Senior Specialist: Art and Museum Curator at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Description

Accountability 1

Administration

• Relationship management of suppliers.
• Ensure all suppliers are contracted in.
• Liaising with key strategic partners, identify and implement potential synergies.
• Coordinating of media interviews.
• Oversight of all contractual obligations.
• Mediation as and when necessary.

Accountability 2

Financials

• Responsible for portfolio budgets and expenditure.

Accountability 3

Policies and Governance

• Oversight (review, check and challenge) all policies and signing off there of.
• Table policies at all appropriate forums for sign-off.
• Oversight of all governance.
• Table all potential risks at appropriate forums.

Accountability 4

Facilities

• Oversight of the Money Museum.
• Oversight of the Archives.
• Oversight of the Art Gallery.
• Oversight of the digitisation project and report back to the appropriate forum.

Accountability 5

Exhibitions

• Develop exhibition plan (BOW).
• Strategically identify events and leveraging opportunities of each exhibition.
• Negotiate with artists to exhibit in the Absa Gallery.
• Oversight of marketing, communication and PR plan.
• Liaising with printers and / or framers.

Accountability 6

Assets

• Determine artworks to be exhibited from the Absa collection across Absa buildings / regions.
• Ensure adequate control measures in place around the movement of all artworks across Absa sites.
• Develop Capital Project plan across all Absa sites, which will include the building decoupling, artwork commissions, artwork acquisitions and reframing of artworks.
• Ensure sign-off of the Capital Project plan at relevant forums.
• Oversight of all VAMM project implementation.
• Responsibility for VAMM acquisition strategy.
• Oversight of valuation of all VAMM assets and ensure their values are current.
• Commission artworks for specific projects.
• Sign-off on insurance.
• Develop and maintain deaccessioning strategy.
• Report on the deaccessioning process.
• Obtain approvals on the deaccessioning at relevant forums.

Accountability 7

Public Relations

• Spokesperson for the portfolio.
• Responsibility for all VAMM interviews (portfolio, art and heritage related to Absa brand).

Accountability 8

L’Atelier

• Develop the strategy for the Absa L'Atelier.
• Responsible for the oversight and management of operational implementation across Africa.
• Manage all stakeholder relations, includes rightsholders and partners.
• Draft, review, check and challenge all contracts in consultation with Group Legal.
• Provide career guidance and industry expertise to artists.
• Provide feedback and / or reports at relevant forums.

Accountability 9

Sponsorships

• Manage all stakeholder relations, includes rightsholders and partners.
• Provide support to Group Sponsorships where art is required.
• Provide feedback and / or reports at relevant forums.

Accountability 10

Thought Leadership

• Write and / or contribute to industry thought leadership discussions.

Role / person specification

Preferred Education

Required

• Degree in visual arts or cultural studies (or equivalent)

Preferred

• Postgraduate qualification.

Preferred Experience

• Ten years’ experience working within corporate environment.
• Ten years’ experience in South African and / or African art and / or heritage.

Knowledge and Skills

• Specialised knowledge of visual arts across Africa.
• Specialised knowledge of heritage and cultural sector across Africa.
• Specialised South African numismatic knowledge.
• Specialised knowledge of archival practice.
• Communication skills (verbal and written).
• Interpersonal skills.
• Advanced use of MS Office.
• Understanding of corporate environment.

Technical Competencies

• Writing and verbal communication skills.
• Art evaluation.
• Numismatic evaluation.
• Work independently for extended periods of time.
• Knowledgeable about best practice within the visual arts.
• Knowledgeable about best practice within the heritage sector.
• Knowledgeable about best practice within the Archival sector.
• Thorough knowledge of African art.
• Negotiating skills.
• Interacting with people on various levels.
• Strong administrative ability.

Behavioural Competencies

• Role is deadline driven and time-scarce.
• Management of internal and external relationships.
• Work non-regular hours.
• Managing workload pressure as the portfolio is large and multi-faceted.
• Role entails a lot of physical work (painting, transporting artwork, hanging artworks).
• Significant overtime as a result of exhibitions and / or artwork installation outside of core hours.
• Ability to travel for extensive periods.

Cognitive Competencies

• Learning & researching | Always willing to learn and improve their knowledge and understanding.
• Analysing | Able to synthesize lots of information and record it simply.

Education

• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

End Date: January 23, 2026