Museums and Heritage Officer Lichfield, England
Job description
Post Title: MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE OFFICER
Location: The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum, Breadmarket St, Lichfield, WS13 6LG
Hours: 37 hours per week. Some working out of normal office hours for special events may be required, for which compensatory time off in lieu will be granted.
Salary: 2023/24 pay award pending
The post is graded at spinal column points 17 to 22. The postholder would commence at the lowest point of the scale (point 17, currently £26,845 p.a.), and subject to satisfactory service would receive an incremental increase on completion of the six-month probationary period, and subject to further satisfactory service would then progress by annual increments to the top of the scale (point 22, £29,439 p.a.).
Pension The post is pensionable through the Staffordshire County Council fund, further details and options will be made available to the successful applicant.
Car Allowance:
A casual car user allowance will be payable where use of the employee's own car is deemed necessary.
Holidays:
27 days paid leave per annum (31 days after five years’ service), plus public holidays.
New entrants to the service are entitled to annual leave proportionate to the completed months of service during the leave year of entry and thereafter on the normal scale.
Conditions of Service: The appointment is subject to the Scheme of Conditions of Service of the National Joint Council for Local Government Services ('Green Book').
Probationary period:
Closing Date:
The appointment is subject to a term of probation of no less than six months.
12 Noon, Monday 3 July 2023
MAIN PURPOSE OF THE POST
Overall responsibility for the operation, care and development of the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum, a Grade I listed building housing an Accredited Museum with a collection of c.8000 objects, and the Guildhall Old Prison Cells, a seasonally opened exhibition inside Lichfield Guildhall. Working in partnership with other city tourism and arts organisations, the Museums and Heritage Officer contributes to the promotion and development of Lichfield as Staffordshire’s premier heritage city.
BACKGROUND DETAILS
The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum (SJBM) is governed and operated by the parish authority Lichfield City Council, as sole trustee of Dr Johnson’s Birthplace Trust. It is an historic house and a museum dedicated to the life, work and personality of Samuel Johnson, which has been open to the public since 1901. SJBM welcomes up to 22,000 visitors a year.
The Museums and Heritage Officer (MHO) manages Johnson’s Birthplace with the assistance of the part-time Museum Support Officer. Museum Attendants are employed to welcome visitors and act as keyholders, and a small team of volunteers support special events and collection projects.
As Curator/Manager, the MHO leads all aspects of the Museum’s work. SJBM’s audience is growing annually, and this is an exciting time to join the Museum as it seeks to increase local engagement, improve access to the historic building, and update existing displays.
The MHO also has responsibility for the Guildhall Prison Cells, a small exhibition area with volunteers welcoming up to 6,000 visitors over opening on Saturdays over the summer.
Main Duties:
1. To line-manage the SJBM staff team (part-time Museum Support Officer and a rota of five Museum Attendants) providing support, training, and chairing a monthly staff meeting.
2. To manage volunteers and promote volunteer involvement at SJBM and Guildhall Cells (currently total of 20 regular and casual across both sites).
3. To maintain and uphold SJBM’s Accredited status by preparing and updating policy, procedure and submitting scheduled returns, ensuring that the standard is consistently adhered to.
4. To oversee and develop all aspects of curatorial work and collection management including care, documentation, loans, storage, display, and collections-based research, including database administration and editing the SJBM collections blog.
5. To maintain the Grade-I listed building in liaison with the Town Clerk, Architects, and other specialist advisors, and have oversight for health and safety and the emergency plan at the SJBM site.
6. To develop access to SJBM by working with architects and specialist partners to deliver an existing project for wheelchair access into the ground floor.
7. To manage the delivery of proposed improvements to the ground floor displays at SJBM, in liaison with the Town Clerk, Advisory Committee, Architects, designers and other specialist contractors, and to lead on future plans for the development of upper floor displays.
8. To support and develop higher education partnerships, including supervision for an established Collaborative Doctoral Award project, and annual undergraduate work placements.
9. To maintain and develop contact with local schools and promote and extend SJBM’s education offer, in conjunction with other Lichfield attractions.
10. To seek opportunities to engage and collaborate with local community groups.
11. To organise an annual programme of special events at SJBM including talks, book launches, recitals, writer’s events, exhibitions and family activities, including the annual celebrations for Johnson’s Birthday in September as part of the wider Lichfield Heritage Weekend.
12. To prepare reports to Council including regular Officer reports (approx. 8 times per year), annual reports, Johnson Birthplace Advisory Committee agenda reports, SJBM Forward Plan and as required by the Town Clerk.
13. To prepare occasional grant bids to external funding sources, implement grant aided works, and submit grant claims as required.
14. To maintain public awareness of the museums through advertising, promotional materials, and news stories in local and national media.
15. To maintain the reputation of SJBM through links with Johnson-related institutions and societies locally, nationally and internationally.
16. To represent and advocate for SJBM at tourism partnership meetings, as part of the Literary Houses network, and to be an occasional spokesperson for the Museum for promotional purposes.
17. To ensure that the Museums Association’s Code of Ethics is upheld in the work of SJBM.
18. To organise and promote the annual summer opening of the Guildhall Old Prison Cell exhibition, including arrangements for improvements to interpretation and repairs to existing displays.
19. To provide occasional support for the Civic Officer with care and documentation of the City’s historic silver collection.
20. To have oversight for Lichfield’s historic plaques and organise maintenance.
21. To support other City Council Heritage-related projects as required.
Other Duties
Some attendance will be required at evening and weekend events or meetings, for which compensatory time off in lieu will be given.
The postholder may be required to undertake such other duties and training and/or hours of work as may be reasonably required to be consistent with their general level of responsibility.
The Council reserves the right to vary the content of the job description, after consultation, to reflect changes to the job without changing the general character of the post or level of responsibility.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: From £26,845.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
- Weekend availability
Application question(s):
- In less than 200 words, please state why you are a good candidate for this position.
Work Location: In person
Application deadline: 03/07/2023
Reference ID: MHOJun23
