Curator – North East

ASVA: Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 36,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

The National Trust for Scotland is seeking a Curator North East to provide curatorial support across the region, safeguarding and interpreting the properties’ histories. You will coordinate research, develop audience-focused interpretations, and ensure collections and interiors are well documented and presented to visitors.

Working with landscapes, gardens and ICH, you will train staff, collaborate with property teams, and help deliver engaging exhibitions that tell the stories of our places.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant subject or suitable equivalent experience.
• Experience with historic collections, period interiors or cultural landscapes.
• Proven curatorial and collections management responsibilities in a museum/gallery or heritage environment.
• Experience building effective working relationships in complex, changing work environments and matrix-management structures.
• Competent object recognition and analytical skills, with proven ability to curate a wide range of object types.
• Sound understanding of SPECTRUM documentation standards and the requirements for Museum Accreditation.
• Experience of research from primary sources, producing and sharing research outputs.
• Experience of object cataloguing and use of collections management databases.
• Demonstrable experience of planning audience-focused exhibitions and displays.
• Demonstrable experience of creating and enabling audience-focused interpretive and visitor experience solutions.

Responsibilities

• Undertake curatorial duties for a defined region or cluster of properties, supporting regional and property teams to ensure collections, interiors, gardens and landscape elements are well researched, understood, and interpreted for the public.
• Training and development of colleagues.
• Researching collections, interiors, people and places.
• Interpreting our properties and their stories in creative and relevant ways, informed by audience feedback and evaluation.
• Ensuring collections information is accurate and recorded in a manner consistent with policy and best practice.
• Support the development of Masterplan Projects at properties within the region, ensuring strategic direction is informed by strong understanding of cultural heritage and assets.

Skills

Object recognition

Analytical skills

SPECTRUM standards

Primary source research

Object cataloguing

Collections databases

Exhibitions planning

Audience interpretation

Education

Undergraduate degree in relevant subject

Postgraduate qualification (Desirable)

Job description

Organisation: The National Trust for Scotland

JOB PURPOSE

The National Trust for Scotland's curators are storytellers. The team co-ordinates research, helps to disseminate stories and supports property and central teams with the knowledge, tools and training that they need to share the histories of our places with our visitors and supporters in engaging ways.

The Curator North East provides curatorial support for the National Trust for Scotland's North East region, excluding Fyvie Castle which is the responsibility of the Project Curator – Reimagining Fyvie Castle. They ensure that the cultural heritage of the properties in the region is well researched, understood and interpreted for the public. They have particular curatorial responsibility for the object collections and interiors at the region’s properties, but will also work with landscapes, gardens and intangible cultural heritage (ICH), facilitating cross-disciplinary research and ensuing integrated interpretation across all aspects of properties.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Undertake curatorial duties for a defined region or sub-regional cluster of properties, supporting regional and property teams to ensure collections, interiors, gardens and landscape elements are well researched, understood, and interpreted for the public. This will include:
  • Training and development of colleagues
  • Researching collections, interiors, people and places
  • Interpreting our properties and their stories in creative and relevant ways, informed by audience feedback and evaluation
  • Ensuring collections information is accurate and recorded in a manner consistent with policy and best practice.
• Support the development of and ensure work is consistent with policy and guidance on curatorial work, especially research, interpretation, and management of collections, with particular reference to the Curatorial Vison and Strategy.
• Support the development of Masterplan Projects at properties within the region, ensuring strategic direction is informed by strong understanding of cultural heritage and assets.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE & KNOWLEDGE

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant subject (e.g. art/architectural history, Scottish history, social history) or suitable equivalent experience.
• Experience of working with historic collections and period interiors and/or cultural landscapes
• Demonstrable experience of a wide range of curatorial and collections management responsibilities in a museum/gallery or heritage environment.
• Experience of building effective working relationships in complex, changing work environment and matrix-management structures.
• Competent object recognition and analytical skills, with proven ability and willingness to curate a wide range of object types.
• Sound understanding of SPECTRUM documentation standards and the requirements for Museum Accreditation.
• Experience of research from primary sources, producing and sharing research outputs.
• Experience of object cataloguing and use of collections management databases.
• Demonstrable experience of planning audience-focused exhibitions and displays.
• Demonstrable experience of creating and enabling audience-focused interpretive and visitor experience solutions.

Desirable

• A post graduate qualification in relevant subject (e.g. history, heritage interpretation, museum studies)
• Specialist knowledge expertise and a track record of publications in a relevant subject
• Experience of effective leadership in a dynamic environment
• Experience of developing and managing collaborative research projects
• A strong understanding of how to use evaluation and visitor research to inform exhibitions and interpretive developments.