Introduction
AIM is commissioning a major and significant new research project looking at museum finances over the last fifteen years and what this tells us about sector resilience. Researchers will carry out a programme of data review and analysis, quantitative and qualitative research, and museum and policy consultation and engagement, synthesising this into a powerful report with policy recommendations with the potential to help shape sector and funding priorities for the coming years.
The Invitation To Tender for researchers has been published alongside this brief and can be found with more information at the link below.
Click here for the Invitation to Tender for this research project (opens in a new tab)Project Support Officer
Expected to last around a year and report in Autumn 2027, the project will have a number of strands and multiple stakeholders working with the researchers including the funder Arts Council England, AIM, and a project advisory group made up of key sector bodies. AIM wishes to recruit a Project Support Officer to work with the AIM team and add capacity to the project secretariat, acting as the hub co-ordinating between AIM, the researchers, and the project stakeholders.
This is a unique opportunity to play a role in a complex but exciting research project with high exposure across the sector and potentially influential findings and recommendations.
The Project Support Officer will report to the AIM Director and work closely with the Head of the Programmes, Head of Communications, Chair, and Office and Finance Administrator, as well as project sponsors at the Arts Council.
The role of the Project Support Officer is to:
- Co-ordinate and draft papers for the project reference group
- Co-ordinate and draft papers for the project advisory group
- Be the day-to-day contact for the researchers and work with their project management to ensure project timelines are understood and on track
- Process payments to researchers on agreed schedule
- Support regular progress reporting to ACE
- Support formal reporting/grant claims to ACE
- Support project comms and launch including working with AIM’s designer
- Be the main liaison for the researchers regarding stakeholder engagement and sector consultation plans, ensuring appropriate representation e.g. from AIM.
Some of these tasks will be wholly owned by the Project Support Officer while others will be in liaison with or working together with members of the AIM team.
We are looking for a contractor with the following skills and experience:
- Strong project management skills, with the ability both to take a solid strategic overview of a project and to be on top of small details
- Ability to draft succinct, clear, and relevant papers and reports which provide appropriate detail to enable decision-making for different audiences
- Excellent judgement and in particular the ability to discern when to work on their own authority and when to escalate queries and issues
- Ability to work with different people and teams, bringing together different stakeholders with an understanding of their interests
- Ability to balance priorities, work flexibly, and deal with change and ambiguity
- Strong knowledge of the museums and heritage sector to support the sector advisory group and to be able to comment on research materials and outputs at the different stages of the research.
The Project Support Officer will be representing the project and therefore AIM to external stakeholders and audiences, so a good understanding of AIM and how we work, and a commitment to our values and members, would be beneficial.
Fees and contract management
We have allocated £23,400 to this role (to include VAT if applicable) and expect it to involve around 50 days of work between September 2026 and October 2027, with at least two days of work per month and peaks in the project schedule where more work will be required.
We expect the project to incorporate in-person stakeholder engagement and consultation across England and the Project Support Officer is likely to need to be available for some of these events, meetings, or sessions, as well as potentially AIM staff awaydays (held approximately quarterly in Shrewsbury or Chester). AIM will be responsible for paying travel and subsistence where this is required.
A payment schedule will be agreed on appointment.
The role is freelance and the contractor will need to be able to work from home and provide their own IT and office equipment. An AIM email address will be provided.
AIM has a standard self-employed contractor agreement.
How to apply
Please supply a CV (no more than 3 pages) and brief covering letter highlighting why you are interested in this role and how you are equipped to carry it out. Please also provide one case study of a piece of work (paid or voluntary) that you feel is particularly relevant to this role. The covering letter and case study should be no more than 2 pages.
Please provide 2 referees.
Proposals should be sent to [email protected] by Friday 21 August 2026.