British Museum seeks new director. 250,000-euro-a-year position

The British Museum in London is looking for a new director to replace Hartwig Fischer, who resigned last August after the unfortunate affair of thefts that occurred in recent years at the museum (some 1,500 objects stolen from the collection) and only discovered in 2023 (the museum currently has an interim director, Mark Jones of the Victoria & Albert Museum). With the new year, the museum’s board of trustees has issued a job advertisement to seek the person who will lead the museum, one of the most visited in the world.

The position, the announcement reads, “offers the opportunity to lead one of the world’s oldest and largest national public museums through a period of rejuvenation and redevelopment.” Given the Museum’s “immense potential and the significant challenges it faces,” the institution notes, “the successful candidate will need to be a confident and ambitious leader who can manage a large and complex organization, oversee significant projects, and motivate and inspire a diverse team of curatorial and non-curatorial staff.”

Candidates should be “passionate” and should feel “personally committed to the Museum’s core mission of caring for, preserving, and making accessible a collection that tells the story of humanity.” They should have “the experience and intellectual distinction necessary to lead a major museum, which depends on deep curatorial and scholarly expertise.” The British is seeking figures from both the museum sector and other fields. The new director will work at a salary of 215,000 pounds gross annually (about 250,000 euros).

“We are looking for someone who has a vision for the future of the British Museum,” President George Osborne wrote in a letter accompanying the announcement. “Developing and articulating that vision will require creativity, charisma and passion for the British Museum. But that alone is not enough. The next Director will also need to have a proven track record of successfully managing a complex organization and earning the respect of a large and diverse staff, which has at its core a body of curatorial and collections care staff, but also includes a wide range of other functions, from security services to human resources and IT. The next Director must also be willing and able to communicate the Museum’s purpose to the media and the public.”

“I would encourage,” Osborne continues, “anyone who thinks they have the knowledge, skills, energy and temperament to run one of the world’s greatest museums to apply. Show us how you can take advantage of the opportunities available to the Museum and how you can help meet the challenges it faces.”

The selection process will be managed by the agency Saxton Bampfylde Ltd. Those wishing to apply should visit www.saxbam.com/appointments using the reference EBMD. Alternatively, call +44 (0)20 7227 0880 (during office hours). Applications must be received by noon on Friday, January 26, 2024.

British Museum seeks new director. 250,000-euro-a-year position

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