Graphic Designer

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 900 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

Join the NHM Design Studio as a graphic designer and play a crucial role in shaping design outputs across print, digital and spatial interfaces. Implementing our visual identity, you will build on our brand strategy which seeks to address the challenges of the planetary crisis and contribute to our vision to create advocates for the planet. You will closely collaborate with other designers to translate this vision using brand assets to develop appropriate expressions through designing museum collateral such as posters, invites, digital assets and exhibition graphics. You will be researching, sketching, and rolling out design ideas and execute them for the broad range of audiences.

NHM Design Studio is a full-service creative in-house design studio. We work with many different teams throughout the museum, across three broad key areas: Graphic design and brand, and temporary exhibition and permanent spaces design.

We transform the face, fabric, and structures of one of the world’s most famous museums. We set the design vision, deliver design projects, and encourage design excellence in the museum. We support the museum’s activities through multiple outputs including campaigns, exhibitions, permanent galleries, our brand and more. We are brand guardians for the museum. We promote the coherence of our visual identity across all our platforms.

We work integrated with other teams and departments, collaborating to meet daily challenges. We are flexible, able to work according to the pace of the organisation. We work iteratively, based on research, constantly refining our processes and adapting to the museum’s changing needs. Due to our unique position, as part of the museum, we harness organisational knowledge to ask the right questions and deliver appropriate design solutions.

The design studio is situated on the fifth floor overlooking the recognisable towers of our building in South Kensington and is at the heart of everything public facing at the Natural History Museum. As well as designing, you will provide project administration and programming, being responsible for day-to-day project delivery coordination.

About you

The successful candidate will have a keen interest in graphic design and up to date knowledge of current trends in design with excellent typographic skills, comfortable working in both digital and printed media. As a critical thinker you have the ability to challenge briefs and get the most out of projects through diplomacy and your proven collaborative work ethic. You will be able to plan and deliver a diverse workload against competing deadlines.

Your work demonstrates passion for branding and of best practice in design for digital, print and spatial graphic applications, with up to date knowledge of accessibility design principles. You have in depth knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud applications which enable you to develop ideas and present them in a clear and engaging way. You care for your craft and execute your work with meticulous attention to detail.

We are looking for candidates whose interest it is to work in museums, arts and culture and are passionate about sustainable working practices. You’ll have relevant practical experience and a degree or equivalent, in graphic design or relevant subject.

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, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.