Senior Project Manager: International Touring Exhibitions

British Museum; Bloomsbury; Hybrid; AUD 83,000 - 113,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free exhibition entry for you and a +1

Civil Service Pension Scheme

25 days’ annual leave + holidays + 2.5

Staff parties and social clubs

Learning and development opportunities

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

The British Museum is seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead the development and delivery of its international touring exhibitions portfolio. The role requires coordinating with curators and diverse partners to ensure exhibitions are delivered on time and within budget.

You will manage complex logistics, budgets, and timelines while building strong relationships with host institutions and internal teams across the Museum.

Qualifications

• Significant project management experience in museum or cultural sector.
• Experience with international projects and touring exhibitions.
• Strong budget, risk and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building with curators and external partners.
• Willingness to travel abroad.
• PM qualification or foreign language skills advantageous but not required.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of international touring exhibitions portfolio.
• Collaborate with curators to develop content and materials for exhibitions.
• Coordinate activity across loans, conservation, collections management, registration and photography.
• Manage budgets, schedules and risks; provide updates to project boards.
• Build relationships with international host institutions with professionalism and cultural sensitivity.
• Support exhibition proposals and negotiations; contribute to future partnerships.
• Manage and support colleagues within the International Touring Exhibitions PM team.
• Contribute to strategic planning of the wider programme.

Skills

Budget management

Stakeholder management

International projects

Exhibitions experience

Communication skills

Travel willingness

Foreign language skills

Education

Project management qualification

Job description

Senior Project Manager: International Touring Exhibitions

Senior Project Manager: International Touring Exhibitions

Full-time

Hybrid (at least 1 day per week on-site in Bloomsbury, London)

Permanent

£51,623 per annum

Application deadline: 23:59 on 25 October 2026

About the role

We are looking for an experienced Senior Project Manager to play a leading role in the development and delivery of our international touring exhibition programme.

Working at the intersection of exhibitions, collections and international engagement, you will manage a portfolio of touring exhibitions from development through to delivery with overseas host institutions. You will collaborate closely with curators and colleagues across the Museum, bringing together the many strands involved in creating successful international exhibitions while ensuring projects are delivered to the highest standards, on time and within budget.

This is a unique opportunity to help take the Museum's exhibitions to audiences internationally. You will work with exceptional collections and specialist colleagues across the organisation, while developing relationships with cultural institutions around the world.

If you are an experienced museum professional who enjoys bringing together people, collections, content and complex logistics to deliver ambitious exhibitions, we would love to hear from you.

About you

You will bring significant project management experience from within the museum or wider cultural sector, together with experience of international projects and, ideally, direct responsibility for touring exhibitions.

You will bring:

• A strong track record of delivering complex projects on time and within budget.
• Experience of working on exhibitions or similar museum and cultural projects.
• Experience of international projects and working effectively with partners from different countries and cultures.
• Strong budget, risk and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to work with curators, specialist colleagues, senior stakeholders and external partners.
• A collaborative, organised and proactive approach, with the ability to manage competing priorities and multiple projects.
• Strong judgement, diplomacy and cultural sensitivity when representing the Museum externally.
• Willingness to travel abroad where required.
• A project management qualification or additional foreign language skills are advantageous but not required.

Key areas of responsibility

• Lead the development and delivery of a portfolio of international touring exhibitions, managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Work closely with curators and collections colleagues to develop exhibition content and coordinate object lists, interpretation, images and other exhibition materials.
• Coordinate activity across specialist teams including loans, conservation, collections management, registration and photography.
• Manage project budgets, schedules and risks, ensuring projects remain on track and providing clear updates to project boards.
• Build strong relationships with international host institutions, representing the Museum with professionalism and cultural sensitivity.
• Support exhibition proposals and negotiations and contribute to the development of future international partnerships.
• Manage and support colleagues within the International Touring Exhibitions Project Management team.
• Contribute to the strategic planning and development of the wider international touring exhibition programme.

The Masterplan

The British Museum is undertaking its biggest transformation since its founding nearly 300 years ago. This physical and intellectual transformation includes large scale building and gallery transformation, new ways of connecting with audiences and different ways of working. As we look towards this exciting future, we remain guided by the words of our founder Hans Sloane - who dreamed of a museum connecting all arts and sciences, which would be accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Benefits

At the British Museum, we believe our people are at the heart of everything we do and have designed a benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary. Our full list of benefits can be found here, but we’ve outlined some highlights below:

• Free exhibition entry for you and guests, exclusive private views, ICOM and reciprocal museum access.
• Civil Service Pension Scheme defined benefit with considerable employer contribution.
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays and 2.5 privilege days (and +5 days after 10 years).
• Social and wellbeing perks including Staff parties, social clubs, CSSC sports and leisure, and support from the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship.
• Learning and development through courses, mentoring and Athena as well as support for professional qualifications.
• Employee Assistance Programme available 24/7 for counselling, wellbeing support and more.

Our Values

Our values drive everything we do, from how we handle our objects to how we work in our team to fostering a culture where everyone feels heard and empowered:

• Care Deeply
• Embrace the Unknown
• Spark Curiosity
• Value Many Voices

These are a core part of how we recruit. Throughout the application, interview and selection process, we look for examples of how candidates demonstrate these behaviours in their own work and experiences. We encourage you to familiarise yourself with our values and reflect them in your application.

National Museum Directors' Council, National Museums Liverpool, World Museum, WilliamBrown Street, Liverpool, L3 8EN