Community Engagement Officer

Brooklands Museum is on the site of the world’s first purpose-built racetrack and has a unique collections of motor vehicles and aircraft that tell the story of the pioneering people who shaped the world of motoring and aviation from the Brooklands site. Supported by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we now want to work with our communities to tell the hidden stories within these collections of the amazing diversity of the Brooklands community. The Dynamic Collections Project will enable key research to be carried out on the existing collections and site history to identify diverse people who were part of Brooklands. Working with community partners, we will share these hidden stories through the creation of new onsite and online interpretation, as well as developing a detailed framework for longer term improvement of interpretation at Brooklands Museum. This is a significant step change for Brooklands Museum in working with communities to tell stories about the collections that reflect the contribution and achievements of people from different backgrounds as part of the future Museum development strategy.

We are looking for someone to research the collections and history of Brooklands to find and share the hidden histories of the diverse community of people at Brooklands from 1906 to 1989. Working with the collections and community engagement project team, you will be responsible for researching the collections and history of Brooklands, with the help of community volunteers, to provide content for the creation of new on site and digital interpretation and inform the overall site Interpretation Strategy. You will have great research skills, and a passion for diversity and inclusion, along with self-motivation to achieve research objectives and a methodical, organised approach to your work. You will be experienced in working with and supporting volunteers.

**Key responsibilities**:

- To foster and maintain excellent relationships with project community partner organisations to help shape new interpretation reflecting their lives
- To deliver and support community engagement project participation with community partners
- To work with the Head of Major Projects and Interpretation to lead the selection of hidden stories and choice of interpretation methods with project team and community partners for new onsite and online interpretation, in line with the overall interpretation strategy
- To work as an integral part of the Brooklands Museum Learning Team and wider organisation

**General responsibilities**:

- To create, communicate and monitor a Community Engagement Plan for the project, in collaboration with the Research and Collections Officer
- To develop new relationships with community project partners
- Recruit community partner volunteers to participate in project
- Arrange training for community partner volunteers and staff teams around working with diverse audiences and use of collections database as needed
- Arrange site welcome inductions for community partner volunteers
- Collaborate with community partner volunteers to select key stories from project research that best reflect their lives for new interpretation onsite and online
- Collaborate with community partner volunteers, Head of Major Projects and Interpretation and collections teams to choose physical and digital interpretation methods most appropriate for community audiences to tell the selected hidden stories onsite and online
- Liaise with Collections and Interpretation team on final content for new interpretation
- Promote and share new interpretation and online access to community partners and other community organisations
- With STEM Learning and Engagement Manager, plan and deliver holiday activities that share the diverse stories discovered through the project with visitors
- Organising volunteer, participant and lottery player thank you and celebration events
- Share project progress with collections, interpretation and marketing teams and community partners and help promote and publicise key stories
- Work with STEM Learning and Engagement Manager and Development team to provide project progress reports every quarter for submission to funder
- Work with evaluation consultant to deliver evaluation throughout the project about
- Community project outputs and outcomes
- Work with Curatorial and marketing teams to create a set of agreed messages to take to community groups and partnerships
- Represent Brooklands Museum /its vision and values to outside organisations 3

**Person Specification**

**Experience**
- Experience of planning and delivering audience development projects
- Proven track record of working with under-represented communities to co-produce exhibitions / programmes, ideally in a heritage setting
- Have an understanding/experience of best practice in community engagement including diversity and inclusion
- Experience of working with volunteers, ideally in either heritage or charity settings and an