Museum Director

The Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) owns the Museum of Scottish Railways and the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway and manages the core collection that has been Recognised as being of National Significance through the Scottish Government's Recognition Scheme. Most of the collection is owned by the Scottish Railway Museum Collections Trust (SRMCT) and SRPS manages it on behalf of the owner. Visitors to the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway can see parts of the collection and other rolling stock in operation on the railway and visit the Museum of Scottish Railways.

The post holder will work with our collection to enhance continually its presentation, documentation, storage and use of a searchable online collections database. There will also be a requirement to work closely with the Board and with a team of volunteers. The post will be supervised by an appropriate member of the Board of the SRPS.,

• To represent the interests of the Museum of Scottish Railways within the SRPS, including by attending meetings of the Board and other management committees.


• To manage the staffing, maintenance and running of the Museum.


• To manage the delivery of the customer experience in visiting the Museum.


• To lead and advise the team who maintain the collection.


• To ensure the Board is provided with informed recommendations on acquisitions, loans and disposals.


• To ensure the creation of a searchable collection database on our website.


• To facilitate public access to the collection, including through management of the museum's social media accounts and website.


• To ensure compliance with the Museum Accreditation Scheme and with Scottish Government's Recognition guidelines.


• To manage the interactions of the Museum, including interfacing with the Scottish Railway Museum Collections Trust, particularly with regard to ownership of vehicles.


• To represent the SRPS within national museum-supporting organisations.


• To identify opportunities to apply for grants which would enhance the Museum's ability to operate or improve the customer experience and then direct the production of grant applications.


• To manage projects and contractors involved in developing the Museum's infrastructure as it expands


• To develop library facilities on site at the Museum


• To proactively identify projects, and take forward ongoing projects


• To direct general curatorial duties
  
  Essential


• Relevant experience of working with a museum collection, and with staff and volunteers


• Practical experience of running a successful team, and managing budgets


• Flexible, confident approach with the ability to work independently or as part of a team


• Demonstrable capacity to delegate


• Demonstrable capacity to commit to developing self and colleagues


• Excellent attention to detail


• Excellent verbal and written communication skills


• High standard of written and spoken English


• Confident IT skills with experience of collections management systems


• Familiarity with the use of collections management databases


Desirable

• Applicants should be educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant subject


• Museum studies qualification


• Interest in Scottish Railway History


• Experience of working with Adlib


• Experience of project management


• Knowledge of preventative conservation


• Knowledge of the Scottish Museum-supporting environment, including of grant giving organisations, and potential for raising funds
  
  The Museum of Scottish Railways is situated close to the SRPS station in Bo'ness and the publicly visible part of the Collection is housed in two large exhibition halls and one covered viewing shed all connected to the Station by a Visitor Trail from which visitors can see a large part of the site of the heritage railway. There is considerable interpretation in these buildings and this tries to tell the story of the impact railways had in Scotland's history and their evolution from the 1830s to the present day.


The rest of the Collection is held in the archive facilities which comprise a twin industrial unit near the station and two containers situated close to the main Museum building.

The most visible part of the Collection is the array of vehicles, of which there are 183 accessioned locomotives, coaches, wagons and platform road vehicles, many of which are on display, along with a number in use on the working railway. Additionally, there are a number of vehicles owned by other organisations or individuals on display in the Museum.

The "Small Objects" part of the Collection has several hundred items on display but very many more which are kept in the archive facilities. Within this, there are currently around 50,000 photographs kept physically in the Archive Store with new donations arriving regularly. A team of volunteers decides what to accession and interprets and documents accordingly, as well as digitising them for potential sale of copies to enthusiasts.

Additionally, there are over 3,000 other accessioned items such as railway brochures, tickets, maps, plans, items of costume, railway signs, paintings and items of signalling equipment.

Lastly in the Collection are over 7,000 books representing a high proportion of railway books ever published on the subject of Scottish railways. These are housed in a library building in the Station car park and looked after by a volunteer librarian.

Find out more about The Scottish Railway Preservation Society