Museum Manager – Bridport Museum

OVERVIEW

This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Bridport Museum. Having recently undergone reviews of our governance and organisation, we are looking for someone to lead the Museum who is dynamic, enthusiastic and ambitious, who will champion new ways of engaging with visitors and communities, and who will ensure that our collections are at the heart of everything that we do.

Reporting to the Board of Trustees, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining the strategic direction of the Museum, ensuring we are achieving our mission, maintaining our Museum accreditation and that we are financially sustainable. You will be responsible for overseeing the smooth running of the Museum, including all functional activities such as finance and marketing.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

To work with the Board of Trustees to make the Museum more sustainable and successful through the effective operation of the Museum and the Local History Centre, management and motivation of the team of volunteers and the development of the collections.

To lead the team of volunteers in delivering a museum that engages current and future audiences with the collections and the stories they can tell, and that creates and fosters meaningful connections between the collections and local communities.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Managing the Museum effectively
2. Ensuring that the collections and the community are at the heart of everything the Museum does
3. Achieving excellent standards of visitor experience through effective volunteer management
4. Growing and diversifying audiences through programmes of events and community engagement
5. Maximising income through increased visitors and commercial activity to achieve financial sustainability
6. Contributing to the strategic development of the Museum

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Collections

• Manage and care for the Trust’s collections, through acquisition, cataloguing, disposal, interpretation and display, ensuring high standards of monitoring and housekeeping, especially in museum stores
• Train and support volunteers to care for the collections, and interpret them for the public
• Encourage use of the collections for research with public benefit to deepen knowledge of the collection and inform future projects and displays
• Create a temporary exhibitions policy for Board approval; work with volunteers to create a community-focused exhibition & events programme and monitor its effectiveness at reaching new audiences
• Ensure the Local History Centre is accessible to users through effective volunteer management

Users and their experience

• Develop strong community partnerships and create a vibrant community engagement programme to inspire more people to explore and enjoy the Museum’s collections and the stories that it tells
• Specifically, work towards widening the Museum’s audiences through displays and exhibitions, community-based projects and learning partnerships, stimulating the production of publications, a variety of events and exhibitions, both on and off-site
• Build an effective cohort of outreach and learning volunteers to extend the Museum’s reach and contribute to delivering the new audiences as outlined in the Strategic Plan
• Carry out reliable and regular audience research, training volunteers to carry this out, as part of the Marketing Plan, and bring forward plans to react to the findings.

Volunteer management

• Lead, manage and motivate the team of volunteers in delivering high standards of visitor service on all sites
• Actively foster and maintain a positive and enthusiastic work environment and team spirit
• Ensure that all volunteer policies and processes are up to date and that appropriate records are maintained

Operations

• Operate the Museum efficiently, complying with sector standards (specifically Museums Accreditation) and the relevant legal frameworks
• Responsible for all areas of the day to day operation of the Museum, including
  • Health and safety
  • Security and emergency procedures
  • Overseeing, managing and developing commercial activities
  • Effective marketing of the Museum and its activities
  • HR oversight and line management of core staff
  • Support the annual budget setting process and monitor the budget on a monthly basis
  • Monitor, review and analyse visitor/user statistics and visitor feedback and report regularly to Board as part of KPIs
• Ensure all policies and procedures, are developed and maintained as required, in line with UK law, the charity commission and the Museum’s Accreditation scheme
• Lead on environmental impact and sustainability working with the team to build awareness and implement any improvements.

Income generation and fundraising:

• Maximise income through increased visitors and commercial activity
• Maximise Gift Aid tax recovery on admissions and donations income through effective training of volunteers
• In consultation with Trustees, explore sources of income through grant aid, donations and other sources
• Ensure that the Museum delivers effectively against the KPIs of the principal stakeholders with which the Trust has Service Level Agreements in order to enhance these partnerships

Organisational health

• Work with the Board of the Trust to ensure they have the best professional advice in order to make the right decisions for the future of the Museum
  • Ensure the Board is provided with sufficient information, including quarterly management accounts, to undertake their responsibilities
  • Attend Board meetings and relevant committee meetings and act as the Company Secretary
  • Present reports on progress against KPI targets to the Board on a regular basis
  • Oversee all corporate governance including the risk register
• Assist in recruiting and inducting new Trustees
• Ensure excellent communication between Trustees and volunteers by acting as conduit between the two groups
• Maintain Museums Accreditation standards and achieve re-accreditation of the Museum
• Manage any procurement, contract and tendering processes
• Ensure all insurance policies are appropriate, up to date and ensure value for money
• Ensure effective support for IT projects across the organisation, including systems development and those that support internal and external communication, such as the website, internal email, phones and communication systems including new database initiatives
• Have overall responsibility for organisational General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Carry out any other reasonable duties as requested by the Trustees

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential criteria

Education

• A degree in a relevant subject

Experience

• Experience in a museum or heritage setting
• Experience of collections management
• Managing and delivering consistently high standards of visitor and customer service
• Proven track record of excellence in managing a large team of volunteers
• Experience engaging communities to produce meaningful engagement programmes
• Delivery of public events, activities and/or community projects
• Experience of exhibition planning, coordination and design

Knowledge

• Knowledge of curatorial best practice guidelines
• Knowledge of Accreditation standards
• Community engagement and audience needs, including families and schools

Skills

• Proven ability to lead, inspire and motivate a large team of volunteers
• Demonstrable ability to take responsibility for own work and that of volunteers
• Proven ability to think and act strategically
• Able to communicate with a wide variety of people verbally and in writing
• High level of numeracy and literacy. IT literate and familiar with MS office

Aptitude

• Demonstrates the Bridport Museum Trust values in their work, as a representative of the Museum internally and externally
• Customer focused, always considering the needs of the visitor first
• Able to act on own initiative and be self-motivated
• Professional, assertive, enthusiastic and diplomatic
• A flexible approach to work, able to undertake a range of activities and to work to deadlines

Circumstances

• Available to work flexibly including at weekends, evenings and Bank Holidays

Desirable criteria

Education

• A further qualification in Museum Studies or a related subject

Experience

• Proven track record in retail or other commercial activity
• Proven track record in fundraising and income generation
• Experience planning marketing campaigns
• Experience using MODES
• Budget management

Knowledge

• Knowledge of cultural sector marketing best practices

Skills

• Conflict management

GENERAL INFORMATION

Full time role: 37.5 hours per week, working 5 days in 7 on a rota basis depending on operational requirements.

Holiday entitlement: 20 days per year, plus public holidays (normally 8 days), plus 3 days paid leave between Christmas and New Year. You will be required to work some public holidays during the year at peak periods, for which time in lieu will be awarded. Long periods of annual leave are unlikely to be approved for the peak summer months of July and August.

Location: Working across three Trust sites (Bridport Museum, office and collections stores)

Reporting to: the Board of Trustees, with the Chair being the direct line manager

Salary: £30,000 – £35,000 plus up to £3,000 for relocation

TO APPLY

Please email your CV and a covering letter of not more than 1,000 words outlining your suitability for this role, and how you meet the requirements of the person specification via [email protected]

For further information or, if you would like to have an informal conversation about this role, please contact Anna Bright, Vice Chair of Trustees, via the same email address; [email protected]