Chief Executive Officer – SS Great Britain Trust

The Trust

The vision of the SS Great Britain Trust is to protect the legacy of Brunel and the SS Great Britain and inspire engineers and entrepreneurs of the future.

Brunel’s SS Great Britain tells the incredible story of one of Britain’s greatest engineers and one of the most important ships in maritime history.

In 1970, the SS Great Britain Project brought the rusting shell of the SS Great Britain home from the Falkland Islands, braving 8,000 miles of stormy sea, in an attempt to save it from ruin and keep its story alive. That ‘project’ became the SS Great Britain Trust, and today we continue to care for the ship and Brunel collections for the good of everybody, for all time.

Brunel’s SS Great Britain is now Bristol’s number one visitor attraction, with two museums and the lovingly restored Victorian ship, a leading research centre, a wedding venue and a purpose-built conference facility.

The SS Great Britain Trust is a member of the Association of Independent Museums and Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA). The Trust has won more than 50 awards including ‘Permanent Exhibition of the Year’ Museums + Heritage Awards 2019; ‘Best UK & Ireland Tourism Project’ British Guild of Travel Writers Awards 2018; ‘Europe’s Most Welcoming Museum’ EMYA 2019.

Goals, Mission, Values, Equality, Inclusion, Diversity and Global Citizenship

The SS Great Britain Trust is a dedicated education charity (No.262158) that cares for Brunel’s SS Great Britain and the national Brunel Collection within a 19th century dockyard complex in Bristol. It is accredited as a museum, and its collections are Designated as of national importance by Arts Council England. It preserves the SS Great Britain and two related museums, and cares for the collections and library from the Brunel Institute, in a partnership with the University of Bristol. The Trust tells the stories of many people from history in order to enthuse people and help elucidate understanding of our past and our future. It has a particular focus on inspiring young people, using the legacy of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, with contemporary science and engineering and helping them understand not only the world today but their own potential within it.

The Trust has recently become responsible for the Albion Dock, a former part of the Hill/Hilhouse shipyard built in 1820, but using investment from the shipbuilding Hilhouse family who built many ships in the 18th century for Bristol merchants trading with the East and West Indies.

The Role & Responsibilities

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Purpose 

• Lead organisation to:
  • Deliver on the Trust’s charitable and commercial aims to sustain the trust, to conserve the ship, its narrative, and collections for the future.
  • Execute and develop the organisation’s existing strategy which includes review, sequencing, delivery and publicly championing the Albion project. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Works with and on behalf of the Board of Trustees to ensure the Trust utilises its resources to deliver optimum charitable activity.
• Bring together, articulate and advocate for the future vision and strategy of the Trust.
• Oversee, champion and act as ambassador for the delivery of the Albion project over the next 10 years.
• Grow and develop the organisation to ensure that it is financially sustainable for the future
• Lead as an outward facing spokesperson for the Trust, fostering and optimising relationships with all external stakeholders, sector peers and the public and advocating with them on behalf of the Trust. Key external stakeholders include Bristol City Council, WECA, NHLF, Arts Council England, University of Bristol, UWE, local politicians, and various museum associations.
• Take a lead role in securing funding for the Trust, by developing a varied portfolio of funding sources including attending the development sub-committee that report to the Trustee board. Fundraising will include philanthropy, corporate sponsorship, and public sector funding.
• Maintain strategic awareness of the wider landscapes in which the Trust operates, identifying key risks, threats and opportunities in a timely fashion.
• Deliver on the Trusts education and community engagement commitments.

The Ideal Candidate

The right candidate for this role will possess the following skills, experience, and attributes:

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

Essential Skills 

• A proven leader, with experience of leading dynamic executive teams. Someone who is experienced in taking a vision and translating this into a workable strategy.
• A passion for culture and heritage. Someone who can demonstrate a level of understanding and empathy with culture and heritage.
• Ideally, strong experience in a related environment, such as a visitor attraction, museum, charity or maritime.
• Experience of operating successfully at director level, with a proven track record of leading in an organisation on a journey / transformation, with complex multi-faceted KPIs.
• The ability to develop and grow an organisation, whilst keeping it both authentic and relevant.
• Experience of delivering big capital transformational projects would be ideal, but is not a pre-requisite.
• Strong relationship manager able to influence and optimise a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven track record of leading the process of raising funds, sponsorship, philanthropy and entrepreneurial income generation.
• Confident and compelling public speaker and an experienced media spokesperson
• Understanding of the need for digital transformation relevant to the scale and structure of the organisation. 

Desirable Skills 

• Previous CEO and board reporting experience
• Fundraising initiative leadership skill sets
• Maritime or engineering knowledge and experience/interest
• Education and community engagement experience 

In summary, the ideal candidate will be a proven leader who has taken a heritage organisation / museum / visitor attraction on a journey. For example – a successful transformation over a number of years.  Involvement in delivering a capex project would be an advantage. Any experience in the maritime environment would be additionally helpful. 

Alternatively, a high calibre and suitably experienced leader who doesn’t have direct experience within the visitor attraction / heritage space could be considered. 

Location

Bristol.  The role will require an individual who lives locally.

The Opportunity

The role of CEO for the SS Great Britain Trust is a high profile and influential leadership position, not only in the broader Bristol area but also in the national museums and visitor attractions space. The vision is to develop, grow and transform the organisation, creating a visitor attraction that rivals the largest and highest profile visitor attractions in the region.

How to Apply 

Please send a covering letter and cv to [email protected].   Closing date for applications is 12oon on Monday 25 March 2024.