Natural History Museum, London https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
Title: Curator, Fossil Bryozoans, Sponges and Worms
Contract: Permanent, Full time (36 hours per week)
Salary: £33,396 per annum
About the role
Working within the Invertebrates and Plants Palaeobiology curatorial team, the Curator of Fossil Bryozoans, Sponges, Worms and Trace Fossils will have curatorial responsibility within the Natural History Museum’s historically important collection. The role will work closely with those responsible for the equivalent recent collections. The collections are frequently accessed by external researchers and are also used for the NHM’s public engagement activities, including income-generating exhibitions and events for the general public and media.
The curator will:
- Be responsible for collections management, development, care and identification of conservation needs within the named collections area
- Identify areas suitable for development and facilitate donations and acquisitions as appropriate
- Work closely with the NHM Unlocked delivery team to document, organise, sort and prepare the collections to ensure the move to a new site in Reading is both safe and beneficial for the fossil invertebrate collections
- Ensure best practice in collections care, understand approaches to due diligence and collections Registry policy such as Spectrum Museum standards and apply them to the area of responsibility
- Provide the information needed to maintain, develop, make accessible and use the collections, particularly by the development of digital records in the collections management system
- Facilitate research access to the collection and answer enquiries
- Contribute to scholarly outputs in appropriate outlets (journals, monographs, technical reports, scientific articles, etc)
- Seek and apply for funding to support projects
Person Specification
A postgraduate qualification (e.g. MSc) relevant to invertebrate palaeontology is required for this post.
- A demonstrable interest in developing expertise in the anatomy and taxonomy of fossil invertebrates, preferably but not restricted to fossil bryozoans, sponges, worms, or trace fossils
- Experience of working with museum collections, with a good knowledge of both physical curation and the policies and procedures relevant to managing a large research collection
- Knowledge and/or experience of databases or information management systems for museum collections
- Ability to work with large and complex datasets
- Experience of successful delivery of projects as a team member
- Competent with relevant IT software such as Microsoft Word, Excel etc.
- The ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with a variety of stakeholders (internal and external researchers, public engagement, visitors, students, volunteers)
- Experience of communicating to a range of different audiences, both in writing and verbally
- Willingness to travel between Museum sites and work across Life and Earth Sciences.
About Us
We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum’s unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.
Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.
We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.
Diversity and inclusion matter to us.
Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.
We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.
Thriving at the Museum: the way we work
We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.
Find out more here
What we offer
- 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
- Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 – 10%)
- Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
- Life insurance
- Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
- Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
- We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
- Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
- Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi
How to apply
How to apply
If that sounds like you, please apply online on the Natural History Museum’s careers portal, at https://careers.nhm.ac.uk/
Closing date: 9am, 25th September 2023
Interviews expected w/c 09th October 2023
Contract: Permanent, Full time (36 hours per week)
Salary: £33,396 per annum
Please note that this role qualifies for Museum sponsorship. Whilst we would still expect the successful postholder to have valid right to work in the UK at the point of starting the role, the Museum can support in obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for this role to apply for future or continued right to work in the UK. Please note that while the Museum will support with the cost of the CoS, visa and health surcharge costs will need to be funded by the postholder. Please contact our Recruitment Team at hrrecruitment@nhm.ac.uk if you have any further queries regarding this.
https://careers.nhm.ac.uk/templates/CIPHR/jobdetail_3902.aspx