Collection Manager (Visual Arts) 

Department: Cultural Engagement

Contract: Indefinite (permanent) 36 hours per week

Location: West London, UK only

Please note that the British Council Collection and operations will be relocating to Coventry in late 2025. 

Pay Band: 7

Salary: £30,839 – £37,152 per annum plus £3,300 London Market Allowance

Benefits Include, but are not limited to:  

• 32 days annual leave, in addition to public holidays
• 3 days volunteering leave
• Excellent Civil Service career average defined benefit pension scheme
• An unrivalled opportunity for you to get to use all the experience you’ve built up to support us in building trust across the world.

British Council supports working in new ways such as hybrid working, subject to full approval by line management and conditional upon our ability to provide the appropriate level of service.  This may not be appropriate for all roles but can be explored at interview.

Closing Date: 19th November 2023 at 23:59 UK Time.  

You must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application. 

There is no relocation or sponsorship support. 

The Role 

This is an exciting moment to join the British Council Collection as it prepares for a major relocation and embarks on new developments and ambitions in its 86th year.  The Collection Manager will be part of a dynamic team charged with implementing a new strategy for the British Council Collection, aimed at increasing visibility, access and use of the Collection both in the UK and internationally and supporting partners in developing innovative exhibitions programmes with UK and international partners with the Collection at their core.

As Collection Manager you will: 

• lead on a programme of integrated collections management, care, and day to day administration of the British Council Collection.
• lead on a review of the Collections Management System database and online catalogue of object and artist information, looking at strategies to improve data equity and access.
• implement collections management projects including a storage rationalisation and audit of works on paper, work with external art valuers on revaluation.
• work with colleagues and partners on Collection content suggestions and advise on suitability for exhibitions and digital programmes, ensuring that all promotional opportunities for the Collection are maximized.
• support the relocation project including contributing expertise to the design of the new permanent home to increase access to and use of the Collection both in the UK and internationally in British Council programmes.
• deliver policies, processes and procedures for the physical and intellectual control of the Collection, ensuring end to end best practice.
• line manage the Collection Coordinator and Collection Content Coordinator and deputises for the Head of Collection when necessary.

The British Council Collection 

The British Council Collection is a nationally significant collection of more than 8700 works of modern and contemporary British art, lent widely to museums and galleries in the UK and globally, and used in our collaborative exhibitions and professional development programmes with international institutional partners and UK organisations. The British Council Collection and its operations will be relocating from London to a new home in Coventry in late 2025.

About the Team 

In the Visual Arts team, we enable UK and global creative talent to co-create exhibitions using the Collection at their core.  We facilitate networking and collaboration between UK and global visual arts creatives and support UK and international exhibition loans.

This role sits within the Cultural Engagement (CE) Strategic Business Unit (SBU). CE brings together our portfolio of work in arts, education, English, and research. Our UK arts team works with the arts and culture sector in the UK, and our global network of offices, to achieve significant impact and change by finding new ways of connecting and seeing each other through the arts.

Accountabilities/Responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

Programme management 

• Manages the day to day running and care of the British Council Collection.
• Plans and prioritises the collections management programme with procedures including care; conservation; handling; storage solutions; and supports delivery through the management of finance, contracts, information systems, collation of feedback, evidence and evaluation; advising on and implementing operational improvements, to enhance cost effectiveness and efficiency.

Subject Expertise 

• Keeps abreast of new developments in collections management and ensuring that compliance and best practice are at the core of all activity.
• Actively builds professional networks and information channels that maintain an excellent understanding of collections management developments, key priorities, best practice, policy and regulation in both the UK and internationally.
• Working closely with the Loans Manager, provides specialist advice and support to colleagues in relation to the management, suitability, care and documentation of works of art and specifically of the Collection, in support of projects and programmes.

Relationship & stakeholder management.

• Develops and maintains effective internal relationships to ensure effective and integrated delivery of collection management programme goals and that all promotional opportunities for the Collection are maximised.
• Builds and maintains a network of external suppliers, conservators, contacts and artist representatives to support effective service provision and knowledge exchange and represent the British Council in discussions and dealings with external contacts.

Finance & resource management 

• Develops and implements a budgeted plan for collections management including conservation, photography, archiving, consultants, monitoring budgets, following procurement processes, ensuring contracts are in place, seeking best value and recharging costs to third parties.

Leadership & management 

• Formal line management of the Collection Coordinator and Collection Content Coordinator holding them to account for achieving agreed performance targets aligned with organisational goals
• Deputises for the Head of Collection in their absence.
• Actively works to mainstream EDI and become anti-racist in our cultures and practices within our organisation and in our programmes.

Requirements of the role: 

• Demonstrable extensive experience in a public collection of collections management, care and documentation and in the context of related programmes such as exhibitions, displays and international touring exhibitions.
• A good, wide knowledge of modern and contemporary UK visual arts
• Demonstrable excellent knowledge of UKRG, GIS, ICOM and international museum standards, procedures and ethics for collection care: conservation, environmental control, Integrated Pest Management, condition checking, storage, security, handling and packing.
• Demonstrable excellent knowledge of UKRG and SPECTRUM museum standards, procedures and ethics for documentation: audits, photography, copyright and Intellectual Property legislation
• Demonstrable experience of leading on the use and functionality of a collections management database to SPECTRUM standards and procedures across a team for workflow

Additional Information:

Closing date: 19th November 2023 at 23:59 UK Time.

Interviews will be held at the beginning of December 2023.

You must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application.