Senior Collections

Do you have a proven track record of leading the care, conservation and presentation of collections? Are you an experienced people manager looking to share your expertise with others? Are you enthusiastic about engaging with visitors and bringing the history of collections to life? We are looking for a highly skilled individual to join our dynamic Collections and House team at Cragside, leading daily visitor operations and the implementation of our collections management plans.

Working week expected to be Sunday to Thursday.

What it's like to work here:Set in the heart of the stunning Northumberland landscape, Cragside is a unique place to work. Here William Armstrong, the brilliant engineer and manufacturer, built a wonder of the Victorian age. Here he created artificial lakes, generated his own hydro-power, pioneered electric lighting, installed telephone systems and built a world of experimentation and innovation that inspired the way we live today.

We carry this ethos into the 21st Century - developing and implementing experimental and innovative ways to bring Cragside to life for today’s visitor. Just as Armstrong’s vision was brought to fruition through creative collaboration, today a multi-disciplinary team works to look after the place in a way that makes it enjoyable and relevant to our visitors, allowing them to connect with it on an emotional level too.

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What you'll be doing:This is a fantastic opportunity to help develop and care for one of the nation's most unique houses. Working in close collaboration with the existing Senior Collections and House Officer and with support from the Property Curator, you’ll be responsible for delivering all aspects of the visitor operation at the House, ensuring appropriate resources are in place to provide a consistently exceptional service for our visitors. You will line manage a team of Collection Assistants and volunteers, to implement preventive conservation, environmental monitoring, and the delivery of our annual deep cleaning programme within the house to ensure an excellent level of care. You’ll be responsible for the implementation of new collections management procedures, working to sector standards to inform our understanding of the house and the collection, and to improve how we conserve, interpret, and present the property. You’ll develop imaginative ways of engaging our visitors with our fascinating history, and sharing our work to care for the collections.
- Who we're looking forExperienced people manager with excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the capability to both work collaboratively and lead a team.
- Detailed knowledge of Accreditation standards and a track record of working with digital collections databases
- Operational experience of collections management and preventative conservation in a historic environment
- Experience of managing a busy visitor operation and working with the public Good research skills and a passion for deepening our understanding of the collections
- Ability to contribute creative and practical ideas towards interpretation and the visitor experience within the House, with a focus on optimising the visitor experience
- Some experience of managing small, delegated budgets
- Detailed orientated, strong work ethic, and excellent organisational skills

Please refer to the full job description for further details.

The packageThe National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

Wherever you’re from, and whatever your background, we want to hear from you - and it doesn’t matter if you’re jam first, cream first, or even if you don’t like scones at all. Everyone is welcome.

Benefits for working at the National Trust include:

- Flexible working whenever possible
- Free parking at most locations
- Free entry to our properties for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
- Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary

Requirements :Compliance.Eligibility to Work in the UK