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St Paul's Cathedral - Collections Care Manager
Vacancy Reference cofe/TP/153/7479
Number of Positions:
1
Contract Type:
Employee
Contract Details:
Permanent
Salary/Stipend:
£21,080 per annum (£35,133 per annum FTE) plus benefits
Working Hours:
Part time, 21 hours per week
Location:
London
Closing Date:
08/09/2024
Vacancy Category:
Library Services
Business Unit:
St Paul's Cathedral
Organizational Unit:
Cathedrals
Introduction
We are currently seeking a Collections Care Manager to join our Collections Department on a part-time basis in one of the most iconic buildings in the world, St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Collections Department works with care and imagination to be part of a centre for welcome, worship and learning which inspires successive generations to engage with the richness of the Christian faith and its heritage. We seek to engage and inspire the public; preserving the cathedral collections for successive generations and maximising their potential as a rich resource for exploring and promoting the life and work of the Cathedral and the heritage of the Christian faith.
The Objects, Archive and Library Collections of St Paul’s are a remarkable body of material which collectively help to record and illustrate the history of the Cathedral and the Church of England. The object collection includes: architectural models, paintings prints and drawings, monuments and mosaics; the archive comprises approximately 7,000 plans, drawings and documents; the library houses approximately 13,500 books and manuscripts dating from 1200-2024. Some are retired to store for use in display and loan while others are in regular use as part of the busy working life of the Cathedral.
The principal aims and purpose of the Collections Department are:
- To fulfil the Cathedral statutory obligations in relation to inventory keeping, conservation practice and collections management.
- To advise on and enable appropriate use of the collections.
- To use the collections to deliver public and social engagement.
The Collections Care Manager plays a central role in ensuring that the Cathedral’s internationally significant collections are appropriately used and cared for. Responsibilities range from day-to-day preventive measures to special projects for the remedial conservation of individual objects, salvage planning and risk management. The work requires excellent advocacy and interpersonal skills; collaboration with the Cathedral’s Works Department and external specialists.
Main Duties
- Work with the Head of Collections to produce a conservation management plan for the Cathedral’s historic collections.
- Complete care plans and regular condition checks on items designated as being of outstanding historical significance.
- Maintain policies and procedures for collections care and disaster response.
- Provide conservation advice for collections-related major projects.
- Create documentation for the conservation permissions process.
- Manage the remedial conservation of inventoried items by external specialists.
- Create and maintain documentation associated with conservation work.
- Manage and report on environmental monitoring and Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
- Provide condition reports and advice associated with displays and loan requests.
- Oversee installation of incoming and outgoing loans.
- Advocate for, and provide training on, best practice to stakeholders across the Cathedral collections.
- Liaise with Collections Department colleagues in connection with the care of the Library and Archives.
- Participate in conservation-based visitor engagement activity.
- Work with volunteers on aspects of collections care including the Cathedral Broderers.
- Assist with fundraising visits as required.
- Any other appropriate duties that the line manager, senior management or Chapter may request from time-to-time.
Person Specification
Essential
- A proven manager of collections care in an historic environment.
- An ability to champion fantastic collections care and practice.
- A recognised qualification in conservation or equivalent experience.
- Experience of conservation work within a museum or cultural heritage organisation.
- Excellent conservation skills including collection surveys, collections risk management and preventive conservation tasks.
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Demonstrable planning, resourcing and prioritisation skills.
- Demonstrable knowledge and practical application of current Health and Safety practice, including awareness of collections-based hazards.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively and collaboratively as a member of a team.
- Confident, clear and effective communication skills both verbal and with a good standard of written English.
- Good IT skills in Microsoft applications.
- Demonstrable research and documentation skills.
Desirable
- ICON accreditation.
- Proven conservation experience in a similar context with relevant specialist conservation skills.
