Assistant Curator Asia

National Museums Scotland

  • Edinburgh
  • £31,929-34,549 per year
  • Permanent
  • Part-time
  • 3 days ago
Assistant Curator Asia: West, South and Southeast Asian Collections | Part time | 24.5 hoursFull Time Salary: £31,929 - £34,549
Actual Salary (Pro-rata): £22,350.30 - £24,184.30
Hours: 24.5 hours per week | Monday - Friday
Location: National Museum of Scotland | HybridNational Museums Scotland is one of the leading museum groups in Europe with one of the largest and most diverse collections in the world. As an organisation our values are Creative, Inclusive, Collaborative and Forward-thinking. We are looking for enthusiastic, passionate, honest, service-driven individuals to join our team.Benefits of joining us as our Assistant Curator Asia: West, South and Southeast Asian Collections will include:
  • Annually alongside your salary of £31,929 - £34,549 (pro rata), National Museums Scotland contributes 28.97% of this towards you being a member of the
  • A generous annual leave of 28.5 days – rising to 33.5 after 5 years, plus an additional 8 paid days public holidays. For part time staff annual leave and public holidays will be pro-rated to reflect your normal working hours.
  • Cycle to Work scheme
  • Free access to national (and international) museums and exhibitions
  • Exclusive discounts on both local and national High Street and online retailers
  • A range of wellbeing benefits including Employee Assistance Programme 24/7
  • Flexible working options such as hybrid working, part time working, paid special leave, career breaks and unpaid leave
  • Access to all the above and more from day one of employment.
To see more of our benefits please visit out dedicated benefits page on our .About the Assistant Curator Asia: West, South and Southeast Asian Collections role:The position we are recruiting for is situated within the Global Arts, Cultures and Design department, and the selected candidate will be reporting to the Principal Curator in the Asia Section. The job holder will bring with them knowledge of and/or enthusiasm for working with collections of material culture from West, South and Southeast Asia. They will contribute to, enhance and promote the curatorial competence of National Museums Scotland particularly with regard to Asian cultures. Working within a multidisciplinary organisation and with external stakeholders, the job holder will develop specialist knowledge preferably in the Southeast Asian collections. The job holder will contribute to the Asia team’s efforts to engage diverse communities with the collections.As an Assistant Curator Asia: West, South and Southeast Asian Collections at National Museums Scotland you will:
  • Apply expert knowledge of the subject and collections to create and improve National Museums’ documentation programmes
  • Assist with programmes of improvement to collections care to meet National Museums’ best practice
  • Assist with the supervision of volunteers supporting curatorial work, to ensure their contribution is focused and recognised
  • Contribute to the Learning & Engagement activities of National Museums on the development and delivery of projects to reach a wide variety of audiences
  • Commit to good health & safety and access practice and ensure familiarity with National Museums’ health & safety and access policies, procedures and guidelines
Skills and experience we’re looking for in our Assistant Curator Asia: West, South and Southeast Asian Collections:
  • A relevant first degree, or equivalent experience in art history or anthropology or similar
  • Knowledge of, an interest in, or enthusiasm about collections from West, South and Southeast Asia
  • Proven experience in paid or unpaid work in museums or a similar environment
  • Excellent ICT skills in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Hiring the right person for the right job is everything to us. We want to encourage you to apply if you think this is the role for you.Please be sure to view our recruitment pack for this role (available on our careers website: careers.nms.ac.uk) for full details of the position that may help with your application.The closing date for this role is 28/09/2025. The Selection Event is likely to take place week commencing 13/10/2025.

National Museums Scotland