Museum assistant jobs in london
Role Purpose
This is an exceptional opportunity to join the Royal Hospital Chelsea as Assistant Director of Audience Engagement on a fixed term contract to cover maternity leave. A core focus of the role is to develop the Royal Hospital Chelsea into a national heritage destination while ensuring our community of veterans remains at the heart of everything we do.
During this fixed term contract, you will be responsible for delivering our public engagement strategy, and drive visits to, and engagement with, the Royal Hospital Chelsea’s heritage, supporting sustained and manageable footfall and increased income through public programmes, secondary spend and commercial visitor opportunities.
You will oversee the successful delivery and operation of the new Visitor Centre within the recently restored Soane Stable Yard, ensuring the visitor experience both onsite and digital is inspiring, inclusive, and impactful. You will also lead our contribution to the Chelsea Heritage Quarter, including co-delivering the annual Chelsea History Festival, working alongside key partners: the National Army Museum and Chelsea Physic Garden.
This role carries senior leadership responsibility, including line management of a talented team covering public programmes, community engagement, visitor experience, and retail. You are also responsible for managing RHC’s relationship with a café concession. You will work closely with colleagues across the Royal Hospital Chelsea and externally to grow our public reach and income potential, positioning the Royal Hospital Chelsea prominently within London’s cultural landscape and the wider heritage sector.
About You
We are looking for an inspiring, strategic leader with a proven track record in the heritage, museums, or visitor attraction sector. You will bring significant experience in audience engagement or similar roles, including at least five in a senior leadership or management capacity. You will be adept at developing and delivering public-facing programmes, and leading a high-performing, multidisciplinary team.
The successful candidate will be a creative thinker with excellent communication skills, a strong grasp of commercial opportunities, and the ability to develop inclusive strategies that attract core, target, and hard-to-reach audiences.
About Us.
The Royal Hospital Chelsea, home of the iconic Chelsea Pensioners since 1692 provides both sheltered accommodation and full nursing care for up to 300 retired British Army veterans.
The ethos of the Royal Hospital is one that puts a premium on selflessness and companionship. Our values of nurturing belonging, respect individuals, encourage pride and enjoy life underpin that ethos. We are united in a shared purpose, living and working together and ensuring everyone has a place in our diverse social and military community.
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is dedicated to equality, diversity, and inclusion, where all backgrounds and abilities can reach their full potential. We pride ourselves on attracting a wide range of talent, removing potential barriers, and promoting equal opportunities. We know, the more varied and inclusive our teams are, the better our organisation will be for our community. We are a Disability Confident employer dedicated to hiring diverse talent and ensuring you are treated with respect throughout the recruitment process and upon joining our community.
Our selection process.
Should your application be successful you will be invited to a formal interview, where you will be asked questions relating to your experiences and key requirements of the role. If you are successful after the interviews, we will:
- Ask for references from those you have listed on your application form
- Check your right to live and work in the UK
- Check any declarations you have made on your application form
- Ask you to complete a medical form
- Carry out an Enhanced DBS application.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
To provide Army veterans with the support and comradeship they need in recognition of their service to the Nation and to safeguard their historic home
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
This is an exceptional opportunity to be at the heart of a truly exciting heritage restoration project to restore, renew and open up to new audiences, a nationally-important building in a thriving but economically and socially challenged central London neighbourhood.
In November 2024, St Peter’s Walworth submitted a First-Round application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for Development Phase funding for the “Building Beyond: Soane Reimagined” project. The request was for a First Round Pass of £3.1m and a Development Grant of £438,000. A decision was received by NLHF on 13th March 2025 and pending Permission to Start, the Development Phase is set to run for 18 months, at which point a Delivery Round application will be submitted to activate a Delivery Phase. Staff, a Design Team, a QS and specialist consultants will need to be competitively appointed to complete a list of required documents/studies for the Delivery application. Design development needs to be completed to RIBA Stage 3, planning, Faculty and consents need to be in place and all partnership funding raised or pledged.
Capital works are proposed to the exterior of the Church, respecting its heritage integrity, making it more sustainable and putting it in good order throughout. Similarly inside, where improvements will make the Church more welcoming, improving infrastructure and circulation and accommodating planned activities. Works will take place over the three floors: Crypt Basement, the Ground Floor and the Gallery/First Floor.
A full time Heritage Manager will need to be appointed at the beginning of the 18-month Development Phase. The successful candidate will provide leadership for the Project reporting to Claire Maugham (Chair of the Steering Group Committee) involved in strategic planning, management, execution, and coordination with internal and external stakeholders. In order to achieve the goals of St Peter’s Walworth, they will oversee design development to RIBA Stage 3 of “Building Beyond: Soane Reimagined” and oversee the preparation of key NLHF checklist documents, supporting on the roll out of a successful fundraising campaign - with a target to raise just over £1m working with a Fundraising Appeal Board, and a F/T Trusts and Foundations Manager.
The Heritage Manager will be a strategic thinker with an understanding of the planning and delivery of major projects funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). We are also looking for a candidate that will successfully integrate partnerships that are being forged in the local area. They should have a strong background in project management and possess the ability to move adeptly between big picture thinking and day-to-day operations, where it will be necessary, for example, to process their own admin.
The Heritage Manager will have some experience of fundraising, networking and financial management and be comfortable working in a start-up environment, being able to demonstrate experience of extensive community engagement, as well as an understanding of and empathy with the ambitions and vision of the St Peter’s Walworth PCC (Parochial Church Council) and the needs of a Grade 1 listed building.
They will bring an inclusive approach to their work, able to centre and involve the church and local community in the project while integrating the experience of a wide range of volunteer professionals
Their task will be ensure that the project is delivered within time and to budget in accordance with an agreed programme, budget and checklist of deliverables, as well as working closely with all project stakeholders and partners.
St Peter’s Walworth is an inclusive and welcoming Church. We seek candidates with the skills and experience required, irrespective of any protected characteristics, and encourage applications from all regardless of background. We are especially keen to receive applications from people who are members of communities minoritised and under-represented in the heritage sector. We are a Christian church but this role may be filled by someone of any faith or of none.
Please apply with a CV and cover letter outlining your experience and motivation for this role.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.