Art Collections Curator. Edinburgh College of Art
1. Job Details
Job title: Art Collections Curator (with special responsibility for ECA Art Collections)
Support Department: IS/ Library & Collections
Unit: University Collections (Museums Development)
Line manager: Museums Development Manager
Deadline: August 24, 2012.
2. Job Description
To enable the use of museum collections as an educational resource for the academic and wider community, through delivering an art collections service and collaborating with interdepartmental curators, educators and other specialists to curate unique physical and digital assets.
3. Main Responsibilities
| 1. To be responsible for all aspects of care, utilization and development of the art collections service (including enquiry service, registrarial activity, metadata creation, stewardship, management of collections stores, preventative conservation and oversight of conservation regimes) | |
| 2. To support teaching, research, cultural engagement and projects using the collections, by facilitating student contact time with collections including management of museum / collections-based scholarships, internships and volunteer placements, supporting development of new courses and engaging with internal and external exhibition and outreach programmes around digital and physical content | |
| 3. To develop collections-based collaborative projects (eg research, conservation, resource discovery), creating costed project bids and project plans, and project managing through to delivery and evaluation | |
| 4. To engage with UE and national agendas on supporting digital humanities, and develop digital technology opportunities for Museum collections | |
| 5. To be responsible for recommending and co-ordinating activity around new acquisitions | |
| 6. In collaboration with relevant colleagues, to contribute significantly to forward planning and policy development | |
| 7. To undertake any other collections-related tasks as directed by the Museums Development Manager |
4. Planning and Organising
Plays a key role in executing the post-ECA Heritage Collections Review implementation plan, providing professional support and advice, in liaison with the ECA Honorary Curators, including developing and implementing storage solutions, transfer, relegation and disposal plans.
Creates and executes service and review work plans and revises as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements
Self-generates project plans and strategic documents for submission to line manager for discussion and comment prior to implementation
5. Problem Solving
Addresses curatorial and operational issues as they arise, referring to policies and procedures developed by sector agencies as well as best practice employed by national institutions, benchmarking with other University Collections and museums
Resolves issues pertaining to defined objectives of a particular project, escalating to senior staff only where agreed work plan and protocols are insufficient to guide post-holder
6. Decision Making
Determines appropriate methodology and documentation to manage day-to-day operational aspects of the new ECA collections service
Decides on prioritisation of own work and set own targets within broadly-agreed strategy
Makes professional curatorial judgements, gives professional advice and makes planning decisions in course of his or her daily work
7. Key contacts and relationships
Museums Support Team (Museums Development Manager, Museums Support Officer, Collections Assistant, Exhibitions Assistant and ECA Art Review Manager)
Head of Painting and Drawing, ECA Honorary Curators, ECA Liaison Librarian, ECA academic and technical staff, in particular the ECA Collections, Curation and Critique Fellow and the Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art, also the ECA-wide programming curator and the ECA Public Programmes Committee
Talbot Rice Gallery staff, interns and other University cultural venues such as St Cecilias Hall, InSpace
Users eg staff, students, enquirers
IS Business Administrator
Other Library & Collections, and Library Users Services staff (ca. 250), IS staff (ca. 600 staff), plus contact with wider University staff (ca. 7,000), students (ca. 24,000) and external Library, Museum and Galleries personnel and commercial contacts. Within University Collections the post relates both directly and indirectly to approx 85 staff.
Other University staff especially in Estates & Buildings and University Security,
8. Knowledge, skills and experience required
Ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of professional and academic staff
Organisational, project management and decision-making skills.
A passion for engaging with digital and physical content, backed by an enthusiasm for the subject matter in the Universitys collections.
9. Dimensions
The postholder is a member of the Museum Development team (Museums Development Manager, Museums Collections Officer, Collections Assistant, Exhibitions Assistant and ECA Art Review Manager and Student Support Officer (University Collections)). The Museums Development team works across University Collections.
The postholder is a member of University Collections staff, based in ECA and the CRC (Centre for Research Collections, University of Edinburgh Main Library). University Collections encompasses specialist collection management, curation and outreach activities, alongside front-facing services through the Centre for Research Collections, Talbot Rice Gallery, the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments and Library General Collections (including the High-Use Books (HUB) Collection), and reshelving processes within these collections.
The post-holder is required to be the main point-of-contact on all ECA collections-related matters.
The post-holder is a member of the University Collections Disaster Recovery Team.
The postholder will line manage the Collections Assistant (with special responsibilities for ECA collections services), a post which also supports collections activity in the ECA Archive and Rare Books Collection.
10. Job Context and any other relevant information
The merger between Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) and the University of Edinburgh took effect from 1st August 2011. The new and enlarged ECA now includes the disciplines previously within the Universitys School of Arts, Culture and Environment (ACE).
For information about the merger, please visit http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/merger-discussions/introduction
From 1st August there are a number of ECA Heritage Collections which now fall into the categories which would come under University Collections (Special Collections, Archives and Museum Collections, General Collections Management). To support the merger process an ECA Heritage Collections Review is being undertaken to address practical and organisational issues surrounding ECA Heritage Collections. The Museum Collections Officer (with special responsibility for ECA Museum Collections) plays a key role in the implementation of the Collections Review Action Plan and the creation and development of a new museum collections service for ECA.
For information about the University of Edinburgh, please visit www.ed.ac.uk/about
ELIGIBILITY TO WORK
In accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 the University of Edinburgh, as an employer, has a legal responsibility to prevent illegal working and therefore must check that all employees are entitled to work in the United Kingdom (UK).
To do so, the University of Edinburgh requires to see original documents evidencing right to work in the UK before commencement of employment and this is normally carried out at interview. Details will be provided in any letter of invitation to interview.
For further information on eligibility to work http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/human-resources/recruitment/eligibility-immigration
Salary
The role is grade UE07 and attracts an annual salary of £30,122 to £35,938 salary for 35 hours each week. Salary is paid monthly by direct transfer to your Bank or Building Society account, normally on the 28th of the month.
Application Procedure
We encourage all applicants to apply online at https://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk The application process is quick and easy to follow, and you will receive email confirmation of safe receipt of your application. The online system allows you to submit a CV.
If you do not have access to a computer, you can call our recruitment line on 0131-650-2511 for an application pack. This will be posted out to you for you to complete and return to Serena Fredrick, L&C Museum Support, Main Library, George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LJ by the closing date of Friday 24th August 2012.
To complete the application process, you need to complete the (i) Application Form, including a statement addressing how your application meets the Person Specification (ii) Additional Personal Information Form, (iii) Equality & Diversity Monitoring Form, and (iv) Rehabilitation of Offenders Form. (Add CV and publication list if applicable)
Interviews: September, date to be announced
All applications will be acknowledged
The University reserves the right to vary the candidate information or make no appointment at all. Neither in part, nor in whole does this information form part of any contract between the University and any individual.
Website: http://www.jobs.ed.ac.uk/vacancies/index.cfm?fuseaction=vacancies.furtherdetails&vacancy_ref=3016049
