Assistant Director, Interpretation and Publishing

In Brief

The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is a leading site for contemporary art and futurist thinking in Southeast Asia. While exhibitions remain vital, SAM's commitment to 'thinking in public' extends beyond the gallery, through language, platforms, publishing, and cultural authorship. The Assistant Director, Interpretation and Publishing leads this effort. The role is responsible for shaping how curatorial research, artist inquiry, acquisitions, and institutional philosophies are expressed beyond the wall text through editorial direction, publishing strategy, digital platforms, and new storytelling formats. This is not a curatorial role in the traditional sense. Rather, it is a role for someone who understands that contemporary art institutions produce meaning through writing, structure, and public-facing ideas. The Assistant Director produces and manages intelligent, precise, and resonant content that connects the museum's thinking with its publics — across print, digital, audio, and experimental formats.

Responsibilities

Narrative Strategy & Storytelling

• Shape the museum's public voice through a publishing and storytelling strategy that reflects intellectual rigour, clarity, and contemporary relevance.
• Develop a storytelling ecosystem across platforms: exhibition texts, books, essays, digital features, audio guides, toolkits, and special projects.
• Treat storytelling not as explanation but as a critical, curatorial-adjacent act of thinking in public.
• Establish and oversee editorial frameworks that support multiple writing voices while maintaining high standards of thought and tone.

Project & Platform Leadership

• Lead the production of print and digital projects linked to SAM's exhibitions, acquisitions, public programmes, and the Singapore Biennale.
• Work with team members and across departments to coordinate content production: budgeting, scheduling, editing, rights, translation, and vendor coordination.
• Build workflows and templates that support editorial clarity and multi-format publishing, including experimental formats and digital-first content.
• Maintain coherence in voice and philosophy across all platforms and outputs.

Cross-Platform & Technological Innovation

• Adapt curatorial and institutional content across diverse interfaces: web, mobile, AR/VR, print, audio, and physical spaces, while maintaining intellectual depth.
• Use AI and machine learning tools where appropriate to support accessibility, multilingual engagement, and adaptive storytelling.
• Draw on data insights, UX research, and reader feedback to continually refine how SAM communicates complex ideas.

Institutional Knowledge and Public Thinking

• Contribute to SAM's evolving institutional memory by overseeing documentation and publishing of research output.
• Improve workflows and maintain strategic oversight of SAM's curatorial reference library and archive.
• Support museum-wide efforts to build a culture of writing and language precision.
• Champion inclusive, accessible, and multilingual content strategies across all publishing efforts to appeal to different publics and engage new audiences.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Lead a sharp, agile team of editors, content creators, and digital producers—shaping a studio-style environment grounded in experimentation, precision, and mutual respect.
• Mentor emerging talent with an eye toward future publishing models and cross-disciplinary thinking, encouraging bold ideas and critical dialogue.
• Build internal capacity by initiating toolkits, and labs around storytelling, writing for different platforms, AI-enhanced workflows, and inclusive language practices.

Publishing Strategy & Trade

• Oversee dissemination strategies for SAM publications—both print and digital—including inventory, co-publishing models, and sales channels.
• Work in close partnership with National Gallery Singapore to align logistical and regional strategies.

Others

• Assist the Chief Curator and Director's Office in drafting speeches, institutional texts, and external opinion pieces as needed.

Qualifications

• A minimum of a Master's degree in the humanities, arts, or social sciences; PhD preferred.
• 6-8 years of experience in a curatorial, academic, or research-based environment, with a strong track record of writing, conceptual development, and public engagement.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex artistic, philosophical, or curatorial ideas into public-facing content across diverse formats.
• Multilingual, with strong written and spoken English. Proficiency in one or more Southeast Asian languages is highly desirable.
• Deep familiarity with contemporary art practices, critical theory, and museum discourse.
• Experience leading or mentoring teams in an intellectually rigorous setting.
• Comfortable working across digital tools, hybrid publishing formats, and experimental narrative environments.
• Strategic thinker who views writing, storytelling, and content systems as forms of curatorial and institutional authorship.