Collections and Curatorial Assistant

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Greater London; On-site; GBP 10,000 - 13,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site at Leighton House & Sambourne

Job summary

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is seeking a Collections and Curatorial Assistant on a part-time, fixed-term basis (up to 3 years) for 18 hours per week. The role covers Leighton House and Sambourne House, providing essential administrative and operational support to museum activities.

You will help maintain documentation, update records, and support online collection access, enquiries, invoices, and emergency planning, enabling a busy team to curate four exhibitions annually.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent practical work experience in a museum or historic house.
• Strong administrative abilities and solid IT literacy.
• Good organisational skills with attention to detail.
• Clear communication and collaborative approach.

Responsibilities

• Provide essential administrative and operational support to museum operations and exhibition planning.
• Maintain internal documentation, update spreadsheets, and ensure text and digital interpretations are accurate after display changes.
• Help develop and maintain the online collection offer and respond to public enquiries.
• Process invoices and maintain emergency planning records; manage the collections mailbox.
• Support during exhibition installations and assist with emergency salvage procedures.
• Contribute to delivering four exhibitions per year across two historic sites.

Job description

Keep our heritage organised and accessible, bringing history to life for our local community. This position is a Part-Time role (18 hours p/w) on a Fixed Term Contract (up to 3 years).

As our Collections and Curatorial Assistant, you’ll play a vital role in preserving and sharing the rich history of Leighton House and Sambourne House. It’s a hands-on position with genuine local impact - a chance to support our museum team, care for unique historic collections and ensure our cultural heritage remains clear, accurate and engaging for everyone.

Working Style:

This is a part-time role working 18 hours per week. You’ll be based on-site across our two historic artist studio houses, with scope for half a day a week working from home. Whether you’re on the frontline assisting with display updates or working behind the scenes on our records, you’ll be part of a dedicated team making a real difference to local culture.

What you’ll be doing

Your focus will be providing essential administrative and operational support to keep our museum operations and exhibition planning running smoothly. You will maintain key internal documentation, update spreadsheets and make sure on-site text and digital interpretations stay completely accurate following display changes.

A key priority in this role will be helping to develop and maintain our online collection offer, making our unique items far more accessible to the public. On a day-to-day basis, you’ll manage the collections mailbox, respond to public research enquiries, process invoices and maintain accurate emergency planning records.

You’ll also provide practical support during exhibition installations and take part in emergency salvage procedures if an incident occurs. While this role focuses on administrative and assistant responsibilities rather than lead curation, your proactive support will enable our small team to deliver four exhibitions a year across two historic sites.

For further details, please review the Job Description and Person Specification.

What you’ll bring

You’ll bring a solid understanding of museums, collections and art history, gained through a relevant degree or equivalent practical work experience within a museum or historic house. Strong administrative abilities and solid IT literacy are essential, as thorough record-keeping and clear documentation form a core part of your daily work.

Working in a small, active team with a high volume of work requires excellent organisational skills, strong attention to detail and the ability to multitask effectively. You’ll bring clear communication skills, a collaborative approach and a genuine passion for helping us share our collections with the local community.

Most importantly, you’re someone who stays adaptable under pressure, approaches tasks with diligence and shares our commitment to integrity, public service and equality.

Why join us

At RBKC, we’re all in - investing in our people, our communities and our future.

This role offers valuable, practical entry-level exposure across multiple aspects of museum work, from display updates and research to collections care. You’ll be joining our team at a memorable milestone as our historic houses celebrate their centenary year, building on our recognition as a finalist for Museum of the Year.

In addition to a competitive salary, you’ll have access to ongoing professional development, wellbeing support and flexible working options within a supportive environment where your contributions directly help keep our local culture thriving.

About us

Kensington and Chelsea is home to diverse communities, thriving businesses and unique local places. Everything we do is focused on supporting our residents, strengthening our approach and creating a fairer borough.

As a competent and caring Council, we take pride in our work every day, ensuring our services are delivered with care and competence. We listen to our residents, act with integrity and work together to build a borough that is greener, safer and fairer for all.

In this role, you’ll bring a hands-on, proactive mindset to getting things done - whether you’re at your desk updating records or assisting with an exhibition installation on-site. Managing two 19th-century artist studio houses with a busy workload means it won’t always be plain sailing, but your commitment will ensure our collections stay organised, protected and accessible for everyone.

Role Requirements and Interview Details

Interviews will be held in person at Leighton House Museum week commencing 28th September.

This position is subject to a satisfactory Standard DBS check. This will be carried out as part of our pre-employment checking process.

Ready to join us?

We’re all in - are you? If you share our values and have the skills to contribute, we’d love to hear from you.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

We are committed to promoting equality and respecting diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We are a Disability Confident Employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.

We are committed to fair, transparent, and consistent pay practices. New hires will start at the minimum of the advertised salary range. Employees receive annual salary increases until they reach the top of the pay scale. In addition, employees will receive any agreed cost of living pay rises.