Salary: £40,395 – £45,054

Contract type: Temporary (January 2029)

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

The post will lead the delivery of a major national partnership project exploring the cultural and historical relationship between Scotland and cinema.

V&A Dundee and Screen Scotland (the Strategic Partners) are seeking a Programme Lead who will strategically drive the national partnership opportunities, manage stakeholders and oversee the operational aspects of the project's development. The post holder will play a pivotal role in shaping partnership agreements and external relationships, acting as the central point of contact between the Strategic Partners, the project's Creative Consultant and a growing network of partners and collaborators.

Internally, the Programme Lead will work alongside the curatorial and production teams to manage resource, timelines and budget, chair organisation-wide Project Team Meetings and support cross-organisational communications. They will join a small, focused team as the project moves from research and development into operational delivery, and will work with colleagues across the organisation as well as partner organisations, a reference group and external stakeholders.

We welcome applications from individuals currently working within the Scottish screen sector and would be pleased to consider secondment opportunities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Partnership

• Act as the central point of contact between the Strategic Partners.

• Liaise with the Strategic Partners to finalise the strategic partnership agreement, including roles, responsibilities and organisational commitments.

• Implement and facilitate a programme of strategic partnership planning and delivery sessions, supporting the project's development from research phase to operational delivery.

• Act as the main point of contact between the project's independent Creative Consultant and the Strategic Partners.

• Develop and oversee the agreement between the Creative Consultant and the Strategic Partners, including roles and responsibilities and the invoicing schedule.

National Partnership Development

• Work with the Strategic Partners to scope the full potential of the national partnership, assessing and defining potential partners, stakeholders and collaborators.

• Initiate partnership relationships and drive them from first introduction, through creative collaboration, to confirmed partnership agreement.

National Programme Delivery

• Work with the Strategic Partners to develop and confirm project aims and objectives, KPIs and evaluation methodology.

• Act as the central point of contact across all partners, ensuring the coherent development of programme planning.

• Work with the Strategic Partners and wider partners to map potential project deliverables (e.g. cinema programme, conference, learning programme), developing a confirmed timeline and a clear programme of activity.

• Ensure organisational commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion are embedded through all stages of programme planning, KPIs and deliverables.

• Ensure project sustainability goals are articulated across all project KPIs, aims and objectives.

Project Management

• Work with senior colleagues in the Programme department and the Curators to set out major project milestones and deliverables.

• Coordinate and chair organisation-wide Project Team Meetings, ensuring teams are meeting milestones.

• Work alongside the curatorial and production teams to manage project resource, timelines and budget.

• Working with the Curators, schedule the programme of Advisory Committee meetings, managing agendas and overseeing outcomes and actions.

Programme Co-ordination

• Co-ordinate the matrix of programming across V&A Dundee that responds to the project, including Public Programme, Learning Programme, Audience & Media and Commercial Programme, ensuring programme ideation and sign-off cohere with the project delivery timeline.

• Support V&A Dundee programmers with stakeholder collaboration, such as convening stakeholders from across the national partnership.

• Support the Creative Programmer with Public Programme delivery, including administration and coordination.

• Support cross-organisational communications, ensuring colleagues across V&A Dundee have accurate and timely information about the project.

General

• Promote equality, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of work.

• Maintain familiarity with all health and safety policies and procedures.

• Carry out ad hoc duties as requested by the line manager or appropriate manager.

Person specification

Essential

• Significant experience of programme or project management in the cultural, creative or screen sectors, including managing resource, timelines and budgets.

• Proven experience of building and managing partnerships with external organisations, taking relationships from first introduction through to formal agreement.

• Experience of planning and delivering complex, multi-partner programmes of public activity, such as exhibitions, festivals, events or learning programmes.

• Experience of developing aims, objectives, KPIs and evaluation frameworks with partners.

• Experience of managing agreements with external consultants or partners, including roles, responsibilities and payment schedules.

• Confidence chairing meetings and facilitating planning sessions with senior stakeholders, managing agendas, actions and outcomes.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent the project credibly to a wide range of partners and audiences.

• Strong organisational skills, with experience managing multiple workstreams and delivering to deadlines.

• Confident negotiating skills and the ability to handle sensitive situations diplomatically.

• Able to work collaboratively and independently as the situation demands.

• Resilience under pressure with a practical, problem-solving approach.

• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and to environmental sustainability, with an understanding of how to embed both in programme planning and delivery.

• Genuine interest in V&A Dundee's work and in Scottish film and screen culture.

• Proficiency in standard office software (Word, Excel, Mural or equivalent).

Desirable

• Experience of working in or with the screen sector, including knowledge of its organisations, networks and current debates.

• Experience of contributing to a major exhibition in a museum or gallery context.

• Experience of delivering national or multi-site programmes of activity.

• Experience of developing broadcast, media or commercial partnerships.

• A strong interest in the relationship between visual culture, place, and identity.