Design Jobs Board

The Design Museum is embarking on an exciting project to rethink its permanent collection gallery – Designer Maker User.

Our goal is to give more visibility and prominence to the collection, ensuring it plays a more impactful role within the museum. This deeply collaborative project that seeks to consult with different communities will create a more dynamic, inclusive, and accessible experience for all visitors. Our ambition is that it will set a new benchmark for low-carbon exhibition design and collection care.

Job scope

The museum has secured Development Phase funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), providing the funds required to fully scope out further detail and costings for full project delivery. We are now seeking a Curator to lead the development of the curatorial narrative for this project.

The successful candidate will work closely with the Project Team to consult with key stakeholders, researching and developing the design and curatorial approach for the new gallery. They will work to ensure the successful submission of the Delivery Phase Funding application to the NLHF, devise workshops and questionnaires to prototype different future scenarios for the gallery and the collection, and assess the collections to highlight what further acquisitions might be needed for the new gallery.

Job description

*The complete job description/person specification is available to download from our careers portal vacancy listing.

Gallery Curation

• Develop the curatorial approach to the new collection gallery in consultation with the Head of Collections and the Project Director, with a focus on preserving the heritage of the museum collection and making that heritage accessible to a wide audience.
• Assess and develop the existing collection guided by the Head of Collections.
• Work closely with the Community Engagement Curator to devise and plan workshops with key stakeholders.
• Take key learnings from community workshops into account when developing the exhibition narrative and design approach for the gallery.
• Develop and write design briefs in collaboration with the Capital Project Manager for the new gallery.
• Lead on the curation of the exhibition, including key exhibition components such as the narrative, interpretation plan, object lists, captions and labels.

Management

• Support the Development team and Capital Project Manager with all required documents for the curatorial narrative and community engagement element for the Delivery Phase application to the Heritage Fund.
• Work closely with stakeholders, the Capital Project Manager and exhibition designers to ensure the smooth and timely delivery of the exhibition as an integral member of a team.

Person specification

Essential – Experience, Knowledge, Skills

• A degree in design history, art history or related field, or equivalent lived experience.
• Proven expertise in design, architecture, fashion, technology, or science or equivalent experience.
• Extensive experience of working in the museum sector or similar.
• Experience leading and mentoring others to deliver on strategic project objectives.
• An adept communicator, particularly with regards presenting curatorial content to stakeholders.
• Ability to influence others and liaise effectively with colleagues and external contacts within a museum/gallery environment.
• Ability to work under pressure, meet deadlines and retain good attention to detail.
• A mutually supportive and collaborative team working style.
• Experience of working in PowerPoint, Word and Excel.

Salary: up to £27,424 per annum (based on a full-time equivalent of £34,280 per annum), dependent on experience

Holidays: 25 days per annum (pro rata) + Christmas eve (museum closed)

Hours: 28 hours per week, part time, 4 days per week

Contract: Fixed term, 36 months

Location: on-site at the Design Museum, Kensington, with the possibility of hybrid working in accordance with the museum’s policy and depending on the needs of the project.