Access Manager

National Portrait Gallery
Salary: £35,337.23

Full-time: 40 hours per week

Fixed Term Contract: 12 months

Hybrid working: 3 days in the office

Working pattern: Flexibility with working hours is required to support delivery of the Access Programme. The role involves onsite at the Gallery and offsite in clinical settings

Purpose

For this role, we are looking for a highly-motivated individual with relevant experience to champion accessibility at the Gallery. The purpose of this role is to develop the Gallery’s access offer including managing our community partnerships; delivering programmes onsite and through outreach for audiences with access needs; delivering new accessible digital resources & interpretation; supporting accessible training; and championing access, equality and inclusion at the Gallery through advisory and consultative practice. The role works collaboratively across the Gallery to share access expertise and support colleagues to ensure an integrated approach to access across design, interpretation, digital, learning, Communications and Visitor Experience.

The role will manage creative access programmes with our community partners that connect and contribute to sustained audience development, wider engagement and creative participation. This includes managing our long-established arts programme working in children’s hospitals across London, and managing a new arts programme at the Gallery called Studio Hub working in partnership with Age UK, MIND and Portugal Prints. Taking inspiration from the Gallery’s Collection, the role manages arts engagement work with diverse, vulnerable, harder to reach audiences, and reflects their perspectives and responses in imaginative and inspiring ways. Audience focus for this role includes work with young people in hospital, adults with additional needs, learning disabled adults and elders.

The Gallery’s arts programme in partnership 5 children’s hospitals in London has been running for over 15 years and gives young people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to engage in the creative arts whilst in hospital. This established programme has a good reputation and we need a talented individual to design and deliver this, ensuring we are ambitious in impact, practice and advisory work. The programme champions the importance of the arts in the health, vitality and development of young people, provoking curiosity, imagination and creativity, and developing cognitive, emotional and creative skills. Taking the Gallery’s Collection of portraits as inspiration, multi-disciplinary artists lead creative art workshops in hospital for patients, siblings and parents. The project aims to help normalise the hospital experience for young people and supports play, creativity and communication. The role involves championing the arts for health and wellbeing agenda and being a leading advocate for this work. The project demands a collaborative and consultative approach, flexibility and management flair. Our partners are Evelina London Children’s Hospital at St Thomas’ Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Royal London Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and Newham University Hospital.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the National Portrait Gallery to champion accessibility at the Gallery and make an immediate impact.

Job Description

Key Accountabilities

• Managing creative arts projects that support health and wellbeing including advocating the importance of arts in creating healthy communities and develop an approach for increasing the profile and awareness of the work
• Managing and sustaining strong, active partnerships with local access and community organisations, artists, participants and stakeholders ensuring in-depth consultation informs all aspects of activity design
• Managing the Gallery’s arts programme in London Children’s Hospitals
• Managing Studio Hub – a new, social community & wellbeing programme at the Gallery which provides regular, monthly, creative workshops designed in partnership with key community partners
• Championing accessibility across the Gallery to share expertise, advise and support colleagues to ensure an integrated approach to access across design, interpretation, digital, learning, Communications, facilities and Visitor Experience
• Managing the creation of new, accessible interpretation and resources in the Gallery for Deaf/hard of hearing and Blind/visually impaired audiences
• Taking forward recommendations from externally produced Access Audits for Deaf/hard of hearing and Blind/visually impaired audiences
• Planning quarterly access networking events for audiences, community leaders and sector professionals; establishing & Chairing an Access Advisory Group to inform approach and practice including writing the Terms of Reference, meeting quarterly and reporting into the Gallery’s Equality & Diversity Steering Group on access, equality and diversity issues to ensure strong representation and best practice is supported and championed; and delivering CPD on accessibility to staff
• Raise awareness of the access programme, resources and facilities through marketing and advocacy, working closely with Communications on awareness to increase engagement and encourage greater participation

Budgeting, Resources and Working Relationships

• Strong budget management skills – Delivering the programme to timescale and on budget – monitoring and reporting on expenditure, keeping to budget and managing externally funded project budgets
• Preparing reports for Trustees and funders, and tracking statistics and other information for internal reports and other public bodies as appropriate
• Completing formal written reports as required and working closely with colleagues in Development to identify opportunities for future funding
• Managing all the operational and administrative duties associated with delivering the project
• Managing and monitoring risk assessments for all programmes ensuring health and safety of participants both onsite at the Gallery and offsite in community and clinical settings

Cross Department Working

• To work collaboratively cross-Gallery with Design, Interpretation, Learning, Digital, Facilities, Visitor Experience and Communications
• To work closely with key contacts in the Development team to ensure effective sponsor relations
• Managing a team of Gallery Educators

This is not, however, an exhaustive list of duties and the Gallery’s management may, at any time, allocate other tasks which are of a similar nature or level

Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience

• Be a specialist in accessibility issues and understanding the needs of specific access groups
• Be informed, knowledgeable and engaged with access legislation and national health & wellbeing initiatives
• Lead, advocate and champion accessibility at the Gallery and externally
• Be sensitive and collaborative with supporting colleagues around accessibility to ensure best practice
• Experience working in an Arts, Museum, Health or Gallery Education setting
• Experience of developing and maintaining effective partnerships
• Experience of presenting projects to funders and other stakeholders
• Demonstrable sensitivity and empathy when working with people, including vulnerable individuals and groups
• Experience of engaging diverse audiences with visual art collections
• Expertise in management and fostering collaborative relationships between a diverse range of partners and audiences
• Demonstrable track record of strong project management skills and the ability to manage event logistics and technical support
• A flexible approach to work
• Strong project management skills – including strong planning, administration & organisational skills
• Keen attention to detail in all aspects of activity associated with the programme
• Excellent interpersonal skills – Confident, persuasive, collaborative and diplomatic in your approach
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal, including presentations & introducing speakers

Other

• A strong commitment to equality and diversity with the ability to balance differing needs.
• Keen interest in the mission and purpose of the National Portrait Gallery and building its relevance for contemporary audiences, and in the long-term success and development of the Gallery.
• The post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and each partner hospitals’ security systems

We offer all our employees a competitive benefits package including:

• Membership of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS)
• Generous annual leave allowance
• Interest free season ticket and bicycle loans
• Rental deposit scheme
• Membership of the Civil Service Sports & Leisure club
• Access to independent, low cost healthcare schemes
• Employee assistance programme
• Free entry to many UK museums, galleries and exhibitions
• Staff discounts on purchases in online shop
• Professional & personal development opportunities

Closing date for returned applications is 9:00am on 2nd October 2023.
First round interviews will take place on Friday 6th Ocotber 2023 and Monday 9th October 2023.
Please indicate on your form if you will be unable to make these dates.
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