Job title: Learning and Access Officer (Membership)
Salary: SO2 £37,280 - £39,152
Hours: 37
Contract: Temporary until 31 March 2028
Location: Leeds Discovery Centre, with some hybrid working as necessary
As the Learning and Access Officer (Membership) at Leeds Discovery Centre you will thrive on making museum collections accessible to all. Can you come up with a participatory activity to find out what a stuffed cheetah might be thinking with a class of schoolchildren? Can you talk to senior school leaders confidently about their curriculums and link this to museum collections? Can you develop loans boxes of accessioned objects and manage a school membership scheme?
Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.
About you
As the Learning and Access Officer at Leeds City Museum, you will be:
- A skilled facilitator and be able to develop, deliver and evaluate differentiated, accessible workshops, programmes and resources (including digital) for schools, families, adults and communities.
- A confident communicator with a strong knowledge of the primary National Curriculum and have experience of object-based learning
- Highly organised and be able to juggle the practicalities of group visits, events and multiple conflicting audiences.
- Able to work with the venue team, and wider Learning and Access, Collections and Commercial teams, and the wider public, to develop innovative programmes and interpretation.
- Curious, responsive and adaptable to existing and new audience needs and interests.
About the role
As the Learning and Access Officer (Membership) you will develop, administer, deliver and evaluate the Leeds Museums and Galleries school membership scheme, including loans boxes into schools, teacher CPD and whole school curriculum planning. You will lead high quality; differentiated and accessible, collection focused learning and interpretative programmes for audiences at the Discovery Centre and on outreach into targeted schools, and be responsible for income generation. You will supervise volunteers and casual delivery staff and collaborate with colleagues on site and across the service to build on the existing learning programmes. You will be qualified to degree-level, or similar vocational qualification, with hands-on teaching or museums experience.
The role is integral to our Leeds Discovery Centre and Learning and Access teams. Learning is at the heart of Leeds Museums and Galleries. We welcome, inspire and engage diverse audiences with collections and exhibitions and enable people to build their own interpretations. We are a strong Learning and Access team, who are leaders in the field of museum and gallery learning. We develop innovative ways of celebrating material culture using object and artwork learning and robust, research orientated practices. As a team, we focus on the three C2 Curiosity, Creativity and Conversation.
If you want to hear a little more about the role, watch the recruitment film here: https://youtu.be/OFCsVe6phqE
What we offer you
We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:
- a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
- membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
- flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
- a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
- a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further
How to apply
Please complete the online application form.
Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.
If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role, please contact Kate Fellows, Head of Learning and Access. Email kate.fellows@leeds.gov.uk, or call 07891276891.
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.
We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.
This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.
If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visaroute before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.
Job Description
Job Purpose
Leeds Museums and Galleries is the largest local authority museum service in the country with 1.3 million objects, and over 1.4 million visitors per year to the nine museum and gallery venues across Leeds. Our reach is local, regional, national and international.
Learning is at the heart of Leeds Museums and Galleries. We welcome, inspire and engage diverse audiences with collections and exhibitions and enable people to build their own interpretations. We are a strong Learning and Access team, who are leaders in the field of museum and gallery learning. We develop innovative ways of celebrating material culture using object and artwork learning and robust, research orientated practices. As a team, we focus on the three C′ Curiosity, Creativity and Conversation.
The Learning and Access Officer (Membership) develops, administers, delivers and evaluates the Leeds Museums and Galleries school membership scheme, including loans boxes into schools, teacher CPD and whole school curriculum planning. They manage high quality; differentiated and accessible, collection focused learning and interpretative programmes for audiences at the Discovery Centre and on outreach into targeted schools. They are an active part of the site management team and contribute to service development through long term development of interpretation, access, learning programmes, digital resources and sustainable, and development of ethical income strands.
Responsibilities for Grade:
The post is funded by Arts Council England.
We expect the Learning and Access Officer (Membership) to develop, deliver, manage, market, evaluate, interpret and research, high quality, accessible, collection-based learning and participation programmes at the Discovery Centre (and on outreach into settings) focussing on primary and secondary schools, teachers and trainee teachers, families, further and higher education students and tutors, adults and other cultural professionals. This is approximately 40% of the role. Our audiences are local community based, city and region wide, national and international.
The post holder is responsible for the development and delivery of the LMG school membership scheme. This is approximately 60% of the role.
- Develop, administer, deliver, manage, market and evaluate the Leeds Museum and Galleries school membership scheme. Including to:
- Manage school relationships
- Work with school leadership on their whole curriculum planning for foundation and arts subjects
- Produce loan boxes and associated teaching resources (including digital) with collections and digital colleagues
- Deliver related teacher CPD and outreach into targeted schools
- Administer the systems and processes, income generate through the scheme, market and evaluate
To do this, the postholder will:
Audiences:
- Co-create with audiences robust, collection focussed learning programmes, including workshops, classroom resources and teacher CPD (eg. working formatively with teachers to create National Curriculum focussed loan boxes, school programmes and teacher training)
- Manage the practicalities of a group visit to Discovery Centre (including marketing, bookings, spaces, site liaison, collection liaison, planning for learning, differentiation, risk assessments, management of casual staff and volunteers, evaluation and feedback)
- Deliver learning programmes as targeted outreach into settings and schools
- Be a skilled facilitator and actively deliver differentiated, accessible workshops, programmes and resources (including digital resources) for schools, families and adults
- Be responsive and adaptable to existing and new audience needs and interests
- Deepen, widen and diversify reach of audience engagement and participation
Access:
- Working alongside site and collection colleagues, ensure accessibility and inclusivity within our spaces, collections, digital resources and programmes (including intellectual, physical and sensory, attitudinal and emotional, cultural and financial access)
- Be an access champion at the Discovery Centre, and empower others to be, by exploring and co-creating new ways of interpreting the collections to engage with the widest possible audience
- Understand and implement the access interpretation policy. Contribute to research and write accessible interpretive text for marketing, learning resources, exhibitions, and professional publications
Venue and service development:
- Work within the site management team, and the wider service, to develop the Discovery Centre (including developing audiences and events, access and interpretation, and financial sustainability)
- Advocate for audience facing activity to embed object and artwork-based learning at the heart of our museums and galleries
- Participate fully in service or site wide action research about learning and engagement, to ensure robust, innovative, audience need driven practices, and share across the service and sector
Management:
- Manage the LMG school membership, loan boxes and curriculum planning programmes
- Plan, co-ordinate and deliver targeted schools outreach programmes
- Recruit, manage and train casual and project staff
- Supervise work experience students, volunteers and higher education student placements (ITT students, MA students)
- Manage delegated and project budgets, reporting to external funders and stakeholders as necessary
- Generate sustainable income (through school membership and programming) and fundraise for projects
- Manage short and long term projects (internally and externally funded)
- Deliver accurate performance data on learning programmes and activities
- Be able to work independently and have excellent time management and prioritising skills in a demanding environment
Relationships:
- Work closely with site team, collections, conservation, digital, commercial, audience development and other service wide teams to ensure smooth operation of learning programmes (e.g. ensuring spaces and objects are available, and learning programmes are co-delivered and sustainable)
- Work closely to build and maintain relationships with schools as part of the membership scheme to ensure co-creation of content and programmes
- Actively participate as a member of the LMG Learning and Access team in developing new strands of work, programmes, projects and action research
- Develop and grow regional, national and international partnerships with arts and cultural organisations, academic institutions and third sector / community partners to collaborate, share learning, and develop robust practices and programmes
Personal development:
- Be curious. Be open to new experiences, taking risks, working creatively and being reflective. Be passionate about the power of object learning, and innovative in its uses with audiences. Be resilient and proactive.
- Participate in local and national networks, discussions and agendas (e.g. GEM, Engage, Leeds based networks) to learn, develop and test new ways of working
- Develop an object learning and/or audience specialism through programmes, projects, action research and training, and disseminate good practice (e.g. through training, publications, conference papers)
Leeds City Council:
- Promote an outward looking, positive image of the service at all times
- It everyone responsibility to keep people safe. Promote, adhere to and apply consistently, the Leeds Safeguarding Boards and Leeds City Council Safeguarding, Equality and Diversity and Health and Safety policies and procedures with colleagues, partners and members of the public. Be responsible for your own H&S at work
- Champion Leeds as a Child and Age Friendly City
- Leeds wants to have a strong economy and to be a compassionate city. Promote and adhere to the Leeds City Council values of working as a team; being open, honest and trusted; working with communities; treating people fairly and spending money wisely
- To undertake any other duties as commensurate with the grade
Qualifications:
Educated to degree level or vocational qualification (C), or relevant equivalent experience.
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: It is essential that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate on the application form that they meet all the essential requirements.
Skills Required:
Communication:
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal)
- Excellent presentation and report writing skills
Interpersonal:
- Proven track record of facilitating a wide range of lifelong learning audiences, individually and in groups (differentiation and accessibility) using object and artwork based learning
- Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with colleagues (LMG / LCC), external partners (inc. schools), funders and stakeholders
Time management:
- Track record of prioritising and managing a diverse and demanding workload (meeting targets and deadlines.
Teamwork:
- Ability to work effectively as part of complex, multi-layered teams (site, learning, service, project teams.
- Ability to manage, motivate and develop teams and individuals
Digital:
- Use of word processing software (such as Microsoft Office, Outlook)
Knowledge required:
Audiences:
- Good working knowledge statutory education needs and success criteria (National Curriculum for England, and current exam board specifications, HE / FE)
- Good working knowledge of current theory, policy and practice in museum / gallery learning, and of best practice in object based learning with a range of audiences
- Knowledge of working with diverse and / or non-engaging audiences
Access:
- Clear understanding of what accessibility means in a museum / gallery environment
Service development / management:
- Clear understanding of the standards and targets which relate to delivering a successful museum / gallery learning programme
Experience required:
Audiences:
- Experience of developing engaging and accessible learning programmes and resources (including digital resources.
- Experience of delivering learning activities to a diverse range of audiences, or teaching, within in a heritage or education context
- Experience of delivering targeted outreach programmes
- Experience of managing a loans box / membership scheme
Relationships:
- Experience of maintaining relationships and direct contact with customers / stakeholders, through marketing, and service delivery (taking and managing bookings.
- Experience of developing and maintaining effective partnership working
Behavioural & other Characteristics required:
Personal development:
- Commitment to own CPD and personal development
- Willing to work creatively and innovatively, and open to new ideas
- Passionate about the power of object learning (collections focussed.
- Self-motivated, independent learner, with the ability to use own initiative
- Demonstrate a strong interest in the work of Leeds Museums and Galleries
- Willing to abide by Leeds Safeguarding Board policies and procedures
- Willing to abide by the Council Equality and Diversity policy in the duties of the post, and as an employee of the Council
- Willing to carry out all duties having regard to an employee responsibility under the Council Health and Safety Policies
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS: It is desirable that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates are not required to meet all the Desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between acceptable candidates.
Desirable skills:
Management:
- Track record of managing casual and project staff, and volunteers
- Track record of project management
- Track record of managing delegated and project budgets
Digital:
- Use of social media, blogs and editing software
Desirable knowledge:
Audiences:
- Knowledge of learning styles and theories in museum / gallery learning
- Knowledge of digital learning resources and strategies
Desirable experience:
Experience:
- Experience of marketing learning programmes and audience development
- Experience of evaluating programmes and projects (planning, devising and delivery of evaluation using ACE Quality Principles, GLOs and GSOs and longitudinal action research.
Management:
- Experience of staff and volunteer management
- Experience of budget management
Desirable characteristics:
- Flexible approach to working hours
