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 a member of the leadership team, you are responsible for all day-to-day legal issues, as well as providing strategic advice and counsel, pertinent to The Met, with issues unique to the world of art and cultural institutions. You are responsible for ensuring that The Met’s mission is maintained and supported in a commercial and practical manner within the legal parameters of a not-for-profit institution. You will provide advice, counsel and strategic thought on matters impacting The Met including, but not limited to institutional strategic planning and programming, crisis management, board, and public relations matters, as well as day-to-day engagement on operational matters.

You will have significant engagement acting as an advisor, thought leader and strategic counselor to the Director, as well as to the Board of Trustees. You will also serve as Secretary to The Met’s Board.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

Having lead responsibility for the legal function you will have significant involvement in diverse matters pertaining to, but not limited to, the following:

• Board governance, serving as Secretary and preparing and recording board and various committee meetings and activities, bylaws and charter revisions, trustee relationships, corporate ethics, and conflicts issues;

• Not-for-profit, corporate, and tax law;

• Labor & Employment;

• Charitable and planned giving, including pledges, grants and corporate sponsorships;

• Cultural Property – research and compliance, provenance, and restitution, involving archives, acquisitions, exhibitions, and collections;

• Complex international regulations involving foreign loans of art;

• Intellectual Property;

• Insurance and risk management including reputational risk liability and mitigation;

• Government Investigations;

• Real estate, including construction issues and project management;

• Issues pertaining to The Met’s retail enterprise;

• Lead counsel on highest priority Met initiatives and negotiations;

• Policy drafting and implementation such as the collections management policy, employee handbook, social media and privacy policy, investment policy; and litigation oversight.

Leadership and Management Experience:

• Manages the activities of the Legal Office, comprised of 11 direct reports, including 7 attorneys, 3 non-attorneys, and an office manager;

• Strong and effective manager of people and diverse teams;

• Track record of empowering, developing and growing experienced and junior staff. Effectively engages with and leads organizational partners within matrixed environments.

Working with and Advising the Board:

• Serve as Secretary of the Board of Trustees at The Met;

• Work closely with the Board members and committees in ensuring adherence to The Met’s mission;

• Responsible for setting the agenda for each meeting of The Met’s Board of Trustees, which generally includes topics related to corporate business, as well as curatorial presentations including those about exhibitions, and acquisitions, in addition to administrative matters such as budget and policy review and adoption, and governance matters relating to election of new Trustees and Committee members, compensation and engagement of staff;

• Direct involvement in working with the Executive Committee, the Legal Committee, the Nominating Committee, the Compensation Committee, the Finance Committee, the Audit Committee, and the Acquisitions (of Art) Committee, as well as special committees and task forces;

• In working with the Executive Committee, the General Counsel will keep the Committee informed of the critical issues that the institution is facing on a regular basis, as well as provide strategic recommendations and guidance on matters that require action on the part of the Board;

• Responsible for presenting and advising on matters pertaining to The Met’s Code of Conduct, conflicts of interest and any other matters that may arise which are pertinent to the Board.

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS:

• Legal training received at premier law firms within corporate or not-for-profit practice groups;

• 20 years of legal experience with demonstrated responsibility for engaging with senior leadership and the Board, as well as demonstrated ability to work within institutions with multiple constituents;

• Demonstrated ability to engage with Senior leadership, including the Director of The Met , the COO, the Deputy Directors, and the CHRO;

• Demonstrated ability in working with an active Board of Trustees, including advising and counseling on issues and secretary function;

• Demonstrated ability to train, mentor and develop the members of their team;

• Ability to provide creative approaches when providing strategic advice and counsel on matters before The Met;

• Direct experience drafting and implementing policies relevant to The Met.

• Ability to analyze and advise on risk assessment of matters before The Met; including impact on insurance provisions and reputational risk.

• Ability to work in a fast- paced environment; recognizing that each department has its own timeline and urgency for response;

• Recognizing and respecting the historical knowledge of the institution and being open to gaining this perspective from your colleagues;

• Recognize that conversations that take place outside of a meeting room are seen as key to building consensus in order to accomplish goals;

• Ability to prioritize work; to triage; to juggle and balance multiple priorities;

• Roll up the sleeves mentality” while working collaboratively with your colleagues;

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

Research shows that women and people from underrepresented groups often apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We recognize that it is highly unlikely that someone meets 100% of the qualifications 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.