Role summary

About Us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum’s unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 17 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

The Museum has secured investment from the UK Government to build a new science and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park, a science and technology hub on the University of Reading campus.  The purpose-built centre will house much of the Museum’s collection and will include laboratories, digitisation suites, collaborative research spaces, conservation labs and workspaces.

We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

Touring Exhibitions play a key role in the Natural History Museum achieving its objectives as outlined in A Planetary Emergency: Strategy to 2031. Not only do they enable the Museum to work with various organisations around the world to reach large, diverse and new audiences but they also help us to remain financially sustainable through generating commercial income.

Over the next few years, we want to build on the highly successful domestic and international touring programme by actively identifying opportunities for new business; new relationships; and new models of delivery in order to maximise commercial and strategic benefit for the Museum. The Head of Touring Exhibitions will take a lead in driving this innovation. They will also be a lynchpin for cross-museum collaboration, working across Directorates to generate new ideas, explore funding opportunities and to deliver exhibitions.

The Head of Touring Exhibitions will manage and develop a multi-disciplinary team that includes sales, marketing, operations, creative and technical roles. The post holder will report to the Head of Global Engagement.

About you

We are looking for a unique individual who understands both the commercial and cultural sectors. You must have experience of leading a sales-led business, with a track record in exceeding targets. Tasks such as compiling business plans, negotiating contracts and developing new products for market should be second nature to you. Ideally you will also have experience within a museum setting, with knowledge of exhibitions and how they can be developed to tour.

You must be a team player – who is able to lead their own team as well as work across the Museum to deliver complex exhibitions to partners across the world. We are looking for someone who loves a fast-paced environment and is not fazed by complex problem solving. Finally, this role does require travelling – so you must be to work in myriad of cultural contexts from Sydney to Kolkata, to Toronto to Chengdu.

How to apply

If that sounds like you, please apply online on the Natural History Museum’s careers portal,

at https://careers.nhm.ac.uk/

Closing date: Tuesday, 25 October 2022

Interviews expected: w/c Thursday, 03 November2022  

Salary:  £55,000 per annum