Who are we looking for?
We are looking to appoint one new Chair and six new members to the Collections & Interpretation Advisory Group. We are looking for individuals who can work at a strategic level with the Executive Directors, chair group meetings, provide insightful and constructive advice in a collegiate and professional manner during meetings and are keen to get out to National Trust sites when required. Volunteers will be expected to reflect the Trust’s Values at all times,
You will have expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- Designing and developing experiences across entire sites: we use audience insight and human-centred design approaches to help us plan how people can get the best from their time at Trust places, including houses, collections, landscape and natural places and the infrastructure to support that.
- Children and young people, at the leading edge of engagement practice (i.e. not museum education services): we want to enable more diverse and greater numbers of children and young people to gain benefit from the places and collections we look after. We have a particular interest in families, early years and young people and how we could be of value to them through our work.
- Outdoors experiences planning and development: we have a huge ambition and opportunity in our outdoors places of all types to give greater access to more people and are exploring business models and approaches to achieve this.
- Transformational change of operating visited historic places: we need to evolve how we work with our wide range of historic buildings and collections as audience needs and expectations change – at the same time as offering appropriate levels of care for the significant assets in our care.
- Curatorship of historic interiors and object collections with an audience focused approach: our holdings represent a significant part of this country’s history and culture with links to many others across the world. We are keen to achieve high standards of research and curating that give more benefit to more people. We are committed to sharing full and inclusive histories of our places.
- Collections Conservation practice and a people focused approach: we are managing our object collections dynamically in a wide range of settings across hundreds of locations. We are keen to gain advice on strategic approaches to the challenges and opportunities we have from access and preventative conservation standards, remedial conservation prioritisation, to increasing conservation engagement on site and through digital platforms.
Under the guidance of the new Chair we are open to renaming the Group.
Please see the groups Terms of Reference for further details on the areas of activity for the group.
We are keen to have Advisory Groups who are representative of communities that we serve. We would be keen to receive applications from people who:
- Are passionate about the historic and natural environment and the National Trust’s core purpose of looking after nature, history, beauty, for everyone, forever.
- Are well networked and can help to develop new and existing partnerships and collaborations, helping to open doors and influence others.
- Are skilled in working in partnership with others.
- Will push and challenge the Executive Directors and their teams, encouraging them to find bold, creative and pragmatic solutions, supporting them to make the right decisions.
- Understand current economic, environmental and/or social trends and the challenges and opportunities they present for our organisation.
- Can share and demonstrate our values.
The role of the Chair of CIAG
We are looking for a great chair to succeed Dr Nick Merriman following his appointment as Chief Executive of English Heritage. The Chair is a crucial role to convene the group’s discussions, advise the Executive Director for Curation and Experience and other senior leaders, and work across a wide range of specialisms encompassed by the group. We are seeking someone who is:
- Supportive of the Trust’s values and mission to look after cultural heritage and the outdoors and make it more accessible to a greater range of people.
- Visibly present in the wider cultural sector and is well-networked within it.
- Experienced in convening balanced discussion across a range of views and perspectives to ensure all voices are heard and considered and build coalitions of support.
- Able to work with experts drawn from a range of specialisms within the heritage and cultural sectors.
- Is a strategic thinker who can cut through complex issues to offer clear and straightforward advice to senior leaders.
Member roles require a commitment of up to six days a year and for the Chair it is ten to 12 days per year; both are for an initial term of three years with the potential for a further term of three years. Advisory Groups each meet once a year to discuss business nominated by the Chair and National Trust Executive Directors, and there is an annual conference of all the Advisory Groups. The Chair and members may be invited to site visits and to provide advice on specific projects or support strategic pieces of work. The positions are voluntary, but expenses are paid.
What’s in it for you?
- You will gain or develop your experience of playing an advisory role in a large, complex organisation with commercial, charitable and public benefit roles.
- You will be contributing to the work of Europe’s largest conservation charity and helping to shape our response to the challenges of the 21st century.
- You will be playing a part in caring for and making available to people some of the nation’s finest historic houses, cultural heritage collections, archaeological remains, scheduled monuments, coastline, woods, farmland, nature reserves, gardens and landscapes.
- You will be thinking about how to make these special places more accessible to everyone, broadening our appeal and delivering more public benefit.
- You will enjoy debating issues and problem solving with a diverse group of committed enthusiasts: your fellow Group members, National Trust staff and volunteers.
To help Advisory Group members perform their role, the National Trust offers:
- Induction for new members and access to our volunteering intranet.
- Dates for meetings identified in advance, to enable you to plan into your agenda and/or working life.
- Reimbursement of reasonable expenses incurred on Trust business.