Join Our Team

The museum strives to create a fulfilling workplace founded on the principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access. Learn more about our values, competitive benefits package, and current opportunities.

An adult holding a child up to a sculpture in the Temple Hall

Our Values

The core beliefs that guide our every action

Our values serve as the cornerstone for our actions, behaviors, and decisions, and we strive to attract and engage staff members who embody these beliefs. By ensuring equal opportunities in all aspects of the employment process, the museum has created a dynamic and diverse team driven by a united mission.

Our values commit us to being:

Open: We welcome everyone, opening eyes and minds to the expressive power of the arts.
Connected: We sustain and strengthen the communities we serve, bringing together diverse audiences.
Vital: We bring the arts to life, engaging visitors from Philadelphia and around the world.
Provocative: We believe the arts can change the way we understand ourselves and how we see the world.

A visitor looking and smiling at a painting on the wall

Benefits

Comprehensive Benefits for Employees

Our comprehensive benefits package is designed to support a happy, healthy life for you and your family.

We offer:

Paid Time Off
Depending on the position, most employees are eligible for paid time off, including vacation, personal and sick days, and holidays.

Medical
We offer a variety of plans for eligible employees and your covered dependent(s). Depending on the plan you choose, we cover the majority of the monthly premium.

Dental and Vision
We offer two dental plan options and a supplemental vision plan for you and your eligible family members.

Health Savings & Flexible Spending Accounts
For employees who choose our high-deductible health plan, the museum will contribute to your Health Savings Account (HSA) to offset deductible costs. We also offer employees the opportunity to contribute to a Flexible Spending Account for other expenses related to health or dependent care.

Life Insurance
Life insurance is offered for eligible employees, up to 1.5 times their annual salary, up to $300,000. Additional life insurance may be purchased up to $500,000 at a discounted cost.

Disability Insurance
Eligible employees are covered with both short- and long-term disability insurance at no cost.

403(b) Retirement & Savings Plan with Match
We offer a matched 403(b) retirement plan for all employees. Once eligibility requirements are met, we will match employee contributions up to 5%.

Employee Assistance Program
This free, confidential service provides 24/7 access to professionals who can assist when challenges get in the way of a happy and healthy lifestyle. All employees, regardless of status, and their family members are eligible for this benefit.

Perks

Working at the museum comes with a variety of amazing perks.

Free Museum Membership for Your Family
Enjoy free general admission to the main building, the Perelman Building, the Rodin Museum, and Cedar Grove and Mount Pleasant historic houses in Fairmount Park.

Tickets for Special Exhibitions
Receive two complimentary tickets to ticketed special exhibitions annually that can be used for personal use or gifted to family or friends.

Discounts on Gift Memberships & Guest Tickets
Get a 50% discount on gift museum memberships, or bring guests to the museum for only $10.

Store & Café Discounts
Enjoy a 25% discount on all items in the museum stores. Receive a 20% food discount in dining spaces within the museum.

Free Admission to Selected Museums
Gain free admission to other local and national museums through a free membership with the American Alliance of Museums and a reciprocal agreement with local museums.

Wellness Incentive Program
Enjoy wellness incentives such as gym reimbursements, free yoga at the museum, our annual health fair, and a biweekly farm share.

Travel & Entertainment Discounts
Gain access to thousands of discounted tickets, hotels, products, and much more through Plum Benefits and Perks at Work programs.

Discounts on Pet Insurance
Get discounts on Nationwide’s popular My Pet Protection plan.

Explore our open employment opportunities

Staff Stories

Hiro Sakaguchi

Installation Technician

What work from the collection surprises you?
A Jomon period (2500–1500 BC) jar from the East Asian department. As a boy in Japan, I used to dig around a highway construction site to look for hidden Jomon period treasure. I dug up several fragments of Jomon jars and kept them in a cookie box. When I came to the museum, I was excited to see a complete Jomon period jar—it reminded me of my childhood in my mother country.

View of the Japanese teahouse in the East Asian galleries

Nicole Allen White

Director of Government and External Affairs

What work from the collection surprises you?
I’m sure everyone says this, but the Japanese teahouse has been my favorite room in the museum since I was a little girl. You feel transported when you walk into the room and I always forget that I’m actually inside the museum. I am still waiting for the day that I can participate in a tea service like they do in the video that is shown in the gallery.

"Marshmallow" Sofa, designed 1956, by Irving Harper and George Nelson Associates

Behrooz Salimnejad

The Elaine S. Harrington Senior Conservator of Furniture and Woodwork

What do you do at the museum?
I supervise the furniture and woodwork conservation team. We are responsible for the care, treatment, and conservation of furniture. As part of our job we also do research on furniture. Sometimes we’re asked to authenticate a piece in the collection or something to be included in a special exhibition. Other times, we need to assess a piece that is being considered for purchase or that is part of an expected gift. The process is the same for each project. First, we pull all the documentation. Then we physically examine the piece to see what’s been done and what needs to be done. This requires observation as well as technical studies, such as X-rays. It’s important to be able to see beneath the surface; even what looks like a clear coating can be made up of many layers. And, finally we plan how we will work on it, always being careful to use methods that do not harm the original finish.

Kathleen Foster

The Robert L. McNeil, Jr., Senior Curator of American Art and Director, Center for American Art

What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part is installation. It’s the most complicated and the most challenging part, of course, but most curators agree that it is also the most fun. For the watercolor exhibition, it was great to have all this beautiful art arrive and then work with our fabulous staff—art handlers, designers, conservators, registrars—to make my vision real. The process includes a lot of interaction, and my ideas are often shaped by these extraordinarily smart people. For example, it was Jamie Montgomery’s idea to print the introductory signage on actual watercolor paper. People have commented that they like being able to see the surface of the paper. It’s cool ideas like this that make our exhibition projects special.

People walking around a large statue in a gallery

Nelson Hammond

Door Officer

What’s the most unusual thing that’s happened to you at the museum?
In 1999, I was honored to escort Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts through the building for more than four hours. They walked around and talked to one another. I think they just enjoyed the quiet and being away from their fans. They just stayed and stayed—and stayed.

Merce Cunningham - Totem Ancestor, 1942 (negative), c. 1972 (print), by Barbara Morgan

Stephen Keever

Audio-Visual Services Manager

What is the best part of working at the museum?
The root of what is special here is that the work is always different. There are so many aspects of what I do that it never feels static. And I love collaborating on exhibitions with living artists and helping to make their art come to life. I also have provided technical design for many notable performances: Merce Cunningham, John Cage, and Judith Jamison. One thing I admire so much about the visual and performing artists I have worked with is their ability to focus on a process and a project. It’s like they have superpowers.

Stairs between Lenfest Hall and Great Stair Hall

Jeanine Kline

Facilities Project Manager

What is your favorite part of your job?
I have three answers to that, two of which probably echo others’ responses. My coworkers are a big part of what I love. I also appreciate having such close proximity to an amazing art collection. The third thing, though, may be more specific to me and what I do: I like to watch the transformation of the buildings. For example, there were only offices in the Perelman Building when I started working at the museum. And I’ve watched it become what it is now. I like to learn and try new things, and I have the opportunity to do that with my job.