Museums Galleries Scotland is the National Development Body for the Scottish museums sector. We’re here to support more than 452 museums and galleries, whether through strategic investment, advice, advocacy, skills development or other means. We are a forward facing and inclusive organisation, committed to the ongoing development of a positive culture for our team.

We are looking for a Museum Development Manager to facilitate, promote and support development across the sector in line with Scotland’s Museums and Galleries Strategy. The strategy provides a framework for the sector and MGS to work to ensure the future relevance and resilience of the sector. It centres around three thematic strands of Connection, Resilience and Workforce.

We are excited to offer the opportunity of this post whose focus will be on Learning, Engagement and Wellbeing, linking to Education and Health & Wellbeing priority areas of the Connection strand. This role requires someone is knowledgeable and passionate about the role of museums in society and has a broad understanding of the wider education and health and wellbeing contexts in Scotland.

They will have the experience and knowledge to continue to build collaborative relationships, existing and new, and drive learning, engagement and wellbeing activities. You will actively champion MGS’s organisational behaviours both internally and externally.

The postholder will support the interconnected nature of the strands through working collaboratively with staff across the MGS team working specifically with colleagues in the Museum Development and Skills teams, bridging work and working across strands to support and advocate for the museums and galleries sector in Scotland.

The postholder will be proactive in supporting existing partnerships and relationships and developing new ones. Driving key strategic learning and engagement activities, the postholder will be collaborative, consultative and responsive to their approach in working with others.

The postholder will be knowledgeable and experienced in the museum and heritage sector, and able to collect, analyse and act upon relevant feedback, research and data.

It is anticipated that the postholder will hold a supervisory and supportive role within the organisation, relating to their work priorities, and although there are currently no line management responsibilities, leadership qualities would be expected when coordinating and working within specific projects and priorities.

Relationship building is a key part of the role, and developing links with stakeholders, e.g. Education Scotland, Public Health Scotland, Developing the Young Workforce, and other key partners, will be fundamental to successful and positive outcomes.

Museums Galleries Scotland is the National Development Body for the Scottish museums sector. We’re here to support more than 452 museums and galleries, whether through strategic investment, advice, advocacy, skills development or other means. We are a forward facing and inclusive organisation, committed to the ongoing development of a positive culture for our team.

This is an exciting time to join MGS as we embark on year two of Museum Futures, a programme created to accelerate collaboration, innovation, and organisational sustainability within the sector. It’s also the final year of Delivering Change, a collaborative programme to enable organisations to restructure based on anti-oppressive principles. Alongside this, we are working to strengthen and expand the impact of our advocacy work.

As Marketing and PR Officer, you will play a key role in delivering communications across these programmes, as well as a range of MGS projects.

A key support position within a busy Marketing and Communications team, you will contribute to and champion an integrated approach across the full marketing and communications mix. With a strong awareness of MGS and our key audiences, you will help implement relevant strategies, processes and activity that raise the profile of both Scotland’s museums and MGS, while also sharing best practice to support sector development.

The Marketing and PR Officer will be an experienced communicator with a positive, ’can-do’ attitude, who understands how to tailor activity to reach different audiences and is comfortable working with the media. Strong communication skills are essential, including the ability to give and receive constructive feedback.

The role also requires excellent organisational and administrative skills, with close attention to detail. The ability to multitask and demonstrate enthusiasm and initiative constitutes a natural part of the job.