Heritage Resources Management — Career Opportunities in the heritage sector

Career Opportunities in the Heritage Sector

The Heritage Resources Management sector is rapidly growing, and demand is high for professionals in both traditional heritage roles and new, emerging roles created by evolving technologies.

What is Heritage Resources Management?

Heritage is an invaluable resource that belongs to all of us. Without proper management, however, heritage resources risk being misunderstood, misused, damaged, or lost forever. We have to know how to identify, conserve, and responsibly use our heritage.

That’s where Heritage Resources Management comes in. Heritage Resources Management identifies the elements of the past that a society defines as its heritage, then determines how to conserve and use them in ways that respect them as a public trust.

With the knowledge and skills to manage heritage in ways that respect values and ethics, embrace community, and elevate diverse voices, you can make a positive impact on our heritage and our world in areas like climate action, social justice, and sustainability.

Heritage Resources Management jobs

Heritage Resources Management offers diverse career opportunities for individuals passionate about conserving and promoting cultural heritage, including heritage places, landscapes, historic buildings and structures, and museum collections.

Career opportunities in the heritage sector can be found in government, non-profits, and the private sector, in local, regional, national, or international settings. Below are some of the roles available to Heritage Resources Management professionals.

  • Collection manager
  • Community engagement advisor
  • Conservator
  • Cultural landscape expert
  • Curator
  • Heritage architect
  • Heritage engineer
  • Heritage planner
  • Heritage project manager
  • Heritage researcher
  • Interpreter

Helpful resources

Keep an eye on these job lists for opportunities in the heritage field, and stay current with your knowledge by consulting the extended learning links.

Job opportunities for heritage professionals

  • Alliance for Arts and Culture — job board
  • American Association of Museums — job board
  • Arts and Cultural Industries Manitoba — job board
  • Association of Manitoba Museums — job and volunteer opportunities
  • Association of Science–Technology Centers — job board (mostly U.S.)
  • Canadian Museum of History — jobs
  • Canadian Museum of Nature — jobs
  • Canadian Museums Association — job board
  • Museums Association of Saskatchewan — job board
  • National Gallery of Canada — jobs
  • Ontario Museums Association — job board (accessible only to OMA members)
  • Parks Canada — jobs
  • PreserveNet (Cornell University) — job board (provides a very extensive site for architectural preservation and planning jobs, mostly in the U.S.)
  • Royal British Columbia Museum — jobs
  • Service Canada (Human Resources Development Canada) — job board
  • La société de musées québécois — offres d'emploi

Latest trends in the dynamic heritage field

Memberships

These organizations offer student memberships.

Newsletters and listserves

Subscribing to email newsletters and listserves is an easy way to stay up-to-date with the latest news and developments in the heritage field.

Working on contract

Many people build careers in the heritage field by working on contract as freelancers.

Contract work is common in the heritage sector because funding is often limited and work can be seasonal and project-specific. The advantages of contract work are personal flexibility, job variety and intellectual challenge; the downsides are lack of permanency and employment benefits.

In some cases, a contract can be negotiated directly with a museum or agency. In other cases, an individual submits a tender or teams up with colleagues to do so. A tender, or proposal, is the document submitted in response to a call for proposals. The proposal sets out the contractor's fees and how they would approach the job.

How do you find contract work?

  • By word of mouth through a network of contacts at relevant agencies and institutions.
  • By establishing contact with large firms that do contract work and hire subcontractors for specific tasks. This allows sole practitioners to participate in large and complex projects.
  • Through rosters of consultants maintained by museums, heritage organizations, and agencies. These registers list people who will be asked to submit proposals. Ask institutions or agencies that interest you or match your skills and interests if they maintain a register and how you can be placed on it.
  • Through lists maintained by some archives of researchers who can be hired by people requiring research to be carried out at that archive.
  • Through websites such as MERX, which list calls for proposals by federal and provincial governments. Heritage projects are not common on this site, but it is still worth keeping an eye on it.
  • By being included on the lists of consultants recommended by regulatory agencies for completion of Historic Resources Impact Assessments (HRIAs). While the scope of such lists and the types of work included vary by province, have your name included if you have the qualifications.
  • Volunteering at a museum, archive, or historic site is an excellent way to build connections that may lead to future employment.
  • By staying current with new funding or projects that might allow for contract work. The easiest way to do this is through professional websites, newsletters, and listserves.

Updated January 20, 2026 by Digital & Web Operations (web_services@athabascau.ca)