Overview
Role Summary
Project Manager: Collection Projects
Collection Care and Moves
Full-time (41 hours per week)
Fixed term (until 31st March 2028)
£49,829 per annum
Application deadline: 12pm (midday) on 2 November 2025
About the role:
This is an exciting time to join the British Museum’s Collection Care and Moves department and be part of the team delivering one of the biggest cultural renovation projects in the world.
Collection Care and Moves are responsible for the collection decant programme of the redesign of the Western Range and are looking for an experienced project manager to join the team. The successful candidate will be someone with a proven background of managing large scale, multidisciplinary projects. As well as being able to demonstrate strong communication and organisational skills, and with the ability to motivate and lead a project team of collection managers, conservators, curators, and other critical delivery roles from across the organisation.
Whilst initially focussing on the decant of large sculpture from Bloomsbury to the British Museum’s new collection storage facility in Shinfield, Reading, the role will also work closely with the department Programme Management functions to support the planning and delivery of feasibility studies and future phases of the programme.
Key areas of responsibility:
- Project management of a major collection storage and move project, to budget and schedule.
- Define the methodology, resource requirements, budget and programme for each work-stream, taking in to account the specific needs of a complex and diverse collection.
- Develop and lead a multidisciplinary project team that will include specialists based across the Museum departments.
- Management of high-value procurement processes, specialist supply contracts and value engineering exercises to ensure best value for money.
- Establish and maintain project controls to monitor progress, budget, risks and issues, and reporting to the Project Board, senior management and external stakeholders.
About you:
- Undergraduate degree or equivalent.
- A recognised project management qualification or equivalent experience
- Experience of managing complex projects to time and budget
- Ability to use project management tools effectively to control risks, issues, schedules, quality and budgets
- Proven procurement and contract management experience, including experience of value engineering
About the British Museum:
Founded in 1753, the British Museum’s remarkable collection spans over two million years of human history and culture. The Museum is a leading visitor attraction, and its world-famous collection includes the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies, the Sutton-Hoo finds, and the Lewis Chessmen. The Museum also holds an extensive collection of prints and drawings spanning 600 years, including works by the greatest graphic artists Dürer, Michelangelo and Rembrandt.
You can view a selection of our impressive collection of prints and drawings in our virtual gallery.
The Museum offers a competitive benefits package including:
- Generous annual leave allowance of 25 days (rising to 30 days after 10 years’ service) plus 2.5 privilege days and plus bank holidays.
- Membership of the civil service defined benefit pension scheme (find out here what benefits a civil service pension provides).
- Free entry to a wide range of museums and exhibitions
- Participation in private and public Museum activities, including talks by leading curators from around the world and behind-the-scenes opportunities to learn how museums care for and manage their extraordinary collections.
- Interest-free travel, bicycle, and rental deposit loans
- Professional and personal development opportunities
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Discounts on food and gift shop purchases
Additional details:
For more information about this role, please see the job description.
If you have any additional needs that we should be aware of to support you with your application, please provide details to bmrecruit@britishmuseum.org.
We have a legal responsibility to ensure that employees have the right to work in the UK. If you currently do not hold the right to work in the UK, we can only sponsor a limited number of roles that meet eligibility criteria. To offer a sponsorship, the job role you apply needs to be in the list of eligible occupations: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations. Additionally (with some limited exceptions), the role will need to meet the minimum salary threshold of £38,700 or the going rate for the job, whichever is the highest. You can find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/your-job
The British Museum is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all staff and job applicants. We aim to create a working environment in which all individuals can make best use of their skills, free from unlawful discrimination or harassment. We value the benefits that a diverse workforce brings to a museum which represents world culture. The Museum is committed to ensuring that no job applicant suffers unlawful discrimination because of any protected characteristics. Our recruitment procedures aim to ensure that individuals are treated because of their relevant knowledge, skills, and experience.
The Museum also adheres to the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) for pre-employment screening of Civil Servants.
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
