|
|
|
|
Job Title: |
Preston Museums Community Engagement Broker |
|
Organisation: |
Preston City Council
|
 |
|
Salary: |
£23,945 - 25,727 p.a.
|
| |
|
| Type:
|
Full-Time Position
Contract: to 31.03.2014
|
| |
|
|
Location: |
Preston, England
|
|
Closing Date: |
Wednesday, August 14th, 2013
|
|
Job Ref No: |
BAR002045 |
| | | | Other Benefits: | Occupational Pension | | | |
| |
|
Job Description: |
Community & Business Services. Could you spark new relationships between Preston’s museums and local communities?
We’re looking for someone to ‘make museums matter’ to people in the area – to spot opportunities and make them happen, as well as lay the groundwork for long and sustainable partnerships.
If you’re a persuasive advocate for both museums and for communities, experienced in high quality community engagement projects and passionate about creating opportunities for people using museum collections to inspire, we’d love to hear from you.
The successful applicant will be required to obtain a Disclosure and Barring Service certificate at enhanced level.
The post is based at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston and is funded by Arts Council England’s Renaissance Strategic Fund.
www.harrismuseum.org.uk
Interviews will be held on Wednesday, 4th September 2013.
JOB
OUTLINE Closing Date: 12 noon Wednesday 14 August 2013
Dept:
Community and Business Services Section:
Harris Museum and Art Gallery
Post No:
BAR002045 Designation:
Preston Museums Community Engagement Broker
Fixed Term Contract to 31 March 2014
Funded by Arts Council England’s Renaissance Strategic Support fund Grade: 8
SCP28-30
Purpose of Job:
• To make museums matter and place them at the heart of Preston’s communities as a focus for inspiring experiences for all.
Main Duties/Responsibilities:
• To develop new, deeper and sustainable opportunities and relationships between museums and communities on behalf of the Preston Museums Group.
• To be an inspiring and effective advocate for heritage services to a wide range of people and organisations, including community organisations, council services, health services.
• To challenge perceptions about museums and their services, both internally and externally, and inspire positive change.
• To work with access and audience development staff and build on the activities of existing networks.
• To plan, co-ordinate and deliver a programme of projects and activities in museums and in the community, leading on delivery as appropriate.
• To explore and identify funding for sustainable partnership working between museums and other organisations and services.
• To keep a record of activities, evaluate and report back findings to the PMG, making recommendations for further development beyond the project.
• To develop skills and share knowledge among PMG staff and other partners to ensure the sustainability of museums community engagement.
• To manage the budget allocated to the project.
• To represent the Preston Museums Group at events and meetings with a wide range of stakeholders.
• To undertake appropriate professional development activities and training.
• To carry out all duties in accordance with the policies of Preston City Council and Codes of Ethics of the Museums Association.
• To take reasonable care of the health and safety of self and others in accordance with the Health and Safety policy of Preston City Council
The successful applicant will be required to obtain a Disclosure and Barring Service certificate at enhanced level.
NB: Preston City Council is an equal opportunities employer and provider of services. The Council has a statutory duty to promote equality and all employees must be aware of that duty and work to the Council’s equality standards.
In addition, other duties at the same level of responsibility may be allocated at any time
Date Produced: July 2013
Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston
Information for Candidates:
Preston Museums Community Engagement Broker
Fixed term contract to 31 March 2014
About Preston Museums Group
Preston’s museums came together six years ago to develop co-ordinated projects around marketing, literacy, early years and family learning and to build shared audiences. Following the success of these projects, Preston Museums Group has evolved to maintain a collaborative and supportive partnership to develop the role and impact of museums in the city and surrounding areas.
Arts Council England’s Renaissance Strategic Support fund is supporting the post of Community Engagement Broker as a key element of a project to ensure the sustainability of Preston’s museums in the longer term.
Preston Museums Group is made up of:
• Harris Museum & Art Gallery
• Museum of Lancashire
• Lancashire Infantry Museum
• Ribble Steam Railway Museum
• South Ribble Museum.
Collectively we offer a wide range of opportunities for communities to be inspired by and engage with collections of local and regional history, military life, fine and decorative arts, industrial history and archaeology.
The Museum of Lancashire and the Harris recently carried out major projects involving substantial community consultation and input. Lancashire Infantry Museum is currently developing a similar project.
Further information about the museums can be found on our websites, www.harrismuseum.org.uk
www.lancashire.gov.uk/museums
www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk
www.ribblesteam.org.uk
www.southribble.gov.uk
The museums are also working together on a separate Heritage Lottery-funded project Preston Remembers to commemorate the impact of the First World War in Preston.
About the Harris Museum & Art Gallery
The Harris is an impressive Grade I listed building at the centre of the city on Market Square. It was built 125 years ago with the motto carved into its walls: ‘The mental riches you may here acquire abide with you always’. This remains a key driver in the Harris’ work to provide opportunities for people to be inspired in many different ways by the museum’s collections. There is also a library on the ground floor run by Lancashire County Council.
The Harris opened its new history gallery Discover Preston last year, which was designed to include and facilitate work with a range of audiences, in particular local communities. Over the past few years, the fine art and ceramics and glass galleries have also been redisplayed with a focus on visitors’ needs and interests. A varied programme of events and projects offers different ways of engagement with the collections, on and off-site.
About 220,000 visitors enjoy exhibitions and events at the Harris each year, and the visitor profile broadly reflects that of the local community. Families and local visitors are key target audiences and visitor numbers have grown substantially over the past 6 years.
The Harris is the lead partner for the Renaissance Strategic Fund project and is part of the Community and Business Services Department at Preston City Council, which is the employer for this post.
About Preston
Preston is at the heart of Lancashire – the county’s administrative centre and home to the University of Central Lancashire. It gained city status at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and every 20 years holds the UK’s only surviving Guild celebrations dating from the medieval period.
The city is bounded by the river Ribble to the south and includes a large rural area to the north. The wider urban area includes settlements such as Penwortham and Walton-le-Dale in South Ribble.
Preston has a diverse community, including people from the Caribbean and South Asia who came to work in the local industries and their descendants. The university attracts students from all over the world, in particular China, and is host to the Confucius Institute.
Preston is the 48th most deprived local authority area in the country (4th in
Lancashire) with life expectancy and employment both below average. The
most deprived wards are those nearest the city centre, where several of the museums are located. The area is also in the lowest 20% for engagement with the arts.
The most recent Preston Guild was celebrated in 2012 and there is a strong wish to maintain the cultural activity, partnership working and sense of community
About the post
We are committed to improving access to Preston’s museums and their collections through forging strong and sustainable links with local communities.
Each museum has its own target audiences and potential for engagement, and is seeking to increase its interaction with local communities. Our aim is to raise awareness of these opportunities among community stakeholders, opinion leaders and gatekeepers, so they can help us build new audiences while we help to deliver local priorities. We want to embed museums in the social, cultural and economic life of Preston by working in partnership and brokering new relationships and ways of working.
We’re looking for someone who is enthused by museum collections and local heritage and wants to use them to spark connections with local people and create a sense of place, inspiration and belonging. Preston’s museum collections span everything from local history to fine art and all have potential to connect in different ways with people.
You may have a background in museums already, or have been working closely with communities in other ways – the job is to bring those two aspects together, so you need to feel passionate about both. You will bring plenty of experience to the role, alongside a willingness to try new approaches.
You’ll be aware of research such as the Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Whose cake is it anyway?, and approaches such as the Happy Museum project and keen to seize the challenges identified.
You will champion and embed best practice in community engagement across Preston’s museums, identify efficient and sustainable strategies, and seize opportunities for potential funded partnerships.
You are as comfortable advocating to local community leaders, service commissioners and local government officers as you are creating and delivering inspiring projects with a wide range of audiences. You are passionate but pragmatic, prepared to push the boundaries but also realistic. You will help us generate frank and creative conversations between museums and communities, to build genuine engagement that is sustainable over the long term.
We are aiming to create a step change in positive perceptions of the city’s museums – can you help us deliver it?
Candidates should ensure that their application addresses the specified criteria listed in the Employee Specification and provides evidence of how they fulfil the requirements for the post. Applications must be submitted on the Preston CC form – CVs are not accepted.
July 2013
|
| |
| Required Skills: |
EMPLOYEE
SPECIFICATION Closing Date: 12 noon Wednesday 14 August 2013
Dept:
Community and Business Services Section:
Harris Museum & Art Gallery
Post No:
BAR002045 Designation:
Preston Museums Community Engagement Broker
Fixed Term Contract to 31 March 2014
Funded by Arts Council England’s Renaissance Strategic Support Fund
Grade: 8
SCP28-30
Qualifications:
E Degree in an appropriate subject area or substantial experience in a relevant role.
D Community work / development diploma.
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
E Extensive knowledge of best practice in community engagement.
E Knowledge at both a strategic and local level of the issues, needs, and barriers relating to community engagement with heritage organisations.
E Knowledge of the value of heritage services to communities and the potential for development.
E Commitment to equality of access to services and opportunities.
E Ability to communicate confidently and effectively – in writing and verbally – with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
E Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to network and build strong relationships with others at an organisational as well as personal level.
E Excellent negotiating and influencing skills.
E Ability to manage a budget.
E Ability to prioritise workload and keep to deadlines
Experience:
E Extensive experience of project working with a wide range of community groups or organisations.
E Engaging with museum services as a member of staff, partner organisation or user.
E Consultation with communities and stakeholders
E Managing a budget.
E Using different evaluation techniques and producing reports.
HD Working across several organisations and co-ordinating their efforts successfully.
HD Change management.
HD Securing funding for projects, in particular through commissioning.
HD Engaging with the diverse range of communities within Preston and an understanding of their needs.
Special Requirements:
E Ability to undertake evening/weekend work as required.
E Ability to travel to other museums as required.
E Ability to represent Preston Museums Group at appropriate meetings.
E Positive attitude to own professional development and willing to undertake training and
development activities.
NB E Essential
HD Highly Desirable
D Desirable
A Advantageous
Date Produced: July 2013 |
| |
| Application
Instructions: |
|
Apply on-line at www.preston.gov.uk/jobs alternatively telephone the 24 hour recruitment line on 01772 906914, quoting the vacancy reference number for an application pack. |
|
|
| |
|
Contact Name: |
Ms Sue Latimer |
| Contact
Tel: |
01772 905403 |
| Contact
Fax: |
01772 906822
|
| Contact
Email: |
s.latimer@preston.gov.uk |
|
Website: |
www.preston.gov.uk |
|
Address: |
Town Hall, Lancaster Road, Preston, . |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
