Overview
AVP, Exhibition Design Jobs in Toronto, Canada at Royal Ontario Museum
WHO WE ARE
Opened in 1914 and welcoming over 1.3 million visitors annually, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is Canada’s most‑visited museum, ranking among the top 10 cultural institutions in North America. At ROM, we are dedicated to building and sharing global collections, sharing knowledge, inspiring learning, and fostering community engagement. As a globally recognized field research institute, ROM houses an impressive collection of over 18 million artworks, cultural objects, and natural history specimens, showcased in over 40 galleries and exhibition spaces.
We are committed to creating a space where art, culture, and nature intersect, connecting people and communities to the past, present and shared future.
As we continue to work toward our goals to transform and evolve as one of the world’s foremost 21st‑century museums, we seek passionate and dynamic team members who embody our mission and values.
At Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), we are reimagining how audiences experience art, culture, and nature. As AVP, Exhibition Design, you will shape the creative direction of exhibitions and gallery spaces seen by over 1.3 million visitors each year, translating ideas into immersive, inclusive, and impactful experiences at scale.
WHO WE NEED
We are seeking a strategic and visionary leader to join ROM as our AVP Exhibition Design, a role that sits at the intersection of creative excellence, operational leadership, and institutional impact.
Reporting to the Chief, Exhibitions and Galleries, the AVP, Exhibition Design is the senior design authority responsible for shaping how millions of visitors experience ROM’s exhibitions, galleries, and public spaces. This role provides both creative direction and strategic oversight across the full exhibition lifecycle, ensuring that design outcomes are innovative, inclusive, and aligned with ROM’s mission and audience‑first approach.
As a leader, you will guide and inspire a multidisciplinary design team while working in close partnership with curatorial, interpretation, collections, marketing, and external collaborators. You will play a critical role in translating complex ideas into compelling, accessible, and engaging visitor experiences, balancing creativity with feasibility, and vision with execution.
This is a highly collaborative and influential role that requires both strong design sensibility and the ability to operate at an enterprise level. You will contribute to institutional planning, establish design standards and practices, and ensure that exhibitions are delivered on time, on budget, and to the highest level of quality.
The ideal candidate brings a unique blend of creative leadership, strategic thinking, and operational discipline, with a demonstrated ability to lead teams, manage complexity, and deliver impactful, visitor‑centred design at scale.
HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT
As the AVP, Exhibition Design, you will shape the creative and experiential direction of ROM’s exhibitions and galleries, ensuring design excellence across all visitor‑facing environments. Your impact will span strategy, execution, and leadership across the institution.
Design Leadership & Creative Direction
You will define and lead the overall design vision for exhibitions and gallery spaces, ensuring experiences are innovative, engaging, and aligned with ROM’s mission. You will champion visitor‑centred, inclusive, and accessible design, integrating emerging technologies, multimedia, and immersive approaches to elevate how audiences experience art, culture, and nature.
Exhibition Strategy & Delivery
You will oversee the end‑to‑end design process across multiple concurrent exhibition projects, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities, timelines, and budgets. You will establish and evolve design standards, processes, and best practices to ensure consistency, quality, and efficiency across all projects.
Cross‑Functional Collaboration & Institutional Influence
You will serve as a key partner to curatorial, interpretation, collections, marketing, learning, and fundraising teams, translating complex content into compelling physical and digital experiences. As a senior leader, you will…
Title: AVP, Exhibition Design
Company: Royal Ontario Museum
Location: Toronto, Canada
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