Curator / Curatorial Assistant, Diptera

Job Description

About Us
We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

Embedded within the Insects Division of the Natural History Museum, the Curator or Assistant Curator will oversee a significant proportion of the NHM collection of 2.5 million Diptera specimens. The main responsibilities of these posts are ensuring best practice in collections care for a mixture of dry-pinned, slide-mounted and spirit-preserved material. Specimens will be acquired, curated and made available to facilitate research, teaching and exhibitions through a combination of physical loans and digital photography. Applicants for the Curator position should have proven expertise in the taxonomy and identification of Diptera, preferably with calyptrate or acalyptrate families, as well as experience of specimen curation and working with museum collections. Either post will be based in a team with three other Diptera curators, which includes the Senior Curator in Charge (SCiC) who will line manage this position.

This position is being advertised across two pay scales. The skills and experience of the preferred candidate will determine the job offer that is made.

Main Responsibilities (Curatorial Assistant and Curator)

• Manage an allocated section of the Diptera collection ensuring specimens that are dry-pinned, preserved in spirit and slide-mounted are kept in good condition.
• Ensure specimens are readily available for research by hosting visitors to the collection and sending material on loan to external researchers.
• Photograph specimens for digital loans or specific enquiries and support projects that image larger sections of the collection via the Digital Collections Programme
• Maintain the collections database so that it accurately represents the physical collection, is taxonomically up-to-date and tracks the movement of specimens on loan.
• Provide guidance and support for volunteers, scientific associates, students and visiting researchers and facilitate their access to the collection.
• Ensure due diligence and compliance with all NHM policies and procedures, including Health and Safety regulations, risk assessments and IPM procedures.
• Assess the collection at regular intervals to review and report on the progress of curation and related tasks (e.g., bi-annual audits and “Join the Dots” reporting).

Main Responsibilities (Curator)

• Identify areas of the collection in need of enhancement and strive to fill these gaps through targeted fieldwork or by seeking and encouraging donations to the museum.
• Engage with the NHM research themes and other internal or external projects that are relevant to Diptera and can be supported by the collection.
• Lead on and/or contribute to research papers in appropriate scientific journals.
• Support the NHM commercial enquiry service by responding to requests concerning calyptrate or acalyptrate Diptera and/or other taxa within your area of expertise.
• Contribute to public engagement events to promote the Diptera collection, the work of the museum and to share your knowledge of Diptera with a wider audience.

Person Specification (Curatorial Assistant and Curator)

• A degree or relevant experience in the field of natural sciences, or a strongly related discipline.
• Demonstrable manual dexterity for handling small and fragile collections objects.
• Good organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Good communication skills, both written and oral, with a willingness to engage in public outreach.
• Computer literacy with a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office, experience with databases and imaging software would be advantageous.
• An ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with internal and external researchers and members of the Diptera community.
• Proven ability or willingness to supervise visiting scientists, scientific associates, students and volunteers.

Person Specification (Curator)

• A higher level qualification (MSc or above) or equivalent experience, relating to entomology, taxonomy or systematics and the use of natural history collections.
• Demonstrable depth of knowledge of a group of Diptera, preferably calyptrate or acalyptrate, with the ability to identify and curate specimens efficiently.
• Knowledge or awareness of major current issues in entomological research and how they relate to Diptera.
• Experience of collections management, curation of Diptera specimens and working in a museum environment.
• A track record of publishing scientific articles on Diptera and/or related topics.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work
We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

Find out more here

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi