Beamish, the Living Museum of the North
Head of Partnerships and Communications
Job Description, Person Specification and Background Information
Issued 5th September 2013
Job title: Head of Partnerships and Communications
Grade: POF: £32,072 - £34,894
Responsible to: Museum Director
Line Management: Group/Venue Sales Team, Communications Team including Digital Communications Officer, Publications Officer and Marketing/PR Officer and a Partnerships Co-ordinator.
Key internal relationships: Assistant Director – Engagement; Assistant Director - Development; Finance Manager; Keepers of the Collections; Assistant Director – Resources.
Key external relationships: Members of Beamish’s Regional Stakeholder Group and Board; Local Authority and Corporate Partners/Donors; Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF); Arts Council England (ACE) and Major Partner Museum (MPM) partners; Friends of Beamish including the Business Friends.
Purpose: The management and co-ordination of Beamish’s regional, UK and EU partnership programmes; external communications/marketing; fundraising; and group/venue sales teams to support the priorities of Beamish’s Development and Engagement Plan (DEP) 2013-2025. Including in particular the development of HLF/EU/Trust and Foundations funding bids to support the Remaking Living Museum 1820 – 1950 project; ACE Creative People and Places project in East Durham; Local Authority partnerships working through a Regional Stakeholder Group; and ACE MPM programmes in a consortium with The Bowes Museum.
Duties & responsibilities of the post:
1. Management and leadership
· Lead project/delivery teams including Communications, Group & Venue Sales, Partnerships and Creative People and Places in East Durham.
· Ensure that the teams deliver the vision of Beamish’s Development and Engagement Plan (DEP) 2013-2025 and its three guiding principles: an immersive living museum that puts visitors first and uses its collections to tell stories; genuine community engagement enabling people to participate in the making of the museum; and self-reliance/entrepreneurial spirit.
· Encourage close collaboration and good teamwork across Engagement, Learning and Curatorial teams of staff/volunteers.
· Be a member of the Strategic Management Team (SMT) developing, delivering and monitoring the short, medium and long term development strategy for the Museum.
· Ensure quality systems, evaluation and operating procedures are in place to facilitate the smooth and timely delivery of projects.
· Responsible for the recruitment, training and development of employees, volunteers and placements in the teams and the assignment of resources to appropriate projects.
· Establish organisational and personal performance targets for the team, and monitor and evaluate progress, reporting to the Board of Beamish Museum.
· Act as Duty Officer as required
· Work in period costume when in front of the museum visitor at all times.
2. Communications
· Lead on the ongoing development Beamish’s bespoke audience segmentation and the understanding of the motivations of open air museum visitors, to inform and shape the communications/marketing plan as well as product development in the DEP, ensuring all activities meet identified audience needs/demand.
· Lead on the preparation of Beamish’s communications, branding and marketing strategies to deliver the ambition of Beamish’s DEP 2013 -2025.
· Lead and direct the Communications team who will deliver this communications strategy including officers managing the following functions: digital communications (websites/social media/apps); publications (magazines/guides/books); Marketing/PR (regional/national)
· Ensure activity effectively and creatively communicates Beamish’s brand and builds the living museum’s national/international profile, including carrying out research and development into new tourism markets such as China and India.
· Develop partnerships with outside organisations including Destination Management Organisations and VisitEngland to extend the museum’s reach and in particular to increase the proportion of international visitors.
· Develop and support a regional approach to the marketing and promotion of Beamish and the wider cultural tourism offer in the North East, working through the Association of North East Councils and L7.
· Develop transport links to the museum via the railway, bus and road networks, with a view to increasing the proportion of visitors from outside the North East.
· Lead on the investment in a new customer relationship management system to help the museum build its relationship with visitors, trust funds, donors and corporate clients.
3. Fundraising and Corporate partnerships
· Lead on the preparation of Beamish’s corporate, group and venue sales strategies, to support the priorities in the DEP 2013 - 2025.
· Lead and direct the Group/Venue Sales team who will deliver this strategy on a day-to-day basis including officers managing the following functions: Friends recruitment/donors; Business Friends donations/sponsorship; Venue hire (corporate/weddings); Group bookings; Education bookings.
· Assist the Director develop a robust and realistic fundraising strategy to support the ongoing operational improvements and major capital programmes in the DEP, including in particular the £16.5M Remaking Living Museum 1820 – 1950 project including bids to the HLF and EU.
· Assist the Director in the preparation of funding bids to public agencies including Local Authorities, ACE and HLF and lead on applications to Trusts/Foundations.
· Assist the Director and lead on the co-ordination of Major Partner Museum funding bids to ACE due in January 2014.
· Oversee detailed research into funding opportunities, spotting potential donors/funders in support of the priorities in the DEP.
· Oversee preparation of reports and impact studies to support funding applications, including those that will support bids to the EU Structural Funds in 2014/15.
4. External partnerships, support for other organisations and commissions
· Lead on communications and the coordination of all Beamish’s external partnerships and projects with Local Authorities and major funders including the HLF and ACE, building relationships and trust and ensuring Beamish’s reputation continues to build nationally/internationally.
· Develop Beamish’s Regional Stakeholder Group that has been established to engage all 12 Local Authorities in the North East and provide support/develop joint working and commissions that generate mutual benefits across a number of agendas including museum education, cultural tourism, business planning/strategy, and work with older people including those living with dementia.
· In line with the priorities of the DEP, respond to commissioning opportunities from a limited number of partners and provide support for other organisations, where Beamish has both the capacity to be able help and can clearly add value.
· Explore the development of external funding to support joint projects, bringing in resource to help partners work together to create mutual benefits
· Work with the Director to develop/engage international partnerships including with major open air museums in the EU, through the Creative Europe programme.
· Lead on the project management of the Creative People and Places programme for East Durham, which Beamish is leading from 2013 – 2016. Line manage the CPP team in East Durham and ensure Beamish fulfils its role as project manager/co-ordinator and in terms of community engagement/participation.
5. Financial responsibilities
· Responsible for overall budget control in respect of the Partnerships and Communications function with an activity budget of c. £200,000/yr.
· Ensure compliance with all Museum financial regulations, audit and management procedures.
· Work closely with the Assistant Director Resources and Finance Manager to agree budgets and ensure the financial delivery of these budgets and goals as laid out in the DEP.
· Carefully monitor income and expenditure in all operations/projects, to maximise return for use of Museum resources.
· Overall responsibility for the selection and management of all suppliers and/or sub-contractors in Partnership and Communications functions
· Ensure best value by monitoring ordering and procuring all services and supplies according to the Museum’s financial procedures.
6. General responsibilities
· Ensure Beamish develops through consultation with its audience and the communities it seeks to represent.
· Maintain and continue to develop good working relationships with external partners and funders.
· Give talks and lectures on the project to publicise the work of Beamish, including attendance at UK/EU partner conferences/network events.
· Sit on appropriate bodies and committees as agreed, to further the reputation of Beamish.
· Attendance at Regional Stakeholder and Beamish Museum Board, when required.
· To carry out the duties of the post in accordance with the Museum’s Equal Opportunity Policy, Code of Conduct and Health and Safety legislation and regulations.
The Head of Partnerships and Communications will from time to time be expected to carry out a range of other duties commensurate with the grade and falling within the scope of the post, as requested by management.
This post is subject to the Scheme and Conditions of Service of the National Joint Council for Local Authority Services.
Author: Richard Evans, Director
September 2013
Person Specification
Head of Partnerships and Communications
Criteria / Means of AssessmentSkills
Knowledge / An understanding of and commitment to Beamish and its core purpose/mission.
Outstanding written and oral communication skills, able to build relationships/partnerships and manage people effectively
Proven knowledge and skills in building effective external partnerships that deliver real benefits, including working with both public and private sectors
Proven knowledge and skills in preparing major fundraising campaigns/bids, ideally to Arts Council, HLF and/or EU.
Proven knowledge and skills/creativity in communications strategy, in a customer-facing tourism, arts or heritage organisation.
Strategic thinker – able to prepare detailed plans and reports with vision and flair.
Ability to create innovative marketing and fundraising campaigns and plan effectively, maintaining robust financial/budgetary controls.
Innovation/entrepreneurial skills - able to contribute effectively to future development programmes to enhance the museum.
Able to work with an attention to detail and a commitment to the highest possible quality standards.
Team building - ability to work as a team member and work collaboratively with staff and volunteers.
Self-motivated and able to work confidently and optimistically with a ‘can do’ attitude and a minimum of supervision.
Ability to develop staff and volunteers, assessing appropriate training needs / Interview
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Qualifications
Training / Educated to degree level, ideally in a relevant discipline (English/History/Marketing/Comms)
ICT skills including use of e-mail; internet; MS Word, MS Excel.
Project Management Training / Application form
Certificates
Interview
Experience / Proven and significant experience in building new partnerships, fundraising and/or communications ideally in the cultural sector.
Proven experience of developing strategic fundraising and communication plans.
Experience of managing teams of staff.
Proven experience of budget management / Interview
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Other requirements / An enthusiastic, ‘can do’ approach
Flexible approach to hours and prepared to work weekends, bank holidays and evenings as required.
Must be results oriented and able to see work through to a conclusion
Must be able to meet the travel requirements of the post / Interview
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Note to applicants:
You must show in your application how you specifically meet these requirements.
Author: Richard Evans, Director
September 2013
Also attached for information: DEP Summary including governance/staffing model
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