Project Curator

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National Museums Liverpool

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and committed individual to manage, curate and deliver a nationwide community focused museum and heritage project.

Interviews to be held on Monday 6 June 2016

Project Curator – SANKOFA: Connections and Collections Project

International Slavery Museum / Museum of Liverpool / Merseyside Maritime Museum

Fixed Term until February 2018

37 hours

Pay band 5

Purpose and objectives:

To research and develop Waterfront museums collecting strategies and policies.
To work with internal staff and with museum sector partners (Bristol Museums and WISE), community stakeholders, NGOs and the wider museum and heritage sector to understand, improve and share knowledge of Transatlantic Slavery, Black Social History /Black Diaspora and Black Maritime collections and archives at NML and museum partners.
To identify, research, catalogue and digitise relevant objects, archives, themes and stories related to
To support the development of local community collections (including small, personal or family collections), by raising awareness of their significance and by bringing them into the public domain as part of mainstream history.
To work with community stakeholders and other groups/individuals to ensure they are strongly represented in the project.
To communicate the objectives and results of the project to a wide audience and to assist National Museums Liverpool (NML) in developing audiences (local, regional, national and international).
To support a programme of informal learning sessions and resources.

Main activities:

Reporting to the Head of the International Slavery Museum (Year 1) and Deputy Director of Museum of Liverpool (Year 2) you will:

Provide curatorial care and support to community stakeholders to share our knowledge and help with research skills, documentation, cataloguing, handling, monitoring of conservation requirements of collections and development of a collections database.
Undertake a series of collection reviews working with individuals, community stakeholders and museum partners to establish the nature and extent of their collections relating to Transatlantic Slavery, Black Social History /Black Diaspora History.
Provide a pastoral role – building relationships and trust and sharing knowledge and skills with individuals, community partners, regional and national organisations helping them understand what they have, how to look after it and share it with the wider community.
Support the development of community collection sessions where individuals, communities, NGOs and museums can come together to share, gain skills and knowledge on and around Black Social and Diaspora History Collections and present objects and archives to the wider community.
Create a model of working that explores how different museum and gallery disciplines can collaborate together and with communities to understand, research, conserve and present a collaborative approach to community collections, acquisition, display and interpretation.
Develop, lead and implement a series of consultation/encounter sessions with external community stakeholders in Liverpool and beyond to feed into Phase 3 HLF bid and Waterfront museum collection strategies.
Explore how museums can work with individuals, community stakeholders, historians, collectors and experts to develop and strengthen our museums curatorial knowledge, interpretation, use and access.
To research, develop and deliver content for the International Slavery Museum Phase 3 HLF bid and feed outputs of project into future research and development. Work with NML Marketing and Communications team – and designers when required – to update social media, monitor pages and use them to promote the project, share information and engage people that may not be traditional museum visitors.
To support the Waterfront learning teams in the delivery of the informal learning programme and development of a Sankofa: Connections and Collectionseducation programme and toolkit.
To work closely with the Curator of the International Slavery Museum, MMM Curator of Community History and MoL Curator of Urban Community History to develop sessions and ensure that any material collected as part of the project is brought into the collection in accordance with NML procedure.
Develop an evaluation and feedback process to evaluate our work and inform future community partnership projects.
Organise regular internal Working Group project team meetings with key curatorial colleagues and quarterly Steering Group meetings.
Produce regular reports to line manager. Year 1 Head of the International Slavery Museum and Year 2 Deputy Director of Museum of Liverpool.
Develop close links with key museum partner staff and be responsible for organising meetings and conference calls.
Undertake travel to external locations and museum partners when required, which might include work outside of core hours.
Build on existing, and develop new, contacts and partnerships with outside organisations and individuals in order to develop and publicise the project.
Be responsible for securing accessioned objects or loaned objects as part of the project and the completion of all associated paperwork as per NML procedure.
Support the Waterfront Education team in the procurement of relevant handling items for events and as a legacy of the project. Keep a comprehensive project file that can be easily accessed by staff and researchers once the project is completed.
The post holder will be expected to show the highest level of integrity and confidentiality in the provision of these duties. Adhere to the standards expected of all public services as defined by the HM Treasury publication “Managing Public Money”. Those standards are honesty, impartiality, accountability, openness, accuracy, reliability, transparency, objectivity, integrity and fairness. These standards should be carried out in the spirit of, as well as the letter of, the law; in the public interest; to high ethical standards and achieving value for money. Adhere to NML’s Health and Safety policies and procedures, and make a contribution to the continuance of a sound health and safety culture within the division.
Develop NML’s commitment to Equality and Diversity, and promote non discriminatory practices in all work undertaken.
Undertake additional duties, as required from time to time
Undertake training and development courses and programmes, as required.

The details contained in this job description reflect the content of this job at the date of being prepared. It is however possible that over time the nature of the job will change. Consequently National Museums Liverpool will expect to revise this job description from time to time and will consult with the post holder at the appropriate time.

Employee Specification

Sankofa Project Officer, Payband 5

Qualifications

5 GCSEs or equivalent grades A-C Essential
Degree in relevant subject Desirable
Post-graduate qualification in museum or heritage related subject Desirable

Experience

Relevant museum experience Essential
Relevant experience in outreach activities in a museum, education or community organisation Essential
Delivery of exhibitions with community involvement in development of ideas, research and content. Essential
Understanding of project management Essential
Collections management and documentation procedures Essential
Willingness to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends Essential

Knowledge, skills and abilities

Excellent IT skills, especially use of databases, Microsoft programmes Essential
Knowledge of transatlantic slavery, Black Social and Diaspora history Essential
Awareness of diversity and commitment to under-represented people and their histories Essential
Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team Essential
Self-motivation and organisational skills Essential
Ability to work under pressure and to balance multiple priorities Essential
Excellent communication skills (written and oral). Essential

Additional information and application forms are available on: https://www.cloudonlinerecruitment.co.uk/NML/VacancyDetails.aspx?VacancyID=248