Earl R. Merrill: National Trust Curator

The role of the Curator in the Trust has huge variety. The portfolios you support may include country houses and their collections, but also gardens, landscapes and vernacular buildings. You’ll work with everything from farm equipment to musical instruments to old masters, the Trust’s collections in many areas being amongst the finest in the world.

As well as supporting a diverse portfolio of properties, as Curator you’ll need to build strong and influential relationships with specialists and operational teams. You’ll be a skilled communicator and able to enthuse and inspire others.

You’ll ensure that everything we do balances our need to conserve our heritage, with our need to continue to enhance our emotional engagement

What it’s like to work here
This role is based at our Central London hub, located just minutes from Victoria station. The London portfolio is rich and diverse and includes properties such as Osterley Park & House, Red House, 2 Willow Road, Sutton House and Rainham Hall, and in this role you will be at the forefront of developing our Curatorship and Community engagement at a number of these properties. So, this role will mean you are comfortable with the life and story of William Morris and the Arts & Craft movement at Red House, Tudor living and squatters at Sutton house, and/ or world class architecture inspired by Erno Goldfinger at 2 Willow Road. To top it all off, Rainham Hall is our programmable house, with a complete representation based on Vogue photographer Anthony Denney due to launch in June 2019, and Osterley, our largest property in London, is building on its vision for the future.

With so much opportunity, this role is all about working collaboratively with fellow specialists at properties, across our internal Consultancy and from your network, and bringing your expertise to the table for the benefit of those around the table, and of course our audiences. You will be based at Grosvenor Gardens, but spending time at properties is paramount, as will finding time to undertake research, writing and participating if not leading in workshops and team meetings. You will need be able to work efficiently, and ensure you provide value in all that you do.

If you are excited about making a real contribution to these properties and colleagues you’d be working with, then please get in touch or apply using the instructions below.
This post is for a fixed term only (12 months), working on part time, 22.5 hours per week.

Please note that we are currently recruiting for a number of Curator roles within the London & South East region, specifically based at our Saunderton, Wisley and London hubs. If you would like to be considered for more than one of our Curator positions, please attach a cover letter stating the roles in order of preference. Please search for IRC68618 for our Wisley Hub role and IRC67497 for our role at the Saunderton Hub.

What you’ll be doing
The role of the Curator in the Trust has huge variety. The portfolios you support may include country houses and their collections, but also gardens, landscapes and vernacular buildings. You’ll work with everything from farm equipment to musical instruments to old masters, the Trust’s collections in many areas being amongst the finest in the world.

You’ll ensure that everything we do balances our need to conserve our heritage, with our need to continue to enhance our emotional engagement with visitors, whilst retaining our “Spirit of Place” that makes each property unique.

Who we’re looking for
In order to be successful in this role you’ll need to have:

Experience of building relationships and of working collaboratively with a range of internal and external stakeholders in order to deliver curatorial outcomes
Significant knowledge across two or more of the following areas: history, art history, landscape, archaeology, architectural history, gardens/parks
Successful track record of leading high quality and creative interpretation, presentation and programming
Experience of commissioning, undertaking and disseminating research
Knowledge of current best practice in relation to care and management of buildings, landscapes, and collections care including Museum Accreditation standards
The ability to work in a matrix organisation, at pace and with a high workload

The package
Please note that the salary advertised is inclusive of an additional Inner London Weighting allowance of £4,465 per annum.

Looking after you

Health cash plan – from as little as £3.09 per month for you and your dependents
Pension contribution match up to 10%
EAP and proactive Health and Wellbeing
Discounted gym membership

Looking after your career