ADMINISTRATOR (FULL TIME)
Job description – October 2009
This document contains the following information:
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2.
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7.
Duties and responsibilities of the post
Person specification
Details of the post
Museum mission and mandate
Background to the Jewish Museum London
The Jewish Museum Development Project
Equal Opportunities Policy and Monitoring Form
To apply, please send your current CV and a cover letter, explaining your interest in this post and
relevant experience and qualifications, together with details of at least two referees, your current
salary and information regarding your availability.
To assist us in arranging interviews, please note if there are any dates when you will be
unavailable for interview as a result of holiday arrangements.
Please also indicate if there are any restrictions on you taking up employment in the UK and, if so,
provide details.
The Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form should be completed and included with your application.
Applications should be sent either via email to admin@jewishmuseum.org.uk or to Mrs Esther
Nelkon, Jewish Museum, 129-131 Albert Street, London, NW1 7NB.
The closing date for applications is Friday 6 November.
For further information about the Museum, please visit our website www.jewishmuseum.org.uk
THE JEWISH MUSEUM
ADMINISTRATOR (FULL TIME)
The Jewish Museum requires an Administrator to provide general administrative, secretarial
support and assist in the efficient running of the museum.
This is a wide-ranging role to provide administrative support to the museum and assist in the
efficient working operation of the museum as it continues its programme of expansion.
The Administrator will be responsible to the Head of Operations, but will work closely with other
members of the museum team. The role is anticipated to develop over time as the museum
completes its development phase and reopens to the public.
Responsibilities of the post include:
The Administrator will be responsible for the following duties:
1. To assist the Head of Finance as required, including regular banking and preparing
cheques for signing.
2. To raise sales invoices and assist with credit control.
3. To maintain the museum’s fundraising, marketing and education database, and to produce
and distribute reports as required.
4. To manage the museum’s Friends administration, including sending out subscription
reminders and processing renewals.
5. To manage and coordinate education group bookings.
6. To take event bookings and process payments.
7. To take and process shop sales orders and bookings for travelling exhibitions.
8. To coordinate room bookings throughout the museum.
9. To keep files organised and filing up to date.
10. To arrange meetings and to set up and clear away after meetings as required.
11. To help coordinate mailings and collate content as required.
12. To provide the general administration of the museum, including answering the phone, some
typing, photocopying, ordering stationery supplies and dealing efficiently with incoming and
outgoing mail.
13. General participation in the work of the Museum, and any other related duties that may
reasonably be required.
Qualifications
Excellent communication, organisational and computer skills are required for this post, including a
very good knowledge of Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel, as well as experience of computer
database programmes. Good interpersonal skills and an ability to work in a team are also
essential.
Person Specification
Essential
Desirable
Excellent organisational and administrative skills and
meticulous attention to detail
Excellent understanding of databases and database
maintenance
Ability to prioritise and work to tight and changing
deadlines
Good telephone manner
Good team-working skills and a ‘can do’ flexible
approach
Good written, numeracy and oral communications skills
Advanced computer skills including MS Excel and the
internet.
Sound knowledge of MS Word and Outlook.
An interest in museums and/or charities
Empathy with The Jewish Museum’s purposes
Hours of Work
Full time.
Occasional out-of-hours work will be requested, but time off will be offered in lieu.
Salary
£21,000 per annum
Holidays
Holiday entitlement: 20 days per year with an additional allowance for public holidays and Jewish
festivals, increasing to 22 days after two calendar years.
MUSEUM MISSION AND MANDATE
Mission
The Jewish Museum aims to explore and preserve Jewish heritage, celebrate diversity and challenge
prejudice.
Mandate
The Jewish Museum collects, preserves, interprets and exhibits material relating to Jewish history,
culture and religious life. It draws on the Jewish experience as a focus for the exploration of identity in a
multicultural society, actively engaging with the shared experiences represented in the diverse cultural
heritage of London, Britain and the wider world. As a forum for education, learning and interfaith
dialogue, the museum encourages understanding and respect by challenging stereotypes and
combating prejudice in all its forms.
Background to The Jewish Museum
Founded in 1932, the Jewish Museum relocated in 1995 to an elegant, early Victorian listed building in
the vibrant neighbourhood of Camden Town. In the same year it amalgamated, on a two-site basis, with
the former London Museum of Jewish Life, in Finchley. Following the amalgamation, the museum
operated as a single organisation with a unified management structure, but with two locations (the
Jewish Museum - Camden Town and the Jewish Museum - Finchley), with complementary collections,
displays and activities. In September 2007, both sites of the museum closed in preparation for a major
capital development project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The museum plans to reopen on a
single expanded site in Camden Town in Spring 2010, bringing all collections and activities together for
the first time.
The museum’s collections cover Jewish history, culture and religious life in Britain and beyond. The
Judaica collections have been awarded Designated status by the Museums Libraries & Archives Council
in recognition of their outstanding importance as part of the national heritage, and are widely considered
to be one of the world’s finest collections of Jewish ceremonial art. The history collections span from the
medieval period through to the present day, preserving the diverse roots and heritage of different waves
of Jewish migration to Britain, with a particular emphasis on the Jewish East End of London and the
experience of refugees from Nazism.
Since the merger, the museum has built up a wide range of exhibitions and activities, including an
acclaimed programme of Holocaust and anti-racist education, Discovering Judaism programmes for
young people and events for all ages.
The Jewish Museum Development Project
The Jewish Museum has acquired additional premises adjoining its Camden site, enabling it to
consolidate its activities on one site and is now in the final stages of a major development project,
supported by a £4.2m Heritage Lottery Fund grant, and partnership funding raised from individuals,
trusts and foundations. This £10m project will allow the museum to:
 Integrate the collections, displays and activities previously divided between its Camden and Finchley
locations
 Provide much-needed additional space for enlarged and improved permanent and temporary
exhibition galleries, and for educational facilities
 Enhance its role as a major cultural and educational resource contributing to interfaith understanding,
anti-racist education and cultural diversity
The new museum is scheduled to open in Spring 2010 and will accommodate the following facilities:
Welcome Gallery
 Multimedia installation highlighting the diverse backgrounds and multi-faceted identities of Jewish
people in Britain today
 A medieval mikveh, excavated in 2001 in the City of London – a key exhibit illustrating the long
history of Jewish settlement in Britain
History: A British Story
 Vibrant, interactive exhibition, illustrating the diverse roots and history of Jewish people, as part of
Britain’s diverse cultural heritage
 Lively and evocative displays on Jewish migration from around the world, the East End, refugees
from Nazism and many other areas of British Jewish history, drawing on our wide-ranging collections
of photographs, testimonies and artefacts
Judaism: A Living Faith
 Displaying and interpreting the Museum's outstanding collection to illustrate Jewish religious life in the
context of living Judaism today
 Engaging audio-visual displays and interactive hands-on displays, including an immersive Sabbath
experience
Holocaust Education Gallery
 Building on our highly acclaimed Holocaust and anti-racist education programmes and displays
 Based on testimonies of survivors and refugees who settled in Britain
Changing Exhibitions Gallery
 To show wide-ranging exhibitions including high profile displays from international venues such as
the Jewish museums of the world, and to provide extra space for the Museum’s own highly regarded
exhibition programme
Displays for Children and Education Space
 Hands-on displays for children and families throughout the galleries
 Dedicated Education Space for school visits and creative workshops
Research Library and Stores
 Photographic archives, collections and print stores
Auditorium
 A 100-seat multipurpose auditorium to house a wide variety of educational activities and cultural
events
A new Café and enlarged Shop
 Attractive café providing visitors with an opportunity to sample Jewish food
 Enlarged shop stocking books and gifts, including high quality contemporary Judaica
THE JEWISH MUSEUM
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY
1. Statement of Policy
The Jewish Museum endeavours to be an equal opportunity employer and has a policy for this purpose.
The aim of the policy is to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less than favourable treatment on
the grounds of sex, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, age, marital status, sexual orientation or
disability or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be seen to be justifiable.
This policy covers all aspects of employment including vacancy advertising, selection, recruitment, training,
conditions of service and reasons for termination of service.
To ensure that this policy is operating effectively and for no other purpose the museum maintains records of
employee’s racial origins, gender and disability. The museum will ensure that there is ongoing monitoring
and analysis of such records to provide the basis for appropriate action to eliminate unlawful direct and
indirect discrimination and promote equality of opportunity.
The Museum Director is responsible for the effective operation of the Jewish Museum’s Equal Opportunities
policy. A copy of the Jewish Museum’s Equal Opportunities policy is available from the Museum Director.
2. The Policy
2.1 Vacancy Advertising
Wherever possible all vacancies will be advertised simultaneously internally and externally. Steps will be
taken to ensure that knowledge of vacancies reaches underrepresented groups internally and externally.
All vacancy adverts will include an appropriate short statement on equal opportunity.
2.2 Selection and Recruitment
Selection criteria (job description and employee specification) will be kept under constant review to ensure
they are justifiable on non-discriminatory grounds as being essential for the effective performance of the job.
At least two people must be involved in the selection interview and recruitment process, and should have
received training in equal opportunities. Reasons for selection and rejection of applicants must be recorded.
2.3 Personnel Records
In order to ensure the effective operation of the equal opportunities policy and for no other reason a record
will be kept of all job applicants’ and employees’ racial origins and disability.
Where necessary employees will be able to check/ correct their own record with regard to equal
opportunities. Otherwise access to this information will be protected.
Such records will be analysed regularly and appropriate follow up action taken.
2.4 Equal Opportunities and Volunteers
The Jewish Museum is committed to supporting and developing its volunteers and will apply the spirit and
where applicable the letter of this policy to them.
2.5 Service Users
The Jewish Museum also seeks to provide equality of opportunity for service users of all backgrounds.
Particular effort is made to reach the elderly, disabled and disadvantaged through its programme of
outreach which includes educational programmes, talks and travelling displays.
Wherever possible efforts will be made to identify and remove unnecessary/unjustifiable barriers and
provide appropriate facilities and conditions of service to meet the needs of disadvantaged and/or
underrepresented groups.
3. General
The objectives of this Equal Opportunities Employment policy are
 To ensure that The Jewish Museum has access to the widest labour market and secures the best
employees for its needs.
 Ensures that no applicant or employee receives less than favourable treatment and that wherever
possible they are given the help they need to reach their full potential to the benefit of the Jewish
Museum and themselves.
The cooperation of all employees is essential for the success of this policy. However the ultimate
responsibility for achieving the policy’s objectives and for ensuring compliance with the relevant Acts of
Parliament as well as the various codes of practice lies with the Jewish Museum. Behaviour against the
spirit and/or the letter of the laws on which this policy is based will be considered a serious disciplinary
matter and may in some cases lead to dismissal.
THE JEWISH MUSEUM
Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form
The Jewish Museum is committed to equal opportunities in employment through its policy statement
(attached). This form is used solely for Equal Opportunities monitoring purposes. All data is confidential
and will not be referred to during the selection procedure. Please complete the form and return it with
your application.
Name:
Date:
Post applied for:
Gender
Ethnic origin
Please tick the box that best describes the
ethnic group to which you belong.
Are you Jewish?
Male
Female
White
Chinese
Black African
Black Caribbean
Black – other
Indian
Pakistani
Bangladeshi
Other
(please describe)
(please describe)
Yes
No
Disability
Please indicate whether you consider yourself
to be disabled
Not disabled
Disabled
(please describe)