Curatorship

Help put inspirational curatorship at the heart of the way in which we look after and interpret our places

At the Trust, we invite our audience to understand and connect with each of our inspirational places. We share the whole picture – from houses and collections to gardens and landscapes – and we look after and celebrate their distinctive spirit of place. We encourage our visitors to recognise how places can be relevant to today’s world, and that nature and the historic environment are under threat. Our ambition is to enlighten and inspire people to value and appreciate the nature, history, and beauty at the places we care for.

We aspire to be world-class in our curatorship of places, grounded in exemplary care, research and presentation. We reveal the stories of places through innovative interpretation to ever-broader audiences, encouraging people to support our cause. Curators play a central role in helping us to achieve our ambitions, as we make what we do, what we believe in and the places we care for ever more relevant to people of all ages. We need experienced, energetic Curators, who share our love of special places, and can bring their understanding, expertise, and skills to teach and inspire our audiences.

It’s an exciting time to join our charity. We’re doubling the number of our curatorial staff from 36 to around 65 full-time staff over the next two years. Starting with our campaign in April '17 to recruit Curators across each region/country. These changes mean that the Trust is committed to investing more in curatorial excellence than at any time in its history

John Orna-Ornstein, Director of Curation

Typical roles

We have a variety of opportunities for dynamic and inspirational Curators to help us look after a range of sites and to lead in uncovering and sharing their wider context, meaning and relevance. We are looking for excellent communicators and collaborators to deliver our ambition to reveal the stories that make our properties special.

Senior National Curator

From landscapes, parks and gardens to historic houses and collections, as Senior National Curator, you’ll work with regional management to help lead the professional development and research priorities of the local curatorial team. Your subject specialist expertise will transform the way we engage our audiences with places and collections.

Cultural Heritage Curator

You’ll support a portfolio of properties, working with a diverse range of specialists and operational teams to develop understanding, and care for the collections and places we look after. You’ll play a key role in enabling innovative presentation and interpretation, building strong engagement with our audiences.

Property Curator

As Property Curator, you’ll provide leadership to the collection and house team and work with our consultancy teams to develop a lively and engaging house experience, delivering high quality presentation, interpretation, programming, and collections care.

The things we do for you

We want you to learn, discover and develop your career. And we’ll do everything we can to offer you the training, support and development that you need to achieve your goals. This could, for example, include helping you to study for a professional qualification appropriate to your career, trying something new or moving into a different business area. We’ll work with you to plan your development in a way that’s right for your needs.

Investing in you

Induction. Your learning in the Trust starts with your induction. Whatever role you're here to do we'll explain what to expect, show you where to go and make sure you understand your new environment before you get going.

Personal career progression development programme. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to development. Tailored to you our ‘Grow Your Own Career’ approach is in place to help you identify where you see your career heading, and the best ways to get there.

Learning resources. We all learn in different ways and respond to different styles. It’s what works for you, whether that’s on-the-job training, flexible e-learning or one-to-one support. And in an organisation of our size and diversity, there’s plenty of room to develop and places to go.

Future Engage and Deliver leadership programme. If you’re in a management role we’ll support you to become a better leader through our ‘Future Engage and Deliver’ leadership programme. The programme is designed to make sure you’re well-equipped with the skills and confidence to lead your teams to deliver our plans.

Professional subscriptions. If you need to hold a qualification for your role, from either a legal or professional point of view, we’ll cover the cost of your membership fee. We’ll need to see that it’s part of your continuous professional development, though.

Employee volunteering. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the National Trust and many other charities. That's why we'll give you every opportunity to get involved with some volunteering outside the Trust. It's also a brilliant way to try new things, learn new skills and meet new people. So we'll give you up to five paid days per year to do your bit.

Secondments. Secondments are an excellent way for you to gain and practise new skills in real life situations, preparing you for a potential next career move. They usually last from three to 12 months – ideal for temporary or project roles.

Our curators

John

Director of Curation and Experience

We are looking for curators who marry strong knowledge relevant to our special places and collections with an absolute passion for the experience of visitors. The Trust is ambitious for its curatorial work; we welcome applications from people who are as excited about the role that curators can play in telling stories that excite and inspire as we are. You’ll be joining a cohort of new and existing curators that are at the heart of the National Trust’s plans for the future.
Tarnya

Curatorial and Conservation Director

We are continuing to invest in our curatorial team and we are looking for curators who want to help increase our understanding about their significance, share knowledge about our collections as widely as possible and to excite and inspire new audiences throughout outstanding interpretation.
Liz

Senior National Curator

Being a National Trust Curator is completely different to any other organisation; ours are living, evolving places.
Katie

Cultural Heritage Curator

The best thing is the privilege of knowing that we are caring for the places where history happened which brings a real truth in what we do.