Salary: £34,696 - £39,219

Contract type: Permanent

Click here to download full job description

Reporting to: Senior Curators/Touring & Programme Manager

Department: Programme

Who are we?

We are Scotland’s design museum. Designed for everyone, firing imaginations and sparking curiosity in design across Scotland and around the world. At V&A Dundee we are on a mission to inspire and empower through design.

Design shapes our world, it's part of everyday life and it's everywhere. We are a museum with energy and have a vision of the future where everyone is inspired through design and recognizes its far-reaching impact in our lives.

We are a welcoming place for people of Dundee to explore design and to use as an everyday part of their city, as well as inviting visitors from around the world. We are part of the V&A family of museums that celebrate creativity in all its forms from across centuries, for everyone.

Role profile

V&A Dundee is looking for two highly motivated Curators to join its Exhibitions Team.

In this dynamic and rewarding role, you will work creatively and collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders to research, develop and deliver a diverse range of exhibitions, displays and commissions across V&A Dundee’s exhibitions programme.

Using your interest in design and rigorous research skills, you will develop strong curatorial narratives for our exhibitions and ensure these are relevant and accessible to V&A Dundee’s diverse audiences. You will collaborate with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders, and collaborate with the academic and design communities to inform V&A Dundee’s approach.

V&A Dundee values the importance of design in achieving inclusive and innovative exhibitions, and you will work closely with exhibition designers to create unique spaces in which our audiences encounter objects and ideas.

As an exceptional project manager, you will be responsible for the practical delivery of selected exhibitions, including loan management, exhibition transport and installation arrangements.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Undertake curatorial research to inform the development of V&A Dundee exhibitions across a diverse range of design disciplines.

• Develop exhibition concepts for selected exhibitions and ensure key messages align with V&A Dundee’s mission and vision.

• Identify and engage a broad range of internal and external stakeholders to ensure a diverse range of voices are heard when shaping curatorial narratives.

• Contribute to the development of V&A Dundee’s curatorial vision through team ideation, as well as developing own research and exhibition proposals that reflect V&A Dundee’s strategic vision and priorities.

• Author, commission and edit exhibition interpretation, prioritizing access and inclusivity, and engaging the broadest possible audience with V&A Dundee’s exhibition programme.

• Develop design briefs for 2D and 3D design for specific exhibitions, embedding current thinking and best practice in exhibition-making.

• Manage design and build schedules and budgets to ensure exhibitions are delivered on time and on budget.

• Manage all practical arrangements, including condition checking, packing, transport, UK Government Indemnity Scheme & insurance cover, couriers and installation / de-installation for specific exhibitions.

• Work collaboratively with colleagues across V&A Dundee teams to support the holistic delivery of V&A Dundee exhibitions.

• Manage Registrar activities for specific exhibitions and displays, including negotiation and processing of loan contracts, liaising with lenders over conditions, and managing insurance, display, scheduling and transport arrangements.

• Actively contribute to supporting V&A Dundee’s strategies for widening access, inclusion and diversity.

• Respond to external enquiries and seek out ways to provide support or to create connections amongst our peers in the design, curatorial and academic communities.

• Represent the Museum externally through attendance at conferences, talks and events.

• Provide interviews to journalists and broadcasters, provide curator tours of the exhibitions at V&A Dundee for colleagues and external groups.

• Any other duties as deemed necessary by the Head of Exhibitions or Programme Director.

Person specification

Essential

• Ability to contribute to an inclusive, respectful and collegiate workplace through a collaborative, team driven and growth-oriented mindset and working approach.

• A strong interest in design, excellent research skills and a desire to work across a range of subjects and both historical and contemporary design.

• A strong understanding of the ‘big picture’ of what it means to make an exhibition: from curatorial research through to the exhibition design and build and a desire to lead all aspects of the exhibition development and delivery.

• Ability to work as part of a team and independently, remaining calm under pressure and with a proactive problem-solving approach to issues.

• Evidence of having incorporated diversity and inclusion strategies into programme planning with an awareness of issues of inclusion and cultural diversity as they affect colleagues and the work of a major museum.

• Proven experience of undertaking research and developing a strong curatorial narrative for target audiences.

• Proven experience of lender management, project management and budget management for large scale temporary exhibitions with strong organisational skills.

• Proven experience of having arranged UK Government Indemnity Scheme cover, or commercial insurance cover, in a similar museum or gallery context.

• Extensive experience of working with curators, lenders, designers, artists, build contractors, and transport agents and an ability to secure buy-in across stakeholders.

• A desire to share the work of the Museum with the public and the press and to undertake public speaking responsibilities with the support of press training.

• Ability to manage an internal project team and galvanise colleagues through a shared vision.

• Excellent communication and negotiation skills and ability to maintain a professional attitude and handle sensitive situations with diplomacy and tact.

• Impeccable writing skills and proven experience of high-quality critical writing.
  

Desirable

• Experience of having developed and delivered exhibitions in a museum context.

• Experience of working with external project managers and quantity surveyors, and of working through RIBA stages for exhibition design and build.

• Experience of having worked on international touring exhibitions.

• Experience of line management.