Director

Ripon Museum Trust is looking to appoint its first Director. The role will require strategic thinking, creative vision and inspired leadership combined with first-rate operational management. This is an exciting opportunity to lead the development of an independent museum trust with an established reputation for delivering three successful museums on the theme of poverty, law and order.

Who we are

The Trust operates three museums in restored historic sites with the aim of unlocking the stories they can tell. Collectively the museums provide a unique interconnected experience of poverty, law and order, an aspect of our history with great relevance to society today.

Ripon Museums have grown to be of regional importance and the Trust has twice been a finalist in the White Rose tourism awards for Yorkshire. The three sites – the Courthouse, Workhouse and Prison & Police Museums – now attract some 35,000 visits annually. Of these about 4500 are part of our very successful education programme. The Trust owns a collection of some 8000 artefacts mainly connected with policing. All three museums have Accredited status and the active support of a Museums Mentor professional.

Ripon Museum Trust is both a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. It has a board of nine trustees/directors who each champion areas of work. The staff team of three works closely with the trustees and around 120 volunteers. We run a regular programme of events and exhibitions. Our formal learning programme, for schools and adult groups, is nationally recognised - we hold the Sandford and Marsh Awards - and growing rapidly. The Trust has no regular source of external revenue funding and operates from its own earned income supplemented with grants for specific projects.

This is a time of change for the Ripon Museums as we look to expand operations further. We strive to innovate continuously using new technology as well as traditional methods. There is the possibility of greatly enlarging the Workhouse Museum by acquiring most of the remaining land and buildings. We have growing links with Ripon Cathedral following a successful ACE-funded joint education project and understand the value of more partnership working, for example with universities. Ripon Museums play their part in local and regional tourism promotion including the Discover Ripon consortium.

The Board has agreed a strategic plan to shape the Trust's development which recognises that volunteers will continue to play a major part in this. Leadership excellence will be the key to success, hence the wish to appoint a Director. The Arts Council for England has given its support by the award of a Museum Resilience Grant for a programme of leadership development due to begin this autumn and the Director will lead on its implementation.

The Trust's Strategic Plan including its vision to be “the most engaging and admired small museum in the country delivering our mission with pride and integrity” can be accessed from our website at http://riponmuseums.co.uk/docs/blog/rmt_plan_2014-20.pdf

The Job

With the support of the Board of Trustees, the Director will provide the creative vision and inspiring leadership to drive forward the Trust and its museums in line with the Strategic Plan.

He/she will head the staff team currently comprising a Volunteers Manager, a Learning Manager and several part-time casual staff. As the Trust's chief executive, he/she will be responsible for overall management of operations including physical, financial and human resources.

Priorities

Strategic Planning: Making the Strategic Plan a reality by allocating resources to achieve its aims, by monitoring progress and by looking ahead at the 'big picture' challenges and opportunities to update the Plan as needed.

Operational and Financial Planning to ensure the efficient delivery of services and projects within carefully-managed systems of cost control, income generation and project management and within current legal requirements. This will include finding and realising new funding opportunities, exploiting the opportunities of new technologies; challenging established ways of working; identifying and seizing opportunities for growth

Supporting staff and volunteers: Fostering an empowerment culture, by delegating responsibilities and authority appropriately; holding individuals accountable for specific and collective performance; and providing direction and enhancing morale.

Broadening and deepening our learning programmes to embrace a wider audience, often in new ways and with collaborative partners, and permeating a culture in the Trust as being a learning organisation.

Strengthening our collections care and interpretation by finding ways to bring in curatorial and interpretation skills to realise the potential of our physical and intellectual assets.

Enhancing the reputation of the museums through continued development in line with best practice and through the sharing of this with others. Opportunities for awards will be sought as appropriate to give tangible recognition of success.

Reporting to the Board (which meets normally six times a year) to provide trustees with the leadership and information to ensure good governance.

Who we are looking for

The Director will be an experienced leader with a proven record of successful management, ideally in the museum or cultural sector. We need someone who will be a passionate advocate for our cause as well as a practical problem-solver. He/she will have:

Energy, imagination and personality to lead and inspire all involved in the museums including staff and volunteers to realise their full potential

Commitment to the aims of the Trust demonstrated by an empathy with the subject area of poverty, law and order and of sharing this with the museums' growing audience.

Strong organisational skills with the ability to be effective under pressure and handle constant multitasking. Flexibility and a ‘can-do’ attitude will be necessary.

First rate project management skills to make best use of resources, delivering projects on time and to budget.

Excellent communication skills both written and spoken to ensure the proper running of the Trust and the promotion of its interests externally.

Tact, firmness and courage to take difficult decisions and to act decisively both to deal with problems and to realise opportunities.

Terms

Full time (37 hours per week) Occasionally there will be meetings or activities outside normal office hours.

Salary: £28 -30,00 depending on experience

Leave: 25 days plus bank holidays, with an expectation to work occasional bank holidays.

Location: Museum office at the Workhouse Museum

Duration: this is a permanent post following a six-month probationary period

Pension: a contributory pension scheme will be introduced during 2016

Responsible to: the Trust Board through the Chairman

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Criteria / Essential / Desirable
Qualifications/Attainments
Honours degree or equivalent
Post graduate qualification in museum studies and/or AMA status / X / X
Relevant Experience
Strategic decision making: corporate objectives, policies and strategies.
Business planning for income generation and managing budgets and resources
Proven leadership experience
Working with volunteers, including trustees.
Working in or with a museum or heritage attraction / X
X
X
X / X
Skills and competencies
Able to provide clear and positive leadership within an agreed framework.
Demonstrable day-to-day operational management capability.
Highly-developed organisational, planning and project management skills.
Fluency in modern ICT
Communication skills of a high order
Record of income generation via grants, fund raising, product development etc.
Strong grasp of museum good practice including Accreditation
Substantial advocacy abilities
Knowledge of the subject area of the museums – poverty, law and order / X
X
X
X
X
X / X
X
X