Curator

The Guildhall Northampton; Northampton; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 38,000; Part time

Job summary

West Northants Council’s Museums team in Northampton is looking for a part-time Museums role to support exhibitions, collections care and events within a large county collection. You will work across the museums team and partner organisations to deliver strategic objectives, broaden audiences and help generate revenue streams.

You will assist with developing dynamic temporary exhibitions, public engagement activities and co-curation efforts, while managing enquiries and maintaining stakeholder

Qualifications

• Subject specialist knowledge and interest in art or history collections.
• Enthusiastic and energetic individual with good people skills to manage volunteers and liaise with donors, researchers, enquirers, partners and stakeholders.
• Significant experience and understanding of curation and collections management in a museum, arts or heritage setting.
• Strong interest in making collections accessible externally to a wide range of users and customers; research, interpretation and presentation of collections to diverse audiences through exhibitions and events.
• Good communication and project management skills for co-curation and writing text for exhibitions and publications.

Responsibilities

• Work in the museum collections team on exhibitions, events, collections care and documentation; collaborate across teams to deliver objectives.
• Support the Exhibitions Officer in developing and delivering temporary exhibitions.
• Support staff to develop and deliver events/public engagement activities including income-generating events.
• Undertake collections care and documentation, and contribute ideas to engage the public with the collection as part of project planning.
• Manage inquiries from researchers, businesses and the public; identify stakeholders and maintain relationships to contribute to activity.

Job description

About The Role

This is an exciting time to be joining West Northamptonshire Council in the Museums team as we plan for future development. This includes new galleries and stores at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery alongside what we can achieve with our funding as a National Portfolio Organisation Arts Council England. This will build on the previous £6.7million expansion and renovation project of 2021 which doubled the size of the museum, creating new exhibition galleries, collections facilities and visitor amenities. The service also runs Abington Park Museum, set in Northampton’s premier park.

About The Role

This is an exciting time to be joining West Northamptonshire Council in the Museums team as we plan for future development. This includes new galleries and stores at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery alongside what we can achieve with our funding as a National Portfolio Organisation Arts Council England. This will build on the previous £6.7million expansion and renovation project of 2021 which doubled the size of the museum, creating new exhibition galleries, collections facilities and visitor amenities. The service also runs Abington Park Museum, set in Northampton’s premier park.

As the largest Museum in the county the museum holds a number of separate and interlinked collections including Fine and Decorative Arts, History and Archaeology, the Designated Shoe collection, Clothing and textile, Leathercraft, Geology, Coins and medals and the Northamptonshire Regiment and Northamptonshire Yeomanry.

What will you be doing?

• Working in the museum collections team, you will work on exhibitions, events, collections care and documentation. With a collaborative approach the postholder will be involved in working across the museum team and with our wider partners to deliver the museum’s and council’s strategic objectives, broaden the museums audiences and generate revenue streams.
• Support the Exhibitions Officer in the development and delivery of dynamic and engaging temporary exhibitions.
• You will support other staff to develop and deliver events/public engagement activities including events generating income for the service.
• As a member of the collections team, you will undertake collections care and documentation, and contribute creative ideas to develop and enable people to engage with the collection as part of planning for the projects mentioned above.
• Manage enquiries from academic researchers, businesses and members of the public wanting to look at specific objects or develop projects around the collection. Identifying stakeholders and maintaining relationships to contribute to and develop activity would be ongoing.

About You

• You would be expected to have subject specialist knowledge and interest in art or history collections.
• We are looking to recruit an enthusiastic and energetic individual who has good people skills to manage teams of volunteers and liaise with donors, researchers, enquirers, partners and stakeholders.
• You will have a significant experience and an understanding of curation and collections management in a museum, arts or heritage setting.
• Have a strong interest in making collections accessible externally to a wide range of users and customers. You will research, interpret and present collections to diverse audiences through exhibitions and events.
• Good communication and project management skills will be required for co‑curation and writing text for exhibitions and publications.

Our benefits

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.

About Us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. Hear from our Chief Executive, Martin Henry, about building a career at WNC.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner.

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email [e-mail] for support.

Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we recommend applying as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.

• Salary £35,332 - £38,291 pro rata
• Salary Frequency Annual
• Working Hours 15
• Job Reference Ref/53/9526
• Contract Type Part Time
• Contract Details Permanent
• Closing Date 8 November, 2026
• Job Category Culture and Leisure
• Location Northampton, United Kingdom
• Job Posted Date 19 October, 2026