - Autonomous University of Madrid Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay ≈ 7× more (e.g. €6,823 vs €1,015)
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Charles University Prague · free
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams, ÚJOP course); English programmes €40–30,620/yr - Masaryk University Brno · €0–16k/yr
Free in Czech; English €2,700–7,500/yr (Informatics €4,500), Medicine CZK 380,000; Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams - Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc · €0–14k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams); in English: Medicine €12,500, Dentistry €14,000/yr
Things to know
🪑 Sitting at a computer all day
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