Heather Harris

Heather Harris is the Chief Operating Officer at the Australian Museum. She leads the teams at the Museum responsible for commercial activities, building services, technology, people and culture, security and legal and procurement services. Since being appointed in May 2022, Heather has also led the Masterplan development work at the Museum and a transformation programme aimed at optimising museum processes, planning, reporting and project management practices.

Heather is an experienced museum director, with extensive knowledge of strategy and policy development for museums, collections management and care, and current museum practices and trends. Previous roles have included Director of Cultural Organisations for Auckland, Director of Conservation and Collections Management at the V&A Museum (London) and Chief Operating Officer at Auckland Museum. In her earlier career, she worked as a New Zealand diplomat and lawyer, and on major change projects in the public sector.

Heather has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from Auckland University, a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration from Otago University, a Graduate Certificate in Art History and Architecture from the University of London and a Masters Degree in Art History from the Courtauld Institute in London.