Jobs Archive
Exhibition Development Manager
Dorset County Museum is at an exciting and pivotal moment in its 170 year history. Having secured a Stage One pass for a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in May 2015, it is a embarking on a £13.4 million capital expansion project to construct an innovative, visitor-focussed 'Collections Discovery Centre'. This will completely overhaul the Museum - its galleries, exhibitions, storage facilities, working spaces and retail offer - to produce an organisation able to better conserve and interpret Dorset's internationally significant heritage and be ready to meet the expectations of modern visitors.
A critically important member of the project team, the successful candidate will lead the curation of a suite of four new permanent galleries at Dorset County Museum.
Showcasing and celebrating the fine and decorative art, natural history, unique landscape and social history of Dorset, the post-holder will be responsible for writing the overall interpretation plan and developing detailed design briefs for inclusion within the Museum's HLF stage two application in May 2017.
They will work closely with the Museum's existing team of Collections Management staff and volunteers, Architectural Design Team, Activity Planner and Exhibition Designers, the Head of Marketing and PR, the Board of Trustees, volunteers and other project team members where appropriate.
The normal working week will be 37.5 hours, Monday to Friday, but the role may also require the Exhibition Development Manager to be flexible and work unusual hours.
Due to the nature of the funding for this project, the role is a fixed term contract until 2 June 2017 (with the potential for renewal to 31 May 2020 subject to the outcome of the Museum's HLF Round Two bid).
PLEASE NOTE: Applications must be made using the application form obtainable from:
The Secretary,
Dorset County Museum,
High West Street,
Dorchester,
Dorset, DT1 1XA
or (preferably) secretary@dorsetcountymuseum.org
Learning and Events Assistant
The Natural History Museum at Tring was once the personal collection of Lionel Walter, the second Lord Rothschild. Upon Lord Rothschild’s death in 1937, the Museum and his collections were presented to the Nation to become part of the Natural History Museum.
All Museum staff provide a wide range of services to both Museum visitors and internal customers. From the moment the visitor walks over the threshold into the Museum or into its grounds, Museum staff are responsible for ensuring any visit is an enjoyable, safe and rewarding experience. Our focus is on maintaining an excellent visitor experience through standards of maintenance, presentation, customer care and access, which along with the efficient use of the group’s resources plays a vital part in the continuing success of the Museum.
The Learning and Events team’s aim is to provide our customers and staff with services of the highest quality. This means that all members of staff will need to take a flexible approach in responding to the challenge of meeting customer needs. All staff are also encouraged to continuously seek to improve the standard and nature of services provided to visitors to the Natural History Museum at Tring and to enhance their own contribution through personal commitment and appropriate training.
The role of the Learning and Events Assistant is to assist the Tring Management Team in the delivery of the Natural History Museum’s mission and vision, by enabling the provision of a modern effective museum service.
You will assist with and provide support for the delivery of the public programme; this includes informal events, workshops and activities for schools and a temporary exhibitions programme. The Learning and Events team consists of 3 assistants supervised by a Learning and Events Officer, all managed by the Interpretation and Learning Manager.
Salary: £14,315 per annum plus benefits (based on a full time equivalent of £18,405 per annum)
Hours: 28 hours per week excluding lunch breaks (3 week shift pattern including some weekend shifts)
Contract: Permanent appointment
Closing date: 9am on Thursday 11 February 2016
Role competences:
BEFORE beginning your application - Please read the section below about the ‘Online Application Process’ carefully.
If you wish to be considered for this role you will need to address each of the following competences in the ‘other information’ section of your online application:
1. A degree in or equivalent experience/background knowledge of a relevant subject, for example zoology, environmental science, natural sciences.
2. Excellent communication skills with demonstrable experience of working effectively as part of a team.
3. Experience of working with children formally and informally.
4. Experience of working in a customer-facing environment with an understanding of what constitutes excellent customer service.
5. Proven experience of carrying out administrative tasks and record keeping using information technology.
6. Excellent IT skills, including knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel, and use of the internet.
7. Good organisational skills, demonstrating the ability to set and manage conflicting priorities.
8. Flexible and adaptable working methods, including the ability to adopt new skills and processes in a fast-paced environment.
9. An interest in, and enthusiasm for, the natural world.
10. Creative thinker with the ability to recognise new opportunities.
Deputy Keeper of Natural History
The Horniman Museum and Gardens in south east London has been open since Victorian times, when the tea trader and philanthropist, Frederick John Horniman first opened his house and extraordinary collection of objects to the local community. Since then, our collection has grown significantly and includes internationally important collections of anthropology and musical instruments, as well as an acclaimed aquarium and natural history gallery – all surrounded by 16 acres of beautiful Gardens offering breathtaking views across London.
The Horniman’s Natural History collection contains over a quarter of a million biological and geological specimens of local, national and worldwide origin. We continue to develop the collection through research and acquisition, focussing on its potential to engage audiences with science and encourage a deeper understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the natural world. Each year the Horniman welcomes over 860,000 visitors and we deliver a wide range of events and innovative displays as part of a popular and imaginative public programme and lively digital engagement strategy.
Following the recent review of our Natural History collections and major improvements to our exhibitions and displays, we are looking for a committed and forward-thinking Deputy Keeper of Natural History with the skills and experience to help us develop, preserve and interpret our collections and communicate Natural Science-based subjects to the broadest audience.
You will be an enthusiastic and confident communicator, an excellent team player and have a strong affinity with the Horniman’s mission and values. You’ll have a relevant degree, a good track record of curating Natural History collections across a range of disciplines, extensive knowledge of the natural sciences and experience of conducting collections based research. You’ll work with your museum colleagues and external project partners to support and deliver a range of collections-based projects and public programmes.
The closing date for submitting CVs and covering statements is 10am on Wednesday 17 February 2016. Interviews will be held on Thursday 10 March 2016.
The Horniman is committed to equality of opportunity and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
Senior Project Manager (Deputy Chief Operating Officer of DEWORM3 Project)
The Natural History Museum is one of the world’s leading museums, internationally recognised for its dual role as a centre of excellence in scientific research and as a leader in the presentation of natural history through exhibitions, public programmes, publications and the web.
The Museum has a long history of working in the area of disease research, most notably on understanding the identity, nature and diversification of parasites and vectors. Our unique selling points have included: expert identification, biology, life cycle elucidation and broader ecology. The Museum is undertaking a five-year project, in the first instance, to test the feasibility of eliminating soil-transmitted helminths and develop cost-effective methods for scaling up elimination programs.
This role is a senior position that also provides support for the Chief Operating Officer (COO) on the scientific and operational direction of the DEWORM3 project. The post holder will be required to represent the project COO at key meetings and take decisions on their behalf. You will lead a team of five staff: Data Manager, Communications Manager, Project Manager, Trial Liaison Manager & Project Administrator/PA to ensure the successful implementation of the trials in multiple locations, manage budgets in line with the NHM financial compliance framework, develop standardised data collection tools, and fulfil funder reporting requirements. You will also advocate for the project and keep abreast of developments in the field of NTD elimination.
Role competences:
We are seeking an experienced project manager with a background in the science of NTDs and a proven history of leading staff to achieve research goals. You should be passionate about NTD elimination, able to communicate with a diverse audience, and comfortable working in multicultural settings.
The Chief Operating Officer for this project will initially be based in Seattle, Washington, USA, with regular travel to London. There will be a small team housed in the NHM in London, additional team members in Seattle, and advisory group members based in several locations globally. Due to the multi-country nature of the project, the successful applicant for this role will be required to work hours that span the work day in several locations (approximately 10:00-18:30 GMT). These times may shift to core hours (09:00-17:30) when the COO is in the UK, but will be reviewed at regular intervals. This role involves extensive international travel.
Salary: £55,000 per annum plus benefits
Contract: 5 years fixed term contract, subject to extension by agreement with the Gates Foundation
Hours: 41 hours per week including lunch breaks
Closing date: 9am on Friday 12 February 2016
Online application process:
To apply, please submit to Chris Wrigley at c.wrigley@nhm.ac.uk:
· A comprehensive curriculum vitae giving details of relevant achievements in recent posts as well as your education and professional qualifications.
· A covering letter that summarises your interest in this post, providing evidence of your ability to match the criteria outlined in the Person Specification.
· Details of your latest salary and notice period
Post Doctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) - Hydroscape: Gene flow and genetic diversity in fresh waters
Role description:
The Natural History Museum is one of the world’s leading museums, internationally recognised for its dual role as a centre of excellence in scientific research and as a leader in the presentation of natural history through exhibitions, public programmes, publications and the web.
This is one of two projects (supervised by Beth Okamura and David Bass) based at the Natural History Museum that form fundamental components of a larger NERC-funded multidisciplinary research programme (Hydroscape) investigating how connectivity and multiple stressors interact to influence biodiversity and ecosystem function in freshwaters. Although connectivity is recognised to be a multi-faceted and quintessential property of aquatic ecosystems there is a critical lack of knowledge on how biodiversity and ecosystem function respond to variation in stress factors that may be influenced by different levels of connectivity. This is in part due to a long tradition of focusing on individual stressors and sites. The overall research programme is designed to gain essential insights for future management of freshwaters by working across a hierarchy of spatial and temporal scales and covering a range of freshwater habitat types in different landscapes to address these issues. A central proposition of the project is that increasing connectivity entails a basic tension between desirable (promoting resilience) and undesirable (increasing the spread and impact of stressors) outcomes.
Gene flow is an essential component of the metapopulation dynamics of freshwater organisms, demonstrates how populations are linked (via connectivity) within and among sites across the landscape, and introduces novelty promoting resilience to environmental change by facilitating adaptive potential (enhancing genetic diversity). This project focuses on how gene flow and genetic diversity are impacted by multiple stressors and connectivity by investigating taxa within the same group that vary in dispersal capacity (using freshwater bryozoans as a model system). Microsatellites have already been developed and optimised for the bryozoan taxa. The project will be linked with a second project at the NHM on disease distributions and connectivity as bryozoans are primary host of one of the fish diseases investigated.
Candidates for the project should have a PhD in population genetics, phylogeography or related field of molecular evolution/ecology and will thus have experience in molecular biology, population genetic and statistical analyses and a demonstrated organisational capacity for creating, maintaining and analysing large datasets. The work will entail extensive fieldwork to collect freshwater bryozoans from multiple sites in three regions of the UK (Norfolk Broads, Lake District, Greater Glasgow), examination of material for parasitic infections (myxozoans) by PCR and stereomicroscopy, microsatellite genotyping, and population genetic analyses. There would be opportunity for further development of modelling skills via interactions with modellers to elucidate how gene flow and diversity are influenced by measures of connectivity (e.g. hydrology, bird densities, human activity, etc.) and stressors (e.g. disease, pollution, eutrophication, heavy metals).
Salary: £32,500 per annum plus benefits
Contract: 30 months fixed term contract
Hours: 41 hours per week including lunch breaks
Closing date: 9am on Monday 8 February 2016
Role competences:
BEFORE beginning your application - Please read the section below about the ‘Online Application Process’ carefully.
If you wish to be considered for this role you will need to address each of the following competences in the ‘other information’ section of your online application:
1. A PhD involving molecular taxonomy or related field of molecular evolution/ecology
2. Familiarity with molecular biology (wetlab)
3. Experience with bioinformatics relevant to analysis of next-generation sequencing data
4. Good understanding of DNA-based taxonomy and barcoding
5. Statistical analysis
6. Experience in working effectively with others
7. Production of scientific publications
8. Ability to train and supervise complementary research conducted by MSc or PhD students
9. Ability to contribute to development of a research proposal
Post Doctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) - Hydroscape: Disease distribution in the freshwater landscape
Role description:
The Natural History Museum is one of the world’s leading museums, internationally recognised for its dual role as a centre of excellence in scientific research and as a leader in the presentation of natural history through exhibitions, public programmes, publications and the web.
This is one of two projects (supervised by David Bass and Beth Okamura) based at the Natural History Museum that form fundamental components of a larger NERC-funded multidisciplinary research programme (Hydroscape) investigating how connectivity and multiple stressors interact to influence biodiversity and ecosystem function in freshwaters. Although connectivity is recognised to be a multi-faceted and quintessential property of aquatic ecosystems there is a critical lack of knowledge on how biodiversity and ecosystem function respond to variation in stress factors that may be influenced by different levels of connectivity. This is in part due to a long tradition of focusing on individual stressors and sites. The overall research programme is designed to gain essential insights for future management of freshwaters by working across a hierarchy of spatial and temporal scales and covering a range of freshwater habitat types in different landscapes to address these issues. A central proposition of the project is that increasing connectivity entails a basic tension between desirable (promoting resilience) and undesirable (increasing the spread and impact of stressors) outcomes.
Many diseases of freshwater organisms are emerging in new geographic locations and increasing in prevalence and severity, often in association with environmental stress. This project will investigate how multiple stressors and connectivity impact the distributions and abundances of selected disease agents (spores, oocysts, eDNA) in water samples. The samples will be variously processed to assay disease agents of fish (Dermocystidium - protists causing disease in eels and other fish, and a myxozoan causing proliferative kidney disease in trout and salmon), an otter disease agent (Toxoplasma gondii, suspected to be introduced via run-off of cat faeces) and a human disease agent (Cryptosporidium, a protist entering waters via run-off from agriculture and urban wastewater).
Candidates for the project should have a PhD involving molecular taxonomy or related field of molecular evolution/ecology and will thus have skills in molecular biology, bioinformatics, and statistical analyses and demonstrated organisational capacities for creating, maintaining and analysing large datasets. The work will entail extensive fieldwork to collect and process environmental samples from multiple sites in three regions of the UK (Norfolk Broads, Lake District, Greater Glasgow) in spring, summer and autumn. Samples will be subsequently analysed using previously developed qPCR approaches (for myxozoan, T. gondii, and Cryptosporidium) and amplicon sequencing to produce MiSeq libraries (for Dermocystidium), plus relevant bioinformatics analyses. There would be opportunity for further development of modelling skills via interactions with modellers to elucidate how distributions and abundances of disease agents are influenced by measures of connectivity (e.g. hydrology, bird densities, human activity, etc.) and stressors (e.g. pollution, eutrophication, heavy metals). The project is also expected to generate insights on disease as a stressor with impacts on hosts, biodiversity and ecosystem function.
Salary: £32,500 per annum plus benefits
Contract: 30 months fixed term contract
Hours: 41 hours per week including lunch breaks
Closing date: 9am on Monday 8 February 2016
Role competences:
BEFORE beginning your application - Please read the section below about the ‘Online Application Process’ carefully.
If you wish to be considered for this role you will need to address each of the following competences in the ‘other information’ section of your online application:
1. PhD involving population genetics, phylogeography or related field of molecular evolution/ecology
2. Familiarity with molecular biology (wetlab)
3. Experience in studying population connectivity
4. Statistical analysis
5. Experience in working effectively with others
6. Production of scientific publications
7. Ability to train and supervise complementary research conducted by MSc or PhD students
8. Ability to contribute to development of research proposals
Geological Conservation Internship
The Geological Conservation Internship is hosted/funded by The Clothworkers' Foundation. National Museums Scotland is one of the UK’s leading museums services with one of the largest multidisciplinary collections in the UK.
Specific training and work-based activities include:
Conservation Principles
Introduction to the collections that will form the basis for the internship
Cleaning techniques in Collections and Collection Handling
Storage Principles - rehousing collections and unwrapping specimens
Documentation
Presenting - the candidate will be encouraged to present their work at a conference
Documentation Manager
Documentation Manager (Ref:CMSP3.16)
Horniman Museum and Gardens
UK, England, London
Salary: c. £36,400 per annum
Hours of work: 35 hours a week, Monday to Friday
The Horniman Museum and Gardens in south east London has been open since Victorian times, when the tea trader and philanthropist, Frederick John Horniman first opened his house and extraordinary collection of objects to the local community. Since then, our collection has grown significantly and includes internationally important collections of anthropology and musical instruments, as well as an acclaimed aquarium and natural history gallery - all surrounded by 16 acres of beautiful Gardens offering breathtaking views across London.
We are looking for a Documentation Manager to ensure that effective collections information and documentation policies, procedures, systems and standards are managed, maintained and developed across the Horniman.
Based at our Study Collections Centre, you will provide an efficient and effective documentation service, supporting the Horniman's day-to-day work and internal and external projects and managing the collections documentation, library and archive functions.
With a relevant degree or equivalent qualification in either an academic subject appropriate to the collections or a relevant area of museum practice, you will have significant practical experience of managing, developing and setting collections documentation standards and procedures.
You will have experience of acting as an administrator for a collections management database such as Mimsy and knowledge of the potential of new technologies in delivering access to museum collections and information about them.
You will have a successful track record of managing staff and other resources to deliver corporate objectives, with excellent communication skills.
To apply, visit our website: www.horniman.ac.uk/about/jobs
The closing date for completed applications is 10am on Monday 8th February 2016.
Interviews will be held on Thursday 25th February 2016
The Horniman is committed to equality of opportunity and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
Museum Assistant
Museum Assistant
North Devon Council
UK, England, Barnstaple
The Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon is a small multi-disciplinary museum which cares for over 75,000 items of archaeology, natural history, art and social history. We have an active temporary exhibitions programme and a strong track-record of community engagement.
We are currently looking for a friendly, well-organised person who is passionate about North Devon's history to join our team.
As Museum Assistant you will:
- Take day to day responsibility for the care of and access to our collections, including documentation and preventive conservation.
- Be responsible for the administration and implementation of our temporary exhibitions programme, and carry out practical duties including hanging, mount-making and labelling.
- Be part of a team ensuring the safety and security of the building and collections
We are dependent on our volunteers to maintain our programme of events and activities.
The post-holder must be committed to empowering volunteers at all levels of the museum's operations.
We are looking for applicants educated to A Level and with excellent organisational, IT and customer care skills and experience of working with museum collections and volunteers.
A curatorial qualification would be an advantage.
Project Assistant, Off-Site Collections Move Project
Oxford University Museum of Natural History is seeking an experienced museum collections officer to assist with the movement of off-site stored collections to a new facility.
We are seeking a skilled team player with experience of preparing, packing and moving zoological, geological and archival collections. The position requires detailed record-keeping, a high level of accuracy and attention to detail. The duties require the ability to lift and move moderate weights throughout a working day, to work in a standing position for part of the day, to use stairs, and to utilize trolleys and other moving equipment to move heavy objects. A proven ability to manage and prioritise a varied workload in an efficient and co-operative manner is essential. As part of your online application, you will be required to upload a covering letter that shows how you meet the selection criteria, and a full CV.