Job title and reference: Workshop Technician and Mountmaker, Nature +Love

Salary range: £28k – £30k depending on experience

Hours of work: Fixed term post (22 months) 35 hours per week, Monday-Friday. Occasional late evenings and early mornings required.

The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a unique attraction in south east London where world cultures and the natural world are brought together for everyone to enjoy. The Museum holds internationally important collections of anthropology and musical instruments, as well as a popular natural history gallery and Aquarium. The 16 acres of beautiful Gardens feature a tropical Butterfly House and offer stunning views across London.

Are you a values-driven, enthusiastic team player? Looking to work for an award-winning museum housed within 16 acres of Gardens? We are The Horniman Museum and Gardens based in Forest Hill.

We value our people, their differences and your genuine interest to bring skills, experience and knowledge into our organisation. We want you to be part of our future and in return we offer a competitive salary and some great employee benefits.

This is an exciting time to be joining the Horniman, as we enter the delivery phase of our NHLF funded Nature + Love project, focussing on our Natural History Gallery.

We are looking to recruit a skilled Workshop Technician and Mountmaker to join the friendly Exhibitions and Design section. The focus of the role is assisting the Senior Workshop Technician in hands on delivery of object mounting systems for the Natural History Gallery. You will provide specialist mountmaking expertise and liaise with colleagues in Conservation, Curatorial, Collections Management and external stakeholders regarding mounts and layouts, making recommendations of best approaches. You will also assist with the installation and dismantling of the galleries, including object handling and mounting.

You will have significant workshop experience in a museum, gallery, including expertise in using power and hand tools, ideally working with brass and wood. Ideally you will be an experienced mountmaker, but we are also open to candidates who have relevant related experience and a willingness to train in mountmaking. Understanding or experience in working with natural history specimens, including taxidermy, would be an advantage.

The closing date for completed applications is 10am on the 23 October 2024. Interviews will be held on 08 November 2024.

The Horniman is an equal opportunities employer and we value and celebrate diversity. We want to better represent the communities in which we work but recognise that there is still much work to do in this area. We welcome and encourage all applicants and particularly encourage you to apply if you are from a community that is often disadvantaged by society or of minority background.

How to Apply

Click on “Apply Now” at the top or bottom of this page. When you apply you will be asked to upload a covering statement in Microsoft Word format (the document must be in .doc format and the maximum file size is 2 MB). Please also ensure that you have uploaded your CV as a separate document which you can do when you create an account or login.

Please provide an overview of no more than 2 pages describing your experience relevant to the role as outlined in the Job Description and Person Specification.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job title Workshop Technician and Mountmaker, Nature + Love

Section Exhibitions and Design

Reports to Senior Workshop Technician

Responsible for No responsibility for staff

Hours of work 35 hours per week Monday-Friday (8:30am-4:30pm) (Fixed term – 22 month Contract) Occasional late evenings, early mornings, travel and overnight stays required.

Location Horniman Museum and Gardens, and Study Collections Centre

About the Nature + Love Project:

In 2019 the Horniman declared a Climate Emergency and in 2020 published a Climate and Ecology Manifesto outlining the steps we will take to mitigate against the climate and ecological emergency, and to help shape a positive future for generations to come including the intention to be greenhouse gas neutral by 2040. The Horniman’s first pledge is to deliver:

• ‘an ambitious Nature + Love project to redisplay the natural history and living collections, to highlight climate and ecological issues to a wider audience’.

In the wake of the pandemic the Horniman has revisited its long terms plans and outlined a Reset Agenda, with a number of priorities which are:

1. Engage wider audiences through programming and communications

2. Diversify staff and volunteers

3. Consult people and work in partnership

4. Address the history of the Horniman business and institutional collecting

5. Enhance our digital provision

6. Make the Horniman greenhouse gas neutral and more biodiverse

7. Maximise income generation to support this agenda

These objectives enshrine our determination to use the Horniman’s position as London’s only museum of global nature and culture to raise awareness of urgent issues of climate change and global social justice, whilst becoming a more inclusive organisation and building our post-Covid organisational resilience.

Nature + Love has been set as the priority project in the context of this new Reset Agenda. The project improves access and use of key outdoor spaces, and will modernise the 60 year old interpretation in the 1901 Natural History Gallery to form a key part of our strategy to engage people in mitigating the climate and ecological crisis. It focuses on mobilising our love and concern for future generations in order to spur action on current climate and ecological challenges.

The project is a once in a generation transformation project and will play an essential role in strengthening the social, economic and green recovery of both the Horniman and its local community as it emerges from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We will redevelop several areas of the Horniman’s estate and heritage assets, making new connections between outdoor green spaces and interior gallery displays using accessible interpretation and digital technology.

We will create:

• a Nature Explorers Adventure Zone opening access to our historic Nature Trail and introducing a nature-themed play area and children’s café, encouraging learning and wellbeing through exploration and play
• an outdoor Sustainable Gardening Zone with new plant nursery and sustainable planting displays encouraging improved health and wellbeing, and a programme to encourage adult skills development
• a redisplayed Natural History Gallery and Nature Explorers Action Zone, exploring human understanding of and impact upon the planet, and supporting people to make changes on a local and personal level
• a range of nature-focused partnerships and activities to diversify our audiences.

Embedded throughout the project will be an impactful activity programme including a new Forest Schools learning offer and range of digital content, aimed at encouraging more people to connect to nature and wildlife and leading to change in individual ideas and actions.

Main purpose of the job

To assist the Exhibitions and Design Section in delivering object mounting systems and object installation for the NHLF funded redisplay of the Natural History Gallery as part of Nature + Love

Ideally the candidate will be an experienced mountmaker, but we are also open to candidates who have relevant related experience (e.g. in metal work, jewellery or silver soldering) alongside a willingness to train in mountmaking. Understanding or experience working with Natural History specimens, including taxidermy would be an advantage. We would also welcome experience of working with brass as we principally make our mounts with this material.

Section description

The Exhibitions and Design section is responsible for the management and delivery of the Horniman’s temporary exhibition programme, the maintenance of permanent galleries, and the delivery of 2D graphic design across the site and for marketing purposes, in order to provide an excellent experience for Horniman visitors, support income generation and promote the Horniman brand. We also assist with the loans programme.

Main responsibilities

Object Mount Development, Construction and Installation 100%

• Assist the Senior Workshop Technician with object mount-making, principally for the Nature + Love project.
• Provide specialist mountmaking expertise and liaise with colleagues in Conservation, Curatorial, Collections Management and external stakeholders regarding mounts and layouts, making recommendations of best approaches.
• Assist with the installation and dismantling of the relevant galleries, as determined by the Project team, including object handling and object mounting
• Undertake the safe movement and lifting of large, heavy and delicate objects and equipment as appropriate

General responsibilities

• Act in a professional manner and uphold the Horniman’s Code of Conduct
• Follow and promote safe systems of work and observe health and safety regulations
• Any other duties that may be required to ensure the effective running of the section

Job activities may vary and evolve over time to meet business needs.

PERSON SPECIFICATION E = Essential D = Desirable

Minimum Shortlisting Criteria

Education/qualifications

• A good standard of literacy and numeracy (E)

Knowledge and experience

• Significant workshop experience in a museum, gallery or college environment (E)
• Experience in mountmaking or relevant related experience (e.g. in metal work, jewellery or silver soldering) and a demonstrable interest in training in mountmaking (E)

Skills and abilities

• Proven ability to use power and hand tools to work in metal, wood, and acrylic to produce exhibition components and individual object mounts or similar (E)
• Experience of handling objects or artworks and/or object handling in a Museum environment (E)

Additional Shortlisting Criteria

Education/qualifications

Skills and abilities

• Ability to move and lift setworks, including some which are large and heavy (E)
• Demonstrable understanding or experience of working with Natural History collections, ideally including mounting of taxidermy objects (D)

Knowledge and Experience

• Knowledge and understanding of Health and Safety in a workshop environment (E)
• Experience of making mounts from brass (D)

Further Selection Criteria – to be tested at interview

Knowledge and experience

• ICT skills (Microsoft Office including PowerPoint) (E) and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator skills (D)

Skills and abilities

• Good interpersonal skills and verbal communication; able to build effective professional relationships with staff and work as part of a team (E)
• Proven ability to produce creative practical solutions to design issues (E)
• To be able to read and understand plans and technical drawings (E)
• Able to use initiative as the situation dictates (E)

Personal attributes

• An empathy with the Horniman mission and an interest in its exhibitions, activities and events
• Commitment to equality and diversity
• Willingness to work flexibly to achieve corporate objectives
• Commitment to own learning and professional development
• a willingness to work flexibly to achieve corporate objectives

Circumstances

• Some late evening and early morning work will be required
• A basic DBS check is required for this post.