Curator of Archaeology – York Museums Trust

About the company 

York Museums Trust is an independent charitable organisation created to manage York Art Gallery, York Castle Museum, Yorkshire Museum & Gardens, and York St Mary’s. Our vision is to work together with audiences and communities to inspire, to share and to care for cultural heritage.

About the role

We are seeking a Curator of Archaeology who will care for and share the Yorkshire Museum’s designated, nationally-significant collection. Working with the Senior Curator and the Yorkshire Museum curatorial team, you will be the lead and advocate for archaeology within York Musuems Trust. You will lead on creation of content using the archaeology collection, working with colleagues across a range of teams to ensure that archaeological collections are widely utilised and deliver maximum benefit. Yor work will include exhibitions, talks, tours and social media. You will also utilise your specialism to provide collections-specific advice to colleagues working on collections care and management. You will lead on research and partnerships where they relate to the archaeological collections. 

What you will need to succeed

You’ll have a good knowledge of archaeological collections and be confident in utilising these to create engaging and inspiring content. This knowledge will include both the archaeology of northern Britain as well as the challenges and possibilities of archaeological collections. You will be creative, adaptable and willing to work in flexible teams to create content that will speak to the Yorkshire Museum’s audiences. You will be confident to represent the archaeological collections internally and externally, communicating effectively in writing or presenting. Your soft skills will mean that you work well within a small team, supporting and encouraging your colleagues.

The Archaeological collection

The collection represents the archaeology of the City of York, its hinterlands and the wider region, from its beginnings to modern day. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its type outside of London and represents an important resource, both of urban and rural archaeology. It is designated as a collection of national significant.

The collection includes approximately 100,000 individually registered objects, 8,000 boxes of bulk excavated material (mostly pottery and animal bone), 1,300 boxes of human skeletal remains and over 1,000 boxes of associated paper archival material.

The collection has developed over the last 200 years. The historic core of the collection is formed of objects collected by members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and their antiquarian networks in the 19^th and early 20^th century. This has been augmented through the acquisition of private collections, chance finds made by members of the public (mostly ‘Treasure’ found by metal detectorists), and excavation archives.

Starting Salary: £27,078-£31,271 fte per annum

Interested? 

How to apply:    

Please click here for the full job description and Equal Opportunities form>>

Please send your CV, the completed Equal Opportunities forms and a covering letter (which should be no more than two sides of A4) stating why this role interests you and how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the role, to [email protected]. 

Closing date for applications is 9am Monday 24 July 2023

Interviews will take place on 7 and 8 August 2023