NAGPRA Repatriation Manager

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Organizational Overview

The Museum of Us (formerly the San Diego Museum of Man) is located on the unceded ancestral homelands of the Kumeyaay Nation in what is now known as Balboa Park. Our mission is inspiring human connections by exploring the human experience—in all of its beauty and its messiness. With our community’s guidance, we’ve transformed an old-school anthropology museum with a legacy of colonial and racist harm into a human-centered museum that builds understanding, empathy, and belonging, and—in turn—the capacity to effectuate positive change. We’re a place for everyone, but especially for those who haven’t been able to tell their own stories in mainstream museums. We’re also a place for the new and future generations of museum-goers, who will continue to expect more from their cultural institutions. The driving force behind our work is developing better and better practices in what a decolonial and anti-racist museum can look like and then creating a ripple effect in the museum field (and beyond). Four interrelated themes loom large for us: Identity, Home, Wellness, and Justice. Every one of our projects/initiatives begins with an examination of whether (and, if so, how) the work is oriented around and informed by our decolonial and anti-racist commitments.

In pursuit of these commitments, the Museum of Us is dedicating significant resources to the expansion of our repatriation and relational repair work, where it comes to the museum’s cultural resources holdings (a.k.a. collections). Over the next 3 years, we will increase project staff, provide space, and additional financial resources in order to identify and document cultural resources and affiliated communities, build trust and relationships with those communities, facilitate timely repatriations, and honor stewardship and other requests that these communities may have.

Position Summary

The NAGPRA Repatriation Manager is a full-time 3-year position supporting priority Cultural Resources Department initiatives related to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The primary focus of the NAGPRA Repatriation Manager is to oversee the Museum’s legal compliance with NAGPRA including reviewing museum holdings and through a decolonizing practice, lead consultations with Native American/Alaskan Native/Native Hawaiian Nations (Nations) supporting determinations of cultural affiliation (including but not limited to state-recognized Nations and non-state, local and federally recognized Nations). Write Notices for publication in the Federal Register; and facilitate repatriations of Native American human remains and cultural materials including reburial efforts.

Responsibilities

Reporting to the Associate Director of Repatriation, the NAGPRA Repatriation Manager will work closely with Cultural Resources team members and Museum staff to perform the following:

• Work with department staff to ensure the Museum's continued compliance with internal repatriation policies and federal and state repatriation laws (CalNAGPRA and NAGPRA).
• Prepare cultural resources and associated documentation for Nation’s consultation review and documenting consultations for archival history of the Museum’s NAGPRA and decolonizing practices. This includes review of archaeological holdings that are controlled by various government agencies.
• Follow the Museum’s decolonial procedures and policies lead consultations with Nations (including, but not limited to, state-recognized Nations and non-state, local and federally recognized Nations). Ensuring transparency of communications and full disclosure to Nations of all available documentation that the Museum has legal authority to disclose.
• Prepare inventories and public notifications about proposed and completed repatriations following U.S. federal laws (NAGPRA) and California state laws (CalNAGPRA).
• Oversee the legal and physical repatriation of ancestral human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony in coordination with department staff and the Nations.
• Oversee maintaining detailed and accessible records on the Museum’s past and current outreach, notification, consultation, and repatriation processes with Nations. Including ensuring that all records, paper and digital, associated with repatriated cultural resources are updated to reflect repatriation status. Shall work with department staff as necessary to create procedures to maintain intellectual control of this information.
• Coordinate with the department staff as needed to ensure proper housing of ancestral remains and cultural resources in keeping with the Museum’s cultural care policies and Native American Nations protocols.
• Assist department staff in consultation for special projects, initiatives, and collaborative efforts with Nations related to NAGPRA and the Museum’s decolonizing initiatives. Seek input and guidance from Nation representatives on matters that might impact the community from a NAGPRA perspective.
• Work collaboratively with department staff on the implementation of decolonial policies, procedures, and relationship/trust building initiatives.
• Assist in reviewing requests for access to cultural resources with NAGPRA implications ensuring all Museum and Native American Nations’ access protocols and current laws are strictly adhered.
• Participate in grant writing, implementation, and reporting processes as requested.
• Serve on internal committees and working groups as assigned.
• Other duties and projects as assigned.

Experience & Education

• Demonstrated understanding of the colonial legacy of museums and the complexity of colonization’s impact on Indigenous communities (domestic and international).
• Experience navigating colonial histories, building decolonial practices, and building sustainable transparent relationships through lived experience as part of an Indigenous community and/or demonstrated experience working directly with Indigenous communities.
• Minimum of 3-5 years’ experience in NAGPRA and/or CalNAGPRA implementation and compliance, with a focus on new federal law regulations implementation.
• Demonstrated experience with NAGPRA documentation review and management practices including a basic understanding of digital asset management practices.
• Understanding of decolonial practices in regards to the care and management of cultural resources is preferred.
• Experience in assisting with culturally complex, sensitive, or confidential projects - including a demonstrated ability to listen and deal empathetically with a wide range of people and cultural groups.
• Understanding of equity, inclusion, access, and racially/culturally just practices within museums.
• Demonstrated understanding of community and self-care practices when working with culturally sensitive, complex and/or confidential projects that are inherently tied to colonial trauma.
• Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to multi-task, set priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Proficient technology skills, including word processing, Excel, database management, cultural resources management, and reporting programs.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a team setting that embraces shifts in priorities on intermittent basis.

ADA Notations

• Regular sitting, standing, walking, climbing stairs, balancing, crouching, stooping, and communication (talking/hearing).
  Ability to lift and carry large/bulky items weighing up to 40 pounds.
• Ability to move between all areas of the museum, some of which are widely spaced on uneven terrain and require climbing stairs.
• Vision requirements include close vision and ability to adjust focus.
• Noise conditions range from quiet to moderate noise.
• Generally, works during regular business hours, Monday-Friday, but must be available to work flexible/additional hours as needed.

Benefits

• Salary is $60,000.
• Schedule is flexible, averaging 40 hours per week. Position is up to 25% work from home, pending cadence of work.
• Our hiring practices are rooted in approach driven by a focus on equitability and sustainability. Specifically, the Museum offers an exceptional employee benefits package, including:
  • Medical, dental and vision and life insurance coverage as well as short and long-term disability benefits
  • Matching retirement contribution plan, up to 6% of an employee’s annual salary
  • 14 paid holidays, with the ability to substitute employee-designated holidays for museum-designated holidays
  • Vacation (10-20 days/year depending on seniority) and sick leave for 5-10 days/year
  • Three days paid Community-Centered Leave to support and build community however staff define it
  • $200 in “Museum Bucks” for you to support your work-life balance
  • Birthday and anniversary gift cards
  • A human-centered and highly supportive environment, which encourages team members to bring their whole selves to work

Application Process

The NAGPRA Repatriation Manager position application deadline is midnight Pacific Time on November 22, 2025. Please submit your resume and cover letter to recruiting@museumofus.org.