A curator decides what a zoo, museum or garden keeps, how it is cared for and what visitors see. They write the collection plan, bring each gift, loan or deaccession to the CEO, and lead the staff who care for the animals, objects or plants each day.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, museums, zoos and gardens · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $38,550, middle half $47,400 to $80,410, 90th percentile $105,330. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Chief Executive Officer
Department
Collections
Schedule
Weekdays, plus weekend and evening duty · On call for animal emergencies, building alarms or storms, with travel for transfers, couriers and conferences.
Also called
Curator of collections · Curator of animals · General curator · Curator of living collections
Cultural attraction curator job description template
This is our Role Blueprint, word for word. Replace the highlighted fields and adjust the example targets and pay to fit your company.
The Curator leads the care, growth, and interpretation of our [animals, artifacts, or plant collections]. You plan the collection, recommend what comes in and goes out, shape exhibits, and supervise [keepers, collections staff, or horticulture staff] and the Exhibits Technician. You keep collection care, records, and permits up to your accreditation body's standards.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Write and update the collection plan, and recommend acquisitions, loans, deaccessions, or transfers to the CEO.
Oversee the care of the collection: [animal welfare and husbandry, object storage and conservation, or plant health].
Keep records and legal papers complete, such as deeds of gift, loan agreements, or [wildlife and import permits], with the Registrar where you have one.
Lead exhibit content: themes, [species, objects, or plantings], and label text written for visitors.
Supervise and train [keepers, the Registrar and collections staff, or Horticulturists] and the Exhibits Technician.
Take part in the [breeding, conservation, or research] programs your accreditation body and partners run.
Give donor tours, media interviews, and public talks about the collection.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily reports from your staff and follow up on health, condition, or security issues.
Walk the [habitats, galleries, or gardens] and storage areas to check conditions.
Answer staff questions on handling, care, or exhibit changes.
Work on records, permits, loans, or label text.
Meet with education, marketing, or development about programs, stories, or donor visits.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Collection records complete and current: [your target].
Exhibit openings on schedule: [your target].
Collection plan goals met: [your target].
Welfare or condition assessments completed: [your target].
Collections spending against budget: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Master's degree in [zoology, biology, art history, history, museum studies, horticulture, or a related field], or equivalent experience.
[5+] years working with [animal, museum, or living plant] collections, including [2+] years supervising staff.
Knowledge of care standards and record-keeping for your type of collection.
Clear writing for labels, reports, and grant proposals.
Experience managing a department budget and staff schedules.
6. Preferred Experience
Has curated an exhibition or managed a [species group, collection area, or plant collection].
Experience with collection software such as [ZIMS, PastPerfect, TMS, or BG-BASE].
Knowledge of NAGPRA, CITES, or other laws that apply to your collection.
Published research or conservation project experience.
7. Physical Requirements
Walk the full site, storage rooms, and back-of-house areas daily.
Lift and move [objects, equipment, or animal crates] up to [40] pounds using proper handling methods.
Work around [animals, collection storage, or garden beds] in all weather.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Full-time on weekdays, with weekend and evening duty when needed.
On call for [animal emergencies, building alarms, or severe weather].
Some travel for [animal transfers or object couriering], conferences, and research.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new curator gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What makes curating at a zoo, museum or garden different
A gallery or company curator answers to an owner. Here the curator answers to a board and the public, often to an accreditor too, and part of the collection may be alive.
The board signs off on big changes
AAM's standards call for a current, approved collections management policy and a plan for how the collection will grow and be used. The curator writes that plan. Each gift, purchase or deaccession goes to the CEO with its reasons, care needs and cost, and on to the board when the policy calls for a vote. Because the site answers to donors and the public, the paper trail matters as much as the object. Source: American Alliance of Museums: Collections Stewardship Standards.
Sale money has limits
AAM's Code of Ethics says money from selling nonliving collections may be used only to acquire new items or for the direct care of the collection. It can't cover general costs like payroll. Before a deaccession sale, the curator and the CFO agree in writing where the money will go. Source: American Alliance of Museums: Code of Ethics for Museums.
Zoo collections are planned with other zoos
AZA's Species Survival Plan programs write a breeding and transfer plan for each selected species. The plan recommends which animals should pair up and which should move between zoos. A zoo curator weighs each one against space, staff time and the animals' welfare. Then the curator plans the move with keepers and the vet. Source: Association of Zoos and Aquariums: Species Survival Plan programs.
Selling or importing listed species takes a permit
Under the Endangered Species Act, a listed species can't be moved across state lines with intent to sell until the Fish and Wildlife Service grants a permit. A captive-bred wildlife registration only covers sales between two holders who are both registered. Importing a wild or foreign-bred animal takes its own permit. Curators keep these papers current. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Endangered species permits FAQ.
Native American items need consent first
If your museum gets federal money and has Native American human remains or cultural items in its care, NAGPRA applies. Before the museum shows those items or lets anyone study them, it must get consent from the lineal descendants, tribes or Native Hawaiian groups tied to them. The rules say that consent must be free, prior and informed. Build the step into every exhibit plan. Source: 43 CFR 10.1, NAGPRA regulations (Cornell LII).
How much cultural attraction curators make
Curators who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $29.71 an hour ($61,790 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $63,420 median for curators in all industries. About 6,700 of the 12,150 curators in that survey work for museums, zoos and gardens.
Usually a salary. Tell candidates how often on-call nights and weekend duty come around, because that is where curator jobs differ most from one site to the next.
Museums, zoos and gardens
$61,790$61,790 median Middle half $47,400–$80,410 10th–90th $38,550–$105,330
All industries
$63,420$63,420 median Middle half $48,870–$83,080 10th–90th $40,470–$107,140
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Museums, zoos and gardens
$38,550
$47,400
$61,790
$80,410
$105,330
All industries
$40,470
$48,870
$63,420
$83,080
$107,140
BLS groups museums, zoos, botanical gardens and historic sites together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Deep, hands-on knowledge of your kind of collection: animals, objects or living plants
Clear writing for labels, collection plans and board memos
Has led a team, set its schedule and kept to a budget
Will turn down a donor's gift that doesn't fit the plan, kindly and in writing
Knows the care and record standards your accreditor checks
Teach these on the job
Your collections policy and how the board votes on changes
How your team enters and numbers records in the database
Donor tours, media interviews and public talks
Which permits you hold and when each one renews
Your exhibit calendar and how marketing promotes openings
Zoo and aquarium curators keep animal records in ZIMS from Species360. Museums use PastPerfect, TMS or a similar collections database, and many gardens track plants in BG-BASE. Ask candidates which system they have entered records in and whether they have run a full inventory in it.
Cultural attraction curator interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Fill in each target with your CEO, using the collection plan and last year's records. Check progress at each collections committee meeting.
Collection records complete and current
Each quarter, pull a random set of records and check each one for location, condition, legal papers and a photo. Count the records with gaps and assign each fix.
Exhibit openings on schedule
Compare each opening date with the date approved at the start. For every slip, note the cause: content, building, loans, permits or animals.
Collection plan goals met
List the year's goals from the collection plan, such as species added or gaps filled, and mark each one done, in progress or dropped at year end.
Welfare or condition assessments completed
Count the animal welfare reviews, object condition reports or plant health surveys finished against the schedule the plan sets, department by department.
Collections spending against budget
Each month, review care, conservation, acquisition and permit costs with the CFO against the collections budget, and explain any line running over.
A curator decides what belongs in the collection and why. Then they make sure it is cared for and shown well. Most weeks mix staff reports, walks through the habitats, galleries or gardens, records and permits, and meetings with education, marketing and fundraising staff. The curator also writes or approves the exhibit text visitors read.
How much does a cultural attraction curator make?
Curators who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $29.71 an hour ($61,790 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $47,400 and $80,410 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What is the difference between a curator and a registrar?
The curator decides what comes in, what goes out and what goes on view. The registrar tracks each object's legal papers and whereabouts: deeds of gift, loan agreements, insurance, condition reports and location. At a small museum one person may do both. In this template they are two jobs, and the registrar reports to the curator.
Does a curator need a master's degree?
The template asks for a master's degree or equivalent experience. Decide which counts more at your site. A zoo may value years as a keeper and area supervisor over a degree, while an art or history museum may want graduate research and published work. Write the choice into the ad so strong candidates without the degree still apply.
Do zoos and museums have to be accredited?
No. Accreditation comes from private associations, not the law, and most sites don't have it. AZA says about one in ten USDA-licensed animal exhibitors hold its accreditation, and those zoos and aquariums repeat a long application, a site visit of several days and a hearing every five years. AAM counts 1,130 accredited museums out of about 33,000. Its review rests on a self-study and peer review, takes 8 to 16 months and should be redone every 10 years. The curator writes much of the collections part, so ask candidates what they did on one.
What should a curator job ad include?
Name the collection and its size, the staff the curator will lead, who approves acquisitions, the database you use and your accreditation status. Say how often on-call duty and courier or transfer travel come up. Sharing the exhibit calendar for the next two years shows how much new work the hire will own.
