Work for us

With a diverse and exciting range of jobs and volunteering opportunities to choose from across all of our museums, find out how you can help make our vision into reality.

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Our benefits:

Working at the Science Museum Group comes with a range of benefits to help you plan for the future, save money and enjoy life. This includes:

• Enhanced contributory pension
• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Opt-in BUPA dental & health cover (Enterprise contracts)
• Interest-free loans
• Buy and sell up to 5 days annual leave
• Employee assistance wellbeing helpline and support
• Flexible working environment
• Generous maternity, paternity and adoption leave policies
• Career breaks
• Group Income protection (Enterprise contracts)
• Trade Union recognition
• Discounts in on-site cafes, shops and cinemas
• Free entry to exhibitions
• Discounts at other museums within NMDC

Our mission and values

At the Science Museum Group, we make it our mission to inspire futures. Our talented and dedicated colleagues are guided by five values that encapsulate what we’re all about:

• We think big, pushing the limits of what’s possible
• We challenge ourselves to reveal wonder
• We use our passion, expertise and creativity to share authentic stories
• We aim to ignite curiosity in our audiences and our colleagues
• We take pride in being open for all

Learning and Development

We are here to inspire futures–that includes yours! Here at SMG we value your career and development options and are committed to making sure there’s a pathway to ignite your curiosity. Your career and development needs are important and our specialist L&D team support a wide range of opportunities for colleagues across all areas of professional development.

From our inclusion and diversity curriculum, apprenticeships and our inspiring people management training, there are many ways to engage with learning and development at SMG.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a key area of focus for the Science Museum Group moving into the future.  We recognise our strength as the world’s leading group of science museums to engage our visitors with the challenge of climate change through the lens of our collection. Embedding sustainability throughout our organisation is a collective endeavour and colleagues can help to shape our direction through our Sustainability Guiding Teams.

We empower and educate colleagues about environmental sustainability and we hold Group-wide climate conversations through Carbon Literacy training. We’re proud to have reduced our carbon emissions by 69% since 2011, and have set ambitious targets for the future.

Diversity and Inclusion at SMG

SMG aims to represent the society and communities in which we work, but we recognise that the museum sector still has much work to do in this area.

One of our core values is to be ‘Open for All’. This is considered in everything we do, from our collections and programming, the visitor experience at each of our museums, as well as our workforce and culture and how we recruit new talent into the business.

We currently have an Open for All Steering Group as well as local Open for All Groups at each of our sites to ensure inclusion and diversity is part of key decisions and processes across SMG.

As part of being ‘Open for All’ we have an Open for All Action Plan which is based around four areas which are

• Grow a diverse workforce
• Build an inclusive culture
• Create places that are open for everyone
• Engage everyone with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).

We are committed to supporting our colleagues’ learning about inclusion through our Inclusion and Diversity Curriculum which has range of resources and opportunities to talk openly about matters related to equity, diversity and inclusion.

We are also committed to measuring how we’re doing on inclusion and diversity and publish our gender pay gap as well as carrying out a data monitoring exercise across all our sites to understand how much we reflect the communities we serve. We are also measuring socio-economic background as we recognise the importance of social mobility in the museum and heritage sector.

SMG will support any eligible applications to ‘Access to Work’, a government scheme which helps disabled employees meet additional access related costs at work.

We strive to provide flexible and inclusive working environments for our colleagues and conduct audits of our sites to ensure both front and back of house spaces are accessible for all.

For more information on life and culture at SMG, check out our series of blog posts on our website.

Hybrid Working

SMG recently gradually introduced a pilot hybrid working approach, as part of our overall aim to improve the experience of working at SMG. There are many benefits to hybrid working as we’ve seen over the past year, however we also recognise many colleagues are keen to return to site full-time.

This will mean that many colleagues across the organisation will have some degree of flexibility in working from home or on site—where their role allows for them to do so. Over the next 18 months, we hope to learn how best to run a hybrid approach that provides all the benefits of working with colleagues on site, while also providing some flexibility to colleagues whose role is compatible with hybrid working and who have access to an appropriate working environment at home.

The level of flexibility a colleague may have will largely be determined by the nature of the role. Some roles, such as ‘front of house’ (i.e. Visitor Experience Assistant, Retail Assistant) roles can only be conducted on-site. Where more flexibility can be offered in a role, expectations around the home/hybrid working pattern will be discussed at interview. However, if you have any questions about any specific roles, please contact us at peoplesupport@sciencemuseum.ac.uk for more information.

So, you’ve seen your dream job with SMG. What do you do now?

You’ll need to apply for the position via our website. We ask all candidates to complete an application form for our vacancies instead of a traditional CV, as we prefer to shortlist based on values, experience and skills to ensure a fair and equitable process for all candidates. As part of this process, we’ll ask you to provide answers to up to three Supporting Statement questions, as well as some basic personal information which we will need for equal opportunities monitoring.

We review all applications against the criteria detailed in the Vacancy Information Pack, so please do ensure you fully detail how you meet the criteria of the role. We love it when our applicants write thorough and thoughtful responses to the Supporting Statement questions, so don’t be afraid to go into detail. This will ensure we get a good understanding of your skills and experience, and how you meet the requirements of the role.

You’ll hear from us within a couple of weeks of the closing date if your application has been shortlisted, most likely by email. You will be given full details as to the date, time, location and structure of the interview, and who you’ll be meeting on the day, so you know what to expect.

If you’re successful, congratulations! You will be contacted with full details of the job offer and contract, and we will discuss your start date. And if you’re not successful at this time, don’t lose heart. We aim to provide interview feedback to those who want it. Unfortunately, we can’t always provide feedback if you’re not shortlisted, due to the volume of applications we receive. Do keep an eye on our website, or our social media channels, and feel free to apply again.

What will my interview consist of?

Generally, SMG interviews are up to an hour long, and consist of a few competency (behavioural) based questions, where we ask you to explain specific skills and experience which relate back to the person specification for the role as detailed in the VIP. These questions are usually framed as ‘Can you give me an example of a time when…’ or ‘Tell me about a situation when…’. You can prepare to answer these questions using the STAR method – which you can find out more about here and here.

We may also ask situational or theoretical questions to understand your approach to specific circumstances related to the role you’re interviewing for, along with questions to understand your work experience, specific interest in the role, and any development areas you might feel you have.

Sometimes we will ask you to prepare a response to a task we might send you as part of the interview invite, or to spare us some time prior to the interview to complete a task we send you on the day. The task will always be related to the role itself, often using nothing more than standard ICT programmes (Excel, Word, Outlook, the internet).

On occasion, we conduct another interview (usually a structured second interview but this may also simply be a ‘get to know you’ meeting with the team or another key stakeholder). The details of which we will try to give you with plenty of advanced notice.

We try to ensure we give everyone a weeks’ notice to attend interviews, but sometimes this isn’t always possible. If you are unable to attend the interview (either over Teams or in person) please don’t hesitate to ask for an alternative; we will always do what we can to accommodate alternative arrangements where possible.

I need help with my application. What do I do?

We ask all candidates to complete an application form when applying for a position with SMG. This ensures all candidate information is submitted in a consistent and standardised format. If you need help applying for a position with us or attending an interview, please contact us on peoplesupport@sciencemuseum.ac.uk or 01904 685 750 and we’ll do everything we can to help.

We want everyone to enjoy applying for a role with SMG, and be able to come away thinking that they’ve done their best. Therefore, if we can do anything to help deliver that experience for you, please let us know.

How to find our sites in Manchester, York, London, Bradford and Shildon.

HOW DO I APPLY FOR A JOB?

To apply for any of our vacancies you need to create an account and apply online. Follow the link to ‘Apply now’ within the vacancy advert. Instructions are provided as you go along. If you’re having problems applying, please contact peoplesupport@sciencemuseum.ac.uk or 01904 685 750.

I may need to request assistance during the application process

CAN I SUBMIT MY CV, WITHOUT APPLYING FOR A SPECIFIC JOB, SO IT CAN BE KEPT ON FILE?

We’re sorry that we are not able to save CVs on file, but we don’t want you to miss out on future vacancies. Instead you can create an account and register to receive email alerts when vacancies you might be interested in arise.

HOW OLD DO I HAVE TO BE TO WORK FOR YOU?

You need to be 16 years or over on the day you start working with us. However, some roles will require you to be 18 or over due to the nature of the responsibilities (e.g. serving alcohol). If you are in any doubt, please contact peoplesupport@sciencemuseum.ac.uk for advice.

DO I NEED A WORK PERMIT TO WORK FOR YOU?

You will need to prove that you have the right to work in the UK. For up-to-date advice on how employers carry out right-to-work checks, and what documents we can accept, please visit www.gov.uk.

CAN YOU SPONSOR ME TO WORK FOR YOU?

The Science Museum Group (SMG) is licensed to sponsor workers who need a Certificate of Sponsorship in order to work and reside in the UK. A total of 70 points is required in order for a worker to apply to work in the UK. Your individual circumstances and the level/salary of the role you are applying for will dictate whether you are eligible to be considered for sponsorship.  You can find out more information about the points-based system here.

You can find out more about the UK’s immigration system here and here. If you have any questions specific to the role you are applying for or SMG more generally, you can contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@sciencemuseum.ac.uk

WHAT HOURS, DAYS OR SHIFTS WILL I BE ASKED TO WORK?

We have a very wide range of roles covering many different working patterns. Details for each role will be given in the advert or vacancy information pack.

I’VE BEEN INVITED TO AN ASSESSMENT DAY, WHAT DOES THIS INVOLVE?

When recruiting into certain roles, we may hold assessment days. Our assessment days vary depending on the type of role that you apply for, but typically involve group and individual tasks while also giving you a chance to learn more about the role you’re applying for, meet some of the key people you’d be working with and gain an insight into the work we do at SMG. The assessment days will usually last half a day. We’ll try to be as accommodating as we can when arranging these days.

We want to ensure that every assessment day is a positive experience for you regardless of the outcome of your application, and we will provide feedback to all candidates who attend on the day.

I’ve been asked to provide personal information on the application form. Why is this?

We collect certain personal data from our candidates in order to assist us in our equal opportunities and diversity monitoring. Please be assured this personal data is not be shared with anyone involved in hiring decisions and is only used for continuous monitoring of statistics.

Can I apply for work experience or an internship at SMG?

At present, SMG does not offer internships. We can support with some work experience requests, depending on the department. Please contact recruitment@sciencemuseum.ac.uk for more information.

SMG are always looking for volunteers to support us at our museums, across various departments. Please visit the volunteering page for more information and to apply. All internal vacancies across the Group are open to volunteers.

WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?

You can follow our LinkedIn and Twitter channels to keep up to date with all the latest opportunities and updates. Feel free to contact the Recruitment team any time to discuss career opportunities at the Group. You can reach us at recruitment@sciencemuseum.ac.uk

HOW VIDEO INTERVIEW INVITES WORK?

When we invite you to interview you will receive an email asking you to book a time slot on the given interview date(s). Once you’ve booked a slot another email will be sent to you within the next few days with a link to ‘Join Microsoft Teams Meeting’. This should correspond with the slot you’ve booked and this will be the link you need to click into when it is time for your video interview.

DO I NEED TO HAVE MICROSOFT TEAMS INSTALLED?

No, you don’t need Microsoft Teams or an Office 365 account. You can simply click the ‘Join Microsoft Teams Meeting’ link and select the option ‘Continue on this browser’ which will let you join the meeting as a new window in your internet browser without needing to install anything. You can also use Microsoft teams on your smart phone or tablet too.

MY INTERVIEW INVITE MENTIONED A TASK, WHEN WILL I RECEIVE THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS?

In some interviews you may be asked to complete a task prior to the video interview itself. If you need to complete a task, you will be informed that we will send you an email prior to your interview. For example if your interview invite it says you will be emailed a task 30mins before your interview then for a 10:00 slot you would be emailed your task at 9:30 so be sure to keep an eye on your emails (including your junk mailbox).

DO I NEED MY CAMERA ON FOR THE INTERVIEW?

Yes, if possible, we try to make our video interviews as good a substitute for in-person interviews as we can so the preference is that cameras are switched on that way we can see you and you can see us.

WHAT IF MY SIGNAL DROPS OR THERE IS A POOR-QUALITY CONNECTION?

If you are struggling to hear the interviewers’ questions or there are connection issues, please let us know. For each of our video interviews we factor in extra time should there be any technical issues, so please don’t be afraid to inform the panel if the connection is poor, you won’t be marked down for this. There are a number of solutions to help improve the connection on a Microsoft Teams call such as; turning cameras off, muting your microphone whilst you’re not speaking, disconnecting from any VPN connections, ensuring there are no ongoing downloads using the same internet connection and leaving and re-joining the call. Ultimately if the technical issues can’t be solved, we may ask to re-arrange your interview or conduct a telephone interview with you instead, but again this won’t count against you in any way.

VIDEO INTERVIEWS USING A MAC

If you’re using a Mac, and need to share your screen during the interview, you’ll need to grant permission to Teams to record your computer’s screen before you can share.

Find out how to share content on a Mac

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