GREATER GEELONG: BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH ENTERPRISE, OPPORTUNITY AND INNOVATION IN A QUALITY ENVIRONMENT
POSITION TITLE:
Senior Curator – National Wool Museum
POSITION NUMBER:
0754
DIVISION:
Investment and Attraction
DEPARTMENT:
Arts and Culture
CLASSIFICATION:
Band 7
REPORTS TO:
Director National Wool Museum
DIRECTLY MANAGES:
Contractors and staff when required.
INTERNAL LIAISONS:
Department staff and volunteers
EXTERNAL LIAISONS:
Members of the public, community museums,
tourism and community groups, arts societies,
government bodies
DATE:
January 2016
POSITION OBJECTIVES:
Through a commitment to customer service, audience development, the highest professional
standards and delivering the best visitor experiences possible, the position will curate, manage
and provide hands-on advice relating to the core, temporary and touring exhibitions program, the
National Wool Museum, City of Greater Geelong and community museum collections.
As a key senior member of the team, this position contributes to the aesthetic and curatorial
evolution of the National Wool Museum.
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:
Key Responsibilities:
National Wool Museum Collections and Exhibitions
1. Provide Collections Management expertise to the National Wool Museum, City of Greater
Geelong and community.
2. Research, develop, implement and coordinate an innovative exhibitions program of core,
temporary and touring exhibitions, contributing to the best possible visitor experience and the
Museum’s evolution/reputation.
3. Develop and implement exhibition project management plans (including budget) to the highest
possible standards, within appropriate time frames and budgets.
4. Supervise and manage the preparation, installation, lighting and demounting of exhibitions.
5. Manage exhibition contractual obligations and external suppliers/contractors relating to core,
temporary and touring exhibitions developed or hosted by the Museum.
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National Wool Museum Operations and Evolution
6. Actively contribute to the National Wool Museum’s evolution, strategic plans and overall
curatorial vision.
7. Provide curatorial advice and support to Public Programmes and other areas to ensure the
best possible visitor experience and the successful delivery of the Museum’s cultural and
financial objectives.
8. Participate in public programmes development including marketing, visitor experiences and
education programmes.
9. In conjunction with Director, identify, source and secure Government and other external
funding and programme support.
10. Develop, implement and manage the collections and exhibitions components of the Museum
Accreditation Program.
11. Present the Museum to the public and ensure the highest possible standards of visitor
experience within the Museum and the exhibitions.
12. Adhere to all Council’s policies and procedures relevant to this position.
13. Carry out other duties as deemed reasonable and appropriate to the role as directed from time
to time.
Community Museums and External Collections
14. In conjunction with Manager Arts & Culture and Director, manage the community collections
project, working with and providing professional development advise to numerous community
museums and collections.
15. Provide curatorial, collections and exhibitions advice to other council departments and
community museums within the municipality.
Values and Behaviours:
Our aim is to foster a culture that embraces the values that reflect what we believe will deliver the
best outcomes for our community.
Our values form the basis of our behaviour. It is our expectation that employees will demonstrate
our values when carrying out their work.
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Integrity
Responsibility
Innovation
Respect
Risk Management and Occupational Health & Safety Responsibilities:
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Understand and comply with Council OHS policies, procedures and legislative requirements
relevant to the position.
Perform work in a safe and appropriate manner.
Ensure behaviour does not discriminate, bully or harass others.
Take responsibility for own safety and that of others.
Proactively report any incidents, injuries, hazards or unsafe work practices.
The following general physical and functional requirements may apply to this position. Specific
physical requirements will be attached if applicable.
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Manual handling tasks.
Prolonged periods of inactivity eg. sitting at the computer.
Regular keyboarding associated activities.
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Long / short distance travel between sites.
Dealing with difficult clients and situations.
Demanding deadlines.
KEY SELECTION CRITERIA:
Essential:
1. Extensive curatorial and collections management experience.
2. Degree in Museums Studies or similar.
3. Demonstrated experience in public exhibitions including research, development, design and
implementation.
4. Commitment to customer service, audience development and delivering the best visitor
experiences.
5. Demonstrated project management skills and the ability to lead a project and
manage/supervise multiple concurrent projects.
6. Demonstrated experience in development and management of budgets.
7. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
8. Demonstrated ability to obtain Government and other funding.
9. Demonstrated ability to be flexible, with experience in working cooperatively including within a
team, and with volunteers, groups and the general public.
10. Demonstrated integrity, responsibility, respect for others and the ability to be innovative
Desirable:
11. Experience supervising staff and volunteers.
12. Familiarity with the Victorian Museum Accreditation Program.
13. Familiarity with OH&S guidelines and/or the Occupational Health and Safety Act
ACCOUNTABILITY AND EXTENT OF AUTHORITY:
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The position works with honorary (volunteer) staff and the honorary staff programme and will
at times, be required to supervise the work completed.
On occasion this position will work with community museums, volunteers and tertiary students.
The position is accountable for:
o Coordinating the Curatorial and Exhibitions Programme Budget.
o Achieving specific objectives and outcomes inline with Curatorial and Exhibitions
Programme Budget.
o Planning, implementing and achieving high quality exhibition programmes.
o Ensuring procedures for the safe handling, display and storage of collections are aligned
with international standards.
o Creating and capturing accurate and complete records of the business activities related to
this position, in accordance with approved policy and procedures. This is applicable to
both hardcopy and electronic information, including email.
The position operates according to the policies and procedures of the City, the strategic plans
of the Arts & Culture Department, the business and master plans of the Museum, the budget of
the Museum and any relevant legislation.
The position has the authority to develop policy relating to: the Curatorial and Exhibitions
Programme, the National Wool Museum and the City’s engagement with other Museums and
similar organisations.
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JUDGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING:
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The position has authority to make decisions on all matters regarding day to day management
of the position.
In consultation with the Director, the position has the authority to expend the Curatorial and
Exhibitions Programme Budget and to source funding in line with the policies and procedures
of the City.
The nature of this role will require problem solving, drawing on previous experience and
knowledge.
The incumbent will have the ability to analyse a range of options to determine the most
appropriate solution.
Guidance and advice not always available from Department Manager and Senior staff. Full
support from across Council on a range of issues and expertise.
SPECIALIST SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE:
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In-depth knowledge and practical experience in:
o The management and safe delivery of curatorial and exhibition programmes in a museum
and community context. This includes research, design, construction and installation of
exhibitions and touring exhibitions, plus experience effectively supervising and motivating
staff and contractors in a fast paced exhibitions environment.
o Collection management including policies, cataloguing, training and conservation to ensure
all new and established museum processes are adhered to and understood.
o Understanding of the role of museums, their objectives and programmes and a record of
innovation.
o Understanding of the importance of customer service and visitor/audience experience.
Knowledge and experience in the preparation and delivery of, materials and activities to
attract visitors.
Highly developed computer literacy skills including the ability to use the collection
management system (KE EMu preferred), Microsoft Suite, Internet and Database
Management systems.
Analytical, research and policy development skills.
Demonstrated ability to:
o Develop innovative programmes that capture the visitor’s imagination and communicate
key messages to the audience.
o Research and prepare publications and interpretive texts on exhibitions for a variety of
audiences and for the delivery of lectures.
o Think creatively and generate ideas into actions and outcomes.
o Effectively use and manage photographic and audiovisual equipment.
o Actively contribute to the strategic direction of the Museum as well as the goals, values and
aspirations of the Arts and Culture Department of which the NWM is a part.
MANAGEMENT SKILLS:
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Demonstrated ability to:
o Effectively plan, organise and manage own time and that of project teams (including casual
staff) as required to achieve targets within set timeframes.
o Work autonomously and within a team.
o Develop, manage and report on budgets and prepare funding submissions.
o Manage multiple concurrent projects.
o Contribute to long term strategies.
o Achieve objectives despite conflicting pressures.
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Understanding of and ability to comply with the City’s personnel practices including Equal
Employment Opportunity and Occupational Health and Safety.
Ability to show initiative, be self motivated and be innovative.
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS:
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Ability to demonstrate Integrity, Responsibility, Innovation and Respect in all aspects of the
position.
Excellent verbal communication skills to effectively:
o Facilitate, influence and persuade a broad range of stakeholders to gain cooperation and
assistance.
o Establish rapport with internal and external customers.
o Liaise with counterparts within the industry to exchange views and resolve specialist
problems.
o Coordinate external consultants.
o Deliver effective informal and formal public presentations.
o Provide exceptional customer service.
Excellent written communication skills to effectively prepare:
o Exhibitions.
o Funding applications.
o Reports, annual plans, strategies and policy as required.
o Correspondence on all matters relating to the position.
o Material for publication and/or presentation.
o Policies and other documents as required.
Ability to develop internal and external partnerships in consultation with the Director.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
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Degree in Museum Studies or related discipline.
Substantial experience in a museum or similar institution with a demonstrated history of
curating successful exhibitions.
Experience in dealing with a broad range of stakeholders and delivering successful
programmes inline with budget and time constraints.
A current Victorian Driver’s Licence
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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At times, this position will require work to be performed outside the standard spread of hours.
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HOW TO APPLY
Applications close:
5:00pm Friday 29 January 2016
Contact Person:
Padraic Fisher, Director National Wool Museum on 5272 4954
Submit your online application at https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/employment
If you are unable to submit an online application please send your application to:
Recruitment Administration Officer
Organisation Development
City of Greater Geelong
PO Box 104
GEELONG VIC 3220
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displayed on Council’s website and which is available for inspection at, or collection from, Council’s Customer Service
Centres.
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