Director of Collections & Engagement – People’s History Museum in Manchester

Director of Collections & Engagement – People’s History Museum

Hours: Full time (35 hours per week) or part time 0.8 (28 hours per week)

Terms: Permanent

Location: People's History Museum, Manchester

About the role

The Director of Collections & Engagement provides strategic leadership and holds responsibility for the collections and public programme, including the permanent galleries, exhibitions, public events, learning and community engagement activity, and champions care and access for our nationally designated collections.

You will bring together people working across different disciplines and functions to deliver a shared vision, setting strategic priorities in areas such as audience development and collections’ care, and driving forward a vibrant public programme. Using our unique collection of 65,000 objects as the catalyst for community engagement, public events, exhibitions and learning, you will foster a collaborative approach that enables the museum to deepen relationships with existing audiences, reach new communities, and deliver meaningful, lasting public impact.

This role is key to our ambitions for gallery redevelopment; you will set strategic vision, work with the teams to develop content, and build a network of relationships to ensure that the new galleries are empowering, exciting, and welcoming for visitors with a wide range of identities, experiences and needs.

Key priorities of the role

• Deliver a sector‑leading audience experience, by working with teams to programme innovative, inclusive, and impactful exhibitions, public events, and learning and engagement activities that grow audiences, extend reach, build trust, and support our pathway to gallery redevelopment.
• Plan strategically to support collections management, care, and conservation, and make our collections more accessible, physically and digitally.
• Foster partnerships and relationships with key stakeholders, organisations, and communities that strengthen the museum’s reputation and impact.
• Support fundraising and income generation, deliver against budgets, and ensure that projects meet funder objectives while furthering PHM’s mission.

About People’s History Museum

People’s History Museum (PHM) is the national museum of democracy, telling the story of its development in Britain: past, present, and future. We invite people to explore radical stories of people coming together to champion ideas worth fighting for, and to be empowered by the past to make a change for the future. We are all together in the fight for a fairer world.

Our galleries and exhibitions are free to visitors and we welcome a local, national, and international audience, attracting over 80,000 people annually. We involve audiences and communities in many aspects of our work, including by using models of co‑curation, collaboration, and co‑development. These approaches have underpinned some of our most significant past projects such as ‘Never Going Underground’, ‘Migration’, and ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’. We are committed to working with our audiences to shape authentic content, offering an inclusive space for their voices, stories, and ideas.

Our nationally designated collection is made up of around 65,000 objects, which includes the world’s most significant collection of trade union and protest banners, cared for through our Conservation Studio. Alongside our object collection, we hold extensive archive material, including the archives of the Labour Party and of significant grassroots movements such as Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners.

We are an independent museum and a charitable trust, and we are governed by a Board of Trustees. Our turnover is around £1.5 million per year and our biggest funders are the Arts Council England (ACE), and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

Deadline for applications: 10am on Monday 23 November 2026

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