Gallery Lead (NHM150)

About Us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.  

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 1100 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

Our ambitious programme of new galleries plays a central role in delivering our strategy and mission.  This is an exciting opportunity to support the development of the Museum’s public offer by leading the interpretation and creative development of gallery projects. 

Gallery Lead  will be responsible for the interpretation, creation and curation of gallery projects. They will provide end-to-end creative oversight, ensuring continuity, clarity and accountability of the project vision from initiation through to delivery. 

They will lead the development and implementation of this interpretation and creative vision through the relevant creative work-streams, ensuring that galleries meet audience needs and align with the Museum’s strategic priorities. 

About you

This is an exciting role for a candidate with substantial interpretation experience and a strong track record in overseeing creative content for exhibitions, galleries, capital projects or other public-facing initiatives. facing initiatives.  

You will have experience in delivering intellectually robust research—whether in an academic or museum context—alongside experience defining, developing and delivering creative content for galleries through RIBA work stages, and leading a team.

You will have experience shaping gallery visions and interpretation strategies, developing interpretation plans, and producing well-researched, audience focused text. Your creative mindset will translate research and collections into compelling visitor experiences, aligning design, interpretation and all creative work packages to deliver a coherent and impactful project vision. 

You will be highly organised, confident in managing competing priorities and schedules, and motivated by a strong interest in science, public engagement and the challenges facing the natural world today. 

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

Find out more here

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events.  We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role - a minimum of three days each week.