Senior Director & Curator, Museum and Campus Development

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Location: Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
FLSA Status: Full-time, exempt
Salary range: $110,000–$150,000 annually

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is seeking a museum leader to help transform one of America’s most consequential historic aviation sites. Located on Ford Island, our authentic World War II aviation battlefield, historic hangars, aircraft, collections, and stories create an extraordinary platform to preserve history and inspire future generations. The Museum is undertaking major capital investment and battlefield campus development that will redefine how visitors experience this place and help shape Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum for the next generation.

Reporting to the CEO, the Senior Director will lead the Museum’s visitor experience, curatorial and collections functions, and museum- side implementation of major exhibits and campus development. This is a hands‑on leadership opportunity for someone who can guide talented staff, establish clear priorities, execute complex projects, and translate an ambitious vision into an exceptional museum experience.

• Own the end-to-end on-site museum experience, including arrival, orientation, way finding, interpretation, exhibits, tours, and the quality and consistency of public-facing visitor operations and service.
• Work across departments to improve accessibility, guest engagement, satisfaction, and operational readiness; use visitor feedback and performance measures to drive improvements.
• Set institution-wide standards for historical interpretation and storytelling, connecting the historic battlefield, aircraft, artifacts, personal stories, and the larger Pacific War narrative.

• Lead museum-side implementation of the World War II Aviation Battlefield initiative and major exhibit and campus-development work, especially Hangar 79, from approved design through installation, opening, and sustained operations.
• Serve as the primary museum owner for visitor, interpretive, curatorial, collections, and operational requirements; coordinate design partners, exhibit fabricators, historians, contractors, and internal departments.
• Partner closely with the capital projects and facilities team, who retain responsibility for technical construction management, contracts, building systems, code compliance, and site safety.
• Manage institutional milestones, owner decisions, scope integration, exhibit quality, transition planning, operating impacts, and escalation of risks to the CEO.

• Direct the curatorial, collections, archives, library, and associated research staff; provide visible senior guidance, regular coaching, clear work plans, professional standards, and accountability.
• Oversee collections stewardship, acquisition and loan recommendations, cataloging and documentation, preservation priorities, interpretive research, and appropriate access to collections and archives.
• Create practical priorities for staff and volunteers and build coordination among curatorial work, exhibit development, restoration, and visitor experience.
• Work with the CEO and appropriate board committee on collections priorities, policies, major acquisitions, and institutional stewardship.

• Provide strategic oversight of restoration priorities and supervise restoration leadership, aligning aircraft and large‑artifact preservation with collections standards, display plans, visitor experience, budgets, and donor commitments.
• Coordinate with Facilities, Capital Projects,…