Project Curator: Contemporary & Modern Middle Eastern Art

The British Museum is Seeking a Project Curator: Contemporary & Modern Middle Eastern Art (Documentation)

Application deadline: 23:59 on Sunday, 9 August 2026
Position type: Fixed term contract for 12 months
Salary: £36,396 per annum

About the role

The British Museum is seeking a Project Curator to join the Middle East Department. Working as part of the Museum’s Digitisation and Documentation programme, you will play a key role in documenting, researching and digitising collections relating to the Contemporary & Modern Middle Eastern Art collections.

Working closely with curatorial colleagues, collections managers and imaging specialists, you will help improve access to the Museum’s collections by ensuring collection records are accurate, accessible and meet professional documentation standards. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a major strategic programme supporting the Museum Masterplan and the long-term preservation and accessibility of internationally significant collections.

About you

You will be a proactive and detail-oriented museum or heritage professional with experience working with collections and collection management systems. You will have a degree in Contemporary & Modern Middle Eastern Arts, Digital Humanities or a related discipline with experience of working with art works on paper.

You will bring a meticulous approach to research and cataloguing, a commitment to improving access to collections, and the ability to maintain accuracy and consistency while working on a large-scale digitisation project.

Key areas of responsibility

• Document, research and digitise the Museum’s Contemporary & Modern Middle Eastern Art collections.
• Work collaboratively with Imaging Assistants, Assistant Collections Managers and curatorial colleagues to catalogue collection material and improve the quality and accessibility of collection records.
• Consult object registers, archives and historical documentation to support research, registration and digitisation activity.
• Ensure that documentation outputs and publicly accessible collection information are accurate, consistent and fit for purpose.
• Manage priorities effectively to deliver project objectives, monitor progress against targets and contribute to the successful delivery of the Museum’s wider digitisation 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 28.97% employer contribution.
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays and 2.5 privilege days (and +5 days after 10 years).
• Discounts at onsite catering, Museum shops and local Bloomsbury partners.
• 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.
• Interest-free loans including season ticket, rental deposit and bicycle loans.

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