Curator

The American Air Museum in Britain Curator is a unique and exciting role within IWM. It has specific responsibility for telling stories and collecting material culture that relate to United States’ air power in the UK, with a particular focus on the Second World War in Britain. The American Air Museum in Britain (AAMB), based at IWM Duxford, records these stories through both its website and a physical museum site, and stands as a memorial to almost 30,000 US airmen who gave their lives flying from British bases. It is the only museum of its kind outside the United States and is supported by a network of individuals and institutions, including around 12,000 members in the USA. It is a vital node in the web of museums, heritage sites and related attractions that are scattered over East Anglia.

The AAMB website is a core part of the museum. Not only does it provide content for the museum (specifically the Roll of Honour), but it encourages and draws crowd-sourced content from specialist audiences and the general public. 10,000 IWM images sit at the core of the AAMB website, but the website also hosts collections material from a number of other institutions, organisations and individuals.

This is a curatorial role that prioritises engagement and active support of our audiences, both on the web and at the museum site at IWM Duxford. The role emphasises participation, offering a non-traditional model of ‘story collection’. It involves actively seeking out and visiting community groups and working with other museums to encourage them to engage with the collection. Alongside a more familiar curatorial skill set, the role requires sensitivity, diplomacy and a real flair for stakeholder relationship management and communication.

You will need to work proactively and imaginatively to develop ways to build this innovative and accessible collection – with a specific focus on images of Americans in Britain during the Second World War - and help deliver our public programme priorities in this area. This may involve working with relevant stakeholders and with external partners. It may also be through collections development relevant to the AAMB’s mission.

You will apply and develop knowledge and skills for the benefit of our audiences and put forward imaginative ideas and practical thinking for the development of our AAMB online story collection. You will seek to develop the website in new and interesting ways and contribute to a working culture that is responsive, collaborative and committed, and an environment that welcomes curiosity and creativity.

Your duties will include:

• Curating a world-class and accessible collection of online stories for the AAMB website and monitoring content uploaded by ‘virtual volunteers’ and ‘super-users’, encouraging the good use of the site.
• Creating and developing content for the website; including writing material which communicates the themes of the AAMB.
• Advising stakeholders on the development of the AAMB website content calendar, ensuring priorities and content align across platforms, sites and activity.
• Working with IWM Exhibitions and Interpretation colleagues to keep on-site displays at IWM Duxford up to date.
• Developing content and writing for a range of other outputs for stakeholders and audiences – including for the AAMB newsletter, sent quarterly to AAMB members in the USA.
• Communicating developments and additions to website and collections content to key stakeholders, user groups and content creators.
• Working with stakeholders to provide content to increase, broaden and keep relevant the AAMB’s social media presence.
• Building the profile of both the website and museum site through partnerships with other organisations; key relationships include veterans’ associations in the USA and the UK, the Mighty Eighth Museum in Savannah, Georgia and the many UK-based volunteer-run museums, especially within East Anglia.
• Horizon scanning for opportunities to enhance and deepen public participation with the AAMB and the material culture of the US air story, particularly as it pertains to the Second World War in Britain; including visiting groups, schools and museums, and giving talks to organisations to encourage them to get involved in online activities.
• Championing the AAMB to internal IWM stakeholders as well as external partners, groups, audiences, collections donors and funders; including facilitating visits and providing tours where appropriate.
• Acting as a representative and advocate for the AAMB at relevant commemorative public events, such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day.
• Supporting a team of volunteers, from within IWM and from without, to improve content on the website and relating to physical collections.
• Identifying, developing and supporting commercial and fundraising opportunities and events presented by content and collections related to AAMB activities, including through the Curator Consultancy service.
• Continuing to develop IWM’s collection as it relates to the AAMB. This will involve data entry, cataloguing and captioning, transferring information into a digital format and cross-checking facts.
• Managing a budget to maintain and develop the website.

This job description is not all encompassing. Over time the emphasis of the job may change without changing the general character of the job. Your duties may be reviewed from time to time and revised and updated in consultation with you to reflect appropriate changes.

For a full job specification, which your application will be marked against, please see attached person specification.