RECODE-Technical Writer

National History Museum; London; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

The National History Museum seeks a Technical Writer for the RECODE programme, essential for transforming collections management. Applicants should have strong communication skills to produce clear, user-friendly documentation. This role plays a vital part in the Museum's digital strategy, promoting impactful scientific work.

Benefits

27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays

Generous Pension Scheme

Life Insurance

Free admission to exhibitions

Staff discount at Museum shops

Training initiatives and skills development

Affordable membership to Civil Service Sports Council

Access to in-house gym and clubs

Qualifications

• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into accessible documentation.
• Experience working across technical and non-technical teams.
• Motivation to support a transformative programme.

Responsibilities

• Delivering new collections management system documentation.
• Working with core programme team and stakeholders.
• Ensuring adoption-ready and sustainable platform.

Skills

Clear Communication

Structured Documentation

Curiosity

Education

Relevant Degree or Qualification

Job description

About us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

Working within the museum for over 2 years, we at the RECODE (Rethinking Collections Data Ecosystems) team have been in the process of implementing a new collections management system. RECODE is a critical Museum programme that underpins the Museum’s vision and is central to almost every aspect of its collections and the management of those collections. It is an exciting time for the Museum and the RECODE programme as the new system approaches an internal Go-Live.

As a Technical Writer in the RECODE programme you will work directly with the core programme team, our internal stakeholders as well as the software supplier, SER Group. You will play a key role in delivering the new CMS as part of the programme and in line with the Museum’s ambitious digital strategy. You will be a critical part of making sure the programme delivers an adoption ready, future proof and sustainable platform that the Museum can be proud of and continue to develop both for its internal users and external stakeholders.

About you

We hope to hear from people who are motivated by the opportunity to support a transformative programme with lasting impact on one of the world’s leading scientific institutions. You are a clear communicator able to translate complex technical concepts into accessible, user-friendly documentation. You are confident working independently while collaborating effectively across technical and non-technical teams as well as with a wide range of stakeholders. You have a structured approach to documentation, and a curiosity that drives you to learn quickly about new systems and domains. For a full person specification please see the job advert.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

Find out more here

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events. We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.

How to apply

If this sounds like you, please apply below by clicking on Apply for job.

Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently.

Closing date: 23:59 on 10 June 2025

Interviews expected: w/c 23 June 2025.

Please note that this role does not qualify for Museum sponsorship so the successful postholder will need to have a valid right to work in the UK at the point of offer.