Curator European Upper Palaeolithic Collection

About the role:
To curate, research, digitise, document, display and augment the Museum’s collection of European material culture dating from the end of the last Ice Age, 50,000-10,000 years ago in support of the Museum Operating Plan and all relevant Museum strategies. This includes digitisation and documentation, research, making the collection accessible in the galleries, through exhibitions and media, as well as collaborating on the eventual re-display enabled through the Masterplan. The jobholder is expected to be a recognised authority on the period with fluency in French and excellent knowledge of lithic and osseous artefacts, as well as Ice Age portable art.

Key areas of responsibility:
• To advise and manage the project curators employed on the digitisation and documentation of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic collection at Franks’ House.
• To document the collections to a high standard following best practice, cataloguing objects digitally on the collection database with image taking and uploading as necessary, as well as maintaining essential paper records.
• To generate and lead new research projects in support of the Research and Display Strategies
• To lead major cross-museum permanent exhibition projects as part of the Museum’s Masterplan to re-display the collections
• To build the collections as necessary in support of the of the Acquisition Strategy and in relation to the Masterplan
• To work with the relevant teams within the museum on care of the collections, their storage, display, and conservation

About you:
• Good undergraduate degree in archaeology, postgraduate degree in relevant field
• Externally recognised authority in a relevant subject area
• Fluency in English and excellent knowledge of French
• Experience of display, research, cataloguing, publication, and public speaking such as lectures, gallery talks or broadcast projects.
• Experience of managing in curatorial or university context

About the British Museum:
Founded in 1753, the British Museum’s remarkable collection spans over two million years of human history and culture. The Museum is a leading visitor attraction, and its world-famous collection includes the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies, the Sutton-Hoo finds, and the Lewis Chessmen. Within the field of this post, the Museum also holds an impressive collection of portable art and excavated collections from significant French sites dating from the end of the last Ice Age.

The Museum offers a competitive benefits package including:

• Generous annual leave allowance of 25 days (rising to 30 days after 10 years’ service) plus 2.5 privilege days and plus bank holidays.
• Membership of the civil service defined benefit pension scheme (find out here what benefits a civil service pension provides).
• Free entry to a wide range of museums and exhibitions
• Participation in private and public Museum activities, including talks by leading curators from around the world and behind-the-scenes opportunities to learn how museums care for and manage their extraordinary collections.
• Interest-free travel, bicycle, and rental deposit loans
• Professional and personal development opportunities
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Discounts on food and gift shop purchases

Additional details:
For more information about this role, please see the job description.
If you have any additional needs that we should be aware of to support you with your application, please provide details to [email protected].

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that employees have the right to work in the UK. If you currently do not hold the right to work in the UK, we can only sponsor a limited number of roles that meet eligibility criteria. To offer a sponsorship, the job role you apply needs to be in the list of eligible occupations: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations. Additionally (with some limited exceptions), the role will need to meet the minimum salary threshold of £38,700 or the going rate for the job, whichever is the highest. You can find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/your-job

The British Museum is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all staff and job applicants. We aim to create a working environment in which all individuals can make best use of their skills, free from unlawful discrimination or harassment. We value the benefits that a diverse workforce brings to a museum which represents world culture. The Museum is committed to ensuring that no job applicant suffers unlawful discrimination because of any protected characteristics. Our recruitment procedures aim to ensure that individuals are treated because of their relevant knowledge, skills, and experience.

The Museum also adheres to the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) for pre-employment screening of Civil Servants.

Museum Website: https://bmrecruit.ciphr-irecruit.com//templates/CIPHR/jobdetail_7806.aspx