Advertised from 16 June 2025

Role

About the Role

Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) is the National Development Body for Scotland’s museums and galleries. We support a sector of 449 museums and galleries, through strategic investment, workforce development, advice and advocacy. We are a forward facing and inclusive organisation, committed to the ongoing development of a positive culture for our team.

We are recruiting for a Capacity Programme Officer who will work with the Senior Capacity Programme Manager in the Museum Development team to facilitate delivery of a new capacity-building programme designed to support Scotland’s museums to become more resilient organisations.

The programme aligns with Scotland’s Museums and Galleries Strategy which provides a framework for the sector and MGS to work to ensure the future relevance and resilience of the sector. It centres around three thematic strands of Connection, Resilience and Workforce.

The new programme will have a particular focus on the Resilience strand of the strategy, particularly on Financial Resilience and Collaboration but the postholder will support the interconnected nature of the strands through working collaboratively with staff across the MGS team.

The postholder will support the development of new ways of working that will strengthen the resilience of the whole sector. The postholder will engage directly with museums and galleries in Scotland, supporting and gathering information on common challenges. They will collaborate with colleagues across MGS to support the delivery of programmes to address development needs. The role will involve working with existing partners and support agencies as well as assisting in building new strategic relationships.

Overview of Responsibilities

• Support the building of relationships, and work with, a range of partner organisations
• Supporting museums and galleries to engage with the programme, including using a diagnostic tool that analyses the current issues in the museum sector
• Working closely with the Grants Team, support the delivery of programme funding, including managing a micro grants fund
• Work closely with the Skills Team on skills programming activity
• Support the collection and analysis of impact data regarding the programme to facilitate evaluation and programme development
• Support the reporting on the programme including budget reporting on different programme strands
• Attend meetings and support or facilitate events
• Capture sector knowledge through robust use of systems, including the CRM database Contribute to an internal working group for the financial resilience priority area in the Resilience strand of the National Strategy for Scotland’s Museums and Galleries ensuring delivery strategy actions for MGS

The above mentioned tasks and responsibilities constitute an overview and not an exhaustive list. Workload and priorities are ultimately determined by the annual MGS Operational Plan.

Relationships

• Build and nurture effective working relationships across the organisation and with external partners
• Work fairly and with integrity and adapt style to different people, cultures and situations
• Proactive attitude to seek new ways of working, knowledge, identify and seize opportunities to support the sector
• Collaborate with other staff to support and deliver MGS projects and programmes

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Experience of developing new ways of working
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to build positive working relationships with a range of external stakeholders and partner organisations Experience of supporting projects and programmes
• Experience of creating resources and guidance documents
• Experience of reporting and evaluating
• Managing a varied workload
• Confident using a range of systems and digital platforms

Preferred 

• Facilitation experience
• Knowledge and understanding of the Scottish museums sector and current issues facing it
• Experience of working for or with social enterprises
• Experience of supporting income generation and financial resilience

We work with staff to help everyone reach their potential in the workplace and welcome conversations with individuals about their needs, circumstances and aspirations.

How You Work

MGS has a behavioural competency framework which describes how we expect people to go about their work day-to-day. Staff must demonstrate the following skills areas at an appropriate level:

• Works collaboratively
• Communicating with impact
• Respect, inclusion and integrity
• Effective decision-making
• Sector focus Drive for results Innovation, agility and building capability

In particular this role requires someone who is self-motivated and solutions-focused, positively welcomes opportunities for change and learning, readily shares experience and ideas and has a passion for supporting museums and galleries to become more sustainable and resilient.

All staff are expected to champion and help deliver MGS’s commitments to anti-racism and climate.

Special Requirements

Travel – regionally will be required occasionally (estimated 15 days a year)

Application notes

For more information, and to apply, please visit our website.