Programme Director, NHM Unlocked

Job Description

About Us
We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 1000 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

This is a pivotal role in the delivery of the NHM’s Unlocked programme to construct the new science and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park and to move almost 30 million specimens to their new purpose-built home; and to refurbish and repurpose spaces currently used for collections storage at South Kensington. The role is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the success of a flagship change programme (part of the Government Major Programmes Portfolio) that will ensure the safety and accessibility of our collections for future generations. It is an exciting time to join the programme following our successful Planning Permission approval with Wokingham Borough Council, as we proceed to final business case approvals with government and commence the building programme from autumn 2024.

The Programme Director plays a crucial role in overseeing the project’s execution. This includes monitoring progress, ensuring alignment with objectives, and addressing any deviations. The postholder will oversee programme governance and management, leading and convening the matrixed project delivery teams to ensure workstreams are delivered on time and within budget. They will hold and contribute to relationships across a broad range of internal and external stakeholders to ensure the programme’s success.

We’re looking for a senior programme delivery professional with experience of large-scale, complex capital projects. You’ll have highly developed leadership and stakeholder management skills with significant experience of managing organisational change. Strong strategic thinking and financial management skills are essential. Leadership experience within Government-funded programmes would be advantageous.

If this sounds like you, please apply online on our careers portal.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work
We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

Find out more here

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi.