Director

Job Description

We’re looking for an inspiring Director to take on a career-defining role at the Museum of Cambridge.

Job Title: Director

Hours per week: 37.5 (1 FTE).

The Board welcomes applications from those who wish to work part time (minimum 22 hours) or from two individuals proposing a job-share.

This role will involve some out-of-hours work including evenings and weekends. Responsible to Board of Trustees

Responsible for: A team of between four and eight paid staff and a team of around 60 volunteers, plus additional contractors and freelancers.

Contract: Permanent.

The probation period will last for nine months from the first day of employment.

Salary: £42,000-£45,000 dependent on experience, with an additional 3% employer contribution to pension.

Introduction to the role of Director at the Museum of Cambridge

The Museum of Cambridge offers a unique opportunity for an inspirational leader to shape the future of one of the city’s most valued cultural institutions. Located in the heart of Cambridge, we are an independent museum committed to exploring and celebrating the rich stories and histories of Cambridgeshire.

This prestigious role comes at a pivotal moment for the Museum, as we embark on a transformative phase of redevelopment. Following the launch of our ambitious five-year strategy in 2022, we are setting our sights on a much needed redevelopment of the Museum; one option for this may include a relocation.

This redevelopment will not only reimagine our physical space but also enable us to repurpose our collections and expand our role as a dynamic hub for social history. This transformative project will be delivered in collaboration with key partners, including Cambridge City Council, and a broad network of charitable and corporate organisations.

As Director, you will hold overall responsibility for the strategic and financial leadership of the Museum, guiding it through this exciting chapter. Central to your role will be leading the redevelopment project while serving as the Museum’s public face—building relationships, managing partnerships, and championing our work to secure vital support and funding.

You will also lead and inspire a team of talented staff and dedicated volunteers, fostering a positive and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive. Beyond operational leadership, you will guide the Museum’s mission to become a world-class cultural destination, enriching the lives of residents, visitors, and scholars alike.

Our ideal candidate is someone who shares our core values: inclusivity, creativity, courage, and responsibility. You will bring a proven track record of strategic leadership, project management including change management, exceptional communication skills, and a passion for heritage, arts, and community engagement.

This is a rare and significant opportunity to play a transformative role in shaping the future of a museum that is at the heart of Cambridge’s cultural life, ensuring its legacy for generations to come.

How To Apply

Download the application pack from our website. Please do not apply via Indeed.

Please email your CV and a covering letter (three sides max.) to julia.moore@museumofcambridge.org.uk by 10am on 20th February 2025. Please send your CV and covering letter as a PDF.

Please ensure that your covering letter demonstrates your suitability for the role using the personal specification below, utilising the headings and numbering system for clarity.

If you are selected to move forward in the process, we anticipate that the first stage of recruitment will take place on 27th February 2025 and the second stage of recruitment will take place on 13th March 2025. This may be subject to change.

If you have any further questions or comments or would like to get in touch for an informal chat about the role, do email annie.davis@museumofcambridge.org.ukor call 01223 355159.

Job Description

Outlined below are the primary areas of responsibility; however, the Director’s overarching duty is to lead the Museum to achieving its organisational objectives.

Over the next five-to-ten years, this will be focused on leading the major upcoming phase of the Museum’s redevelopment.

1. Strategic development and change management

1.1. Together with Trustees, provide overall strategic direction of the Museum. Implement the Museum’s strategic and business plans, monitoring and reporting progress on a regular basis, and making strategic decisions where required.

1.2. Lead the Museum’s forthcoming redevelopment, including visioning, fundraising, delivery and evaluation.

2. Governance

2.1. Own the Museum’s risk register, ensuring proactive management of risks to safeguard the organisation.

2.2. Forge an open and responsive working relationship with the Chair and Board of Trustees, supporting Trustees to actively contribute skills, ideas, resources and contacts as appropriate within a clear staff-led management framework.

2.3. Attend board meetings, subcommittees and any other governance meetings as required, producing oral and written reports to a high standard.

2.4. Meet all statutory and regulatory obligations as a museum, a registered charity, property manager, tenant and employer. You will ensure that the Museum has effective and compliant policies and processes for all areas of the operation, including security, health and safety, fire safety, safeguarding, first aid and buildings maintenance.

2.5. Provide oversight of Museum health and safety and safeguarding, and act as a Safeguarding Lead.

3. Financial Management

3.1. Provide overall management and oversight of the Museum’s financial activity, including budget-setting and monitoring, cash-flow management and grant fund management.

3.2. Manage the relationship with outsourced bookkeeping and payroll services.

4. Income Generation – Fundraised and Commercial Income

4.1. Own the Museum’s financial targets, working closely with the team to deliver against them successfully.

4.2. Act as the strategic lead for the Museum’s commercial activities, including visitation, venue hire, events and retail.

4.3. Develop and lead the implementation of the Museum’s fundraising strategy, including individual giving, corporate giving and the broader supporter programme.

4.4. Secure major fundraising bids from a wide range of funders, including The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, and trusts and foundations.

5. Programming and Engagement

5.1. Act as the strategic lead for the Museum’s in-person engagement activity, including the visitor experience, events and community outreach programmes. You’ll ensure the Museum reaches ambitious targets for audience growth and diversification.

5.2. Act as strategic lead of the Museum’s digital engagement, including the management of the Museum’s crowd-sourced local history website Capturing Cambridge.

6. Collections Management and Building Management

6.1. Provide strategic leadership of the Museum’s collection, ensuring that the Museum continues to meet the standards of the Museum Accreditation Scheme.

7. Communication and Advocacy

7.1. Build and maintain key partnerships to develop and support the Museum, including with local authorities Cambridge City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council.

7.2. Act as the primary representative and spokesperson of the Museum, working to increase awareness of our work and enhance our influence, reputation and standing.

8. People Management

8.1. To be responsible for the effective management of HR at the Museum, ensuring that HR policies and procedures, including those relating to volunteering, are adhered to.

8.2. Manage the relationship with our outsourced HR service.

8.3. Provide energising and motivating leadership and line management for the staff and volunteer team, promoting a culture of collaboration and independence.

9. Additional Responsibilities

9.1. To be a key holder and act as Duty Manager, contributing to the safe and successful opening of the Museum.

9.2. Any other duties that can be reasonably required and are compatible with the nature of this job description.

Person Specification – please see application pack on our website for full details.

Further Information

Contract and Flexible Working

This is a permanent contract. We are happy to discuss flexible working arrangements including options to work partly from home, though you will be expected to work largely from the Museum site. This role will require lone working both at the Museum, and at offsite locations such as conferences, meetings or community events. You will be required to work evenings, weekends and bank holidays as required. TOIL will be accrued for hours worked outside of core hours.

Annual Leave

You will be entitled to 28 days of annual leave inclusive of bank holidays. Location and Facilities This role is based on-site at our Museum. Our office space is located next to the Museum itself, just north of the river close to Cambridge’s historic city centre, with excellent public transport links and local amenities. You will be offered four unlimited friends and family passes to visit the Museum for the duration of your employment so you can bring your loved ones to visit the Museum as many times as you like. You’ll also get free entry plus a guest to all our in-person and virtual events.

Training

You’ll have access to training and development opportunities with Museums Development South East, Cambridge Council for Voluntary Services and The National Council for Voluntary Organisations, and plenty of opportunities to network with peers in the local charitable, arts and cultural sectors.

About The Museum of Cambridge

The Museum of Cambridge is an independent Trust and Company limited by guarantee, number 412205. Our Museum is one of only a handful of independent museums in the city of Cambridge to operate as a registered charity, number 311309

The Museum of Cambridge is a unique institution that tells the social history of Cambridge and the surrounding region. Set in the Grade II-listed 17th-Century White Horse Inn, on the important Roman road from castle to river to university, the Museum has told the fascinating stories of local people since it ceased trading as a pub in 1936. You can find the Giant’s Boot, see the prize belt of the long-distance champion of the world, examine witches’ bottles, and discover the real Muffin Man. Under the curatorship of Enid Porter, from 1947-1976, the Museum pioneered oral history, recording the rich history, customs, stories and beliefs of the everyday people of Cambridge. This is a tradition the Museum preserves today, especially in our work with communities across the region.

The Museum also hosts a unique and growing community social history website, capturingcambridge.org. It is a vehicle for stories about buildings, people and places in the city and well beyond, from archival and family sources, with every posting geolocated.

Cambridge is a city of remarkable contrasts and opportunities. Known globally for its world-class university and groundbreaking contributions to biomedical and tech industries, it remains rooted in its heritage as a historic market town in East Anglia. With a growing, multicultural population, Cambridge is a vibrant and diverse community, but it is 9 also one of the most unequal cities in the UK. In this unique context, the Museum of Cambridge plays a vital role as an inclusive cultural centre—dedicated to representing and celebrating the stories of all who live in the region, fostering a sense of connection, and addressing the need for a shared space that belongs to everyone.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: £42,000.00-£45,000.00 per year

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekend availability

Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 20/02/2025