Curatorial Technician Assistant
London Transport Museum
London
Job Description
Job title: Curatorial Technician Assistant – London Transport Museum (LTM)
Salary: £23,275 – £25,725 PA, free travel on TfL services plus benefits
Location: Museum Depot at Acton
Contract Type: FTC – 12 Months
About London Transport Museum (LTM)
Based in Covent Garden, we are the world’s leading museum of urban transport and an award-winning day out. But that’s just part of our story. We are passionate. We are curious. We are adventurers.
As a heritage and education charity, we reach every primary school in the capital to fire the imaginations of tomorrow’s engineers, designers, scientists and arts enthusiasts. With business partners and industry decision-makers, we tackle the topics that matter to London, from smart cities to green innovation.
We want to close skills gaps, redress gender imbalance and create opportunities for under-represented and disadvantaged communities.
We want to ignite curiosity to shape the future.
Overview of project/role
This post will support the Lead Curatorial Technician and the wider Curatorial team with the provision of technical knowledge and expertise on the subject area of London Transport Museum (LTM) with a hands-on focus on the Museum's vehicle and engineering collections
The post holder will use their developing technical skills to help care for, restore, provide access to and operate LTM's vehicles and engineering collections. They will develop knowledge and skills in the history, maintenance and operation of this part of the collection, as well as contributing to its documentation and storage, including assisting with the movement of road and rail vehicles and heavy objects.
The role reports to and assists the Lead Curatorial Technician, who acts as the technical lead for the vehicles and engineering part of the collection. It also involves working with Curatorial staff and other relevant colleagues.
Key Accountabilities
• Work with Museum staff, volunteers and contractors to support the inspection and maintenance of heritage vehicles from the Museum’s collection, whilst adhering to recognised museum sector standards of preservation and care
• Support the delivery of vehicle restoration projects as required, developing responsibility for specific individual projects and tasks as appropriate
• Assist the Lead Curatorial Technician in ensuring work undertaken with specialist contractors and volunteers is delivered on time and to budget, taking responsibility for specific contractors and volunteer teams as required
• Document all aspects of work undertaken to collections using photography, film, digital platforms and other appropriate media to create a permanent record for future reference. Help to maintain accurate records on the Museum’s Collections Information Management System (IMS) database.
• Work with the Lead Curatorial Technician and other relevant Curatorial staff in collections vehicles participating in heritage events, sharing duties with Curatorial staff at events where necessary
• Support the Lead Curatorial Technician in liaising and working with museum practitioners and relevant organisations, so playing a part in contributing to the wider development of sector best practice (including but not limited to conservation of materials)
• Work in line with established safety standards so that the duty of care to collections, staff and Depot visitors is sustained
• Assist the Lead Curatorial Technician and colleagues in Venue Hire to provide technical support and access to vehicles and engineering collections for venue hire, filming and photography tasks as necessary, taking responsibility for individual venue hire requests when required
• Provide technical support to the wider Curatorial team as required, such as with moving large objects, supporting exhibition installs and carrying out a variety of collection-based tasks
• Assist the Lead Curatorial Technician in ensuring the museum’s workshop, track, related storage and equipment are well maintained and fit for purpose, taking on individual responsibilities as required
• Train, develop and share knowledge with colleagues as part of a learning culture that values continuous improvement and staff development across the department
Skills, Knowledge & Experience
Skills:
• Good oral and written communication skills (essential)
• Able to work on own initiative without supervision (essential)
• Team worker with good interpersonal skills (essential)
• Flexible and able to demonstrate a commitment to the broader objectives of the Curatorial team and the Museum (essential)
• Good IT skills, including working knowledge of Microsoft Office (essential)
• Forklift driving licence (desirable)
Knowledge:
• Some knowledge of working in a workshop engineering environment (essential)
• Some knowledge of automotive vehicle engineering (essential)
• Demonstrable desire to develop your own knowledge and skills in relevant areas (essential)
• Keen interest and enthusiasm for museums and the heritage sector (essential)
• Awareness of Health & Safety and safe working (essential)
• Developing knowledge of the basics of electricity, e.g. how electricity is generated, stored, measured, use of measuring instruments and testing of circuits (desirable)
• Developing knowledge of construction materials, including an understanding of the properties of materials (desirable)
Experience
• Developing experience of engineering workshop practice and basic maintenance of motor vehicles (essential)
• Developing experience of computerised databases and museum information management systems (desirable)
• Experience of working in a museum or related heritage sector environment with operational historic road and/or rail vehicles (desirable)
• Developing knowledge of current Museum sector standards in collections documentation, management and care (desirable)
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair.
Application Instructions
Application Process
Please apply using your CV and a one page covering letter. Word format ONLY and do not include any photographs or images
Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV and cover letter. Word format ONLY and do not include any photographs or images
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 27th March 2023 @ 23:59
Benefits
In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow. Rewards vary according to the business area but mostly include:
• Final salary pension scheme
• Free travel for you on the TfL network
• Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home
• 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
• Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
• Retail, health, leisure, and travel offers
• Discounted Eurostar travel.
Fixed term contract for 12 months
As a fixed term contractor we can offer you a choice of pension arrangements. If you choose not to take our final salary pension scheme you will be paid an allowance on top of your salary, subject to Tax and National Insurance. We will share all the details with you at offer stage and the choice will be yours based on your circumstances. Depending on what you choose you can add up-to 14% to your salary.