Learning Officer

The main purpose of this post is to work with the Learning Manager to support the development and delivery of high-quality learning and events programmes for all ages at West House and the Heath Robinson Museum. The learning and events programme is highly successful, providing opportunities across all sectors, disciplines and ability levels. The subjects covered include art, design, creative thinking and gadgets.

Specialist experience or qualifications in art and a practical knowledge of traditional art techniques should be combined with a flexible and creative aptitude to work across all the subjects. There is a strong focus on the development and delivery of programmes for educational institutes, including museum-based workshops, single events, outreach, visits by school pupils and college students, and activities developed in partnership with schools/colleges or other organisations. A variety of informal learning courses/workshops are also an important part of the learning programme, both during the day (adults) and after school/work hours (children and adults) and in school holidays.

Key Tasks

• To develop and deliver high-quality learning opportunities in the West House and Heath Robinson Museum complex particularly for children, young adults (up to 25 years of age) and families from all sectors, disciplines, ages and ability levels, but also for adults to ensure learning opportunities are available to the whole community.
• To create informal community events either museum led or in collaboration with other community groups/museums.
• To liaise with the curatorial team to create learning outcomes relevant to each special exhibition and to curate appropriate additional material/self-led activities for both the special exhibitions and for the Heath Robinson Collection.
• To curate and create where necessary additional exhibition material for the Activity Studio either based on current exhibitions or the collection, or on learning output from learning events, activities or collaborations with other learning institutes.
• To create learning content for, and programme the various information and touch screens throughout the Museum.
• To help identify funding opportunities that are relevant to learning.
• To liaise with the marketing team to promote learning opportunities.
• To create and manage learning event ticketing.
• To research, identify and recruit external workshop leaders for different events/classes.
• To welcome participants in activities, provide them with information and advice and obtain feedback to ensure that all aspects of a learning visit are of a high standard.
• To ensure that all programmes on offer are relevant to users and are evaluated, making improvements as necessary.
• To develop strong working relationships with external agencies, education providers, volunteers and others who share our aim of making the resources available to learners of a range of backgrounds and interests, in line with the aims of the Learning Plan and Audience Plan.
• To ensure that the school booking system is run effectively and efficiently and that school/college enquiries are dealt with promptly.
• To ensure safe systems of work are implemented effectively within all the activities undertaken with external facilitators and volunteers.
• To manage the schools and family learning budgets and ensure that income and visitor targets are met.
• To ensure activities within this role comply with the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act.
• To manage the Activity Studio and learning spaces ensuring maintenance issues are passed on to the Estates Manager.
• To support the Learning Manager and the Museum Manager in ensuring the best presentation of the West House complex and the safe and efficient provision of quality learning experiences.
• To help manage the rental of the event rooms (Verden Event Rooms and Museum rooms).
• To undertake such other duties in the running of the museum as may be reasonably expected.

Scope of Role

• Managing a number of projects, varied in size and scope under the supervision of the Learning Manager within agreed budgets, ensuring best value for the Trust.
• Management of volunteers, work placements and contractors.
• Developing and maintaining partnerships with external organisations and educational establishments.
• Develop and maintain collaborations with professional artists, craftspeople and art organisations.

Person specification

We are looking for an experienced, people-oriented, fun, creative, organised and confident person to fill the role of Learning Officer. The successful candidate will deliver some of the current learning programs to schools and the general public and help develop and deliver new courses and events for different audiences, including regular evening teaching of children’s Art Academy (once per week in term time). In this busy and varied role, you will help grow our school visit program and run our community events program, holiday craft sessions for children and craft taster sessions for adults. Design and production of learning posters and leaflets is also part of the role as well as some basic administration tasks such as ticketing and bookings. Please also note that moving of light furniture (fold-up tables and chairs) is a regular part of this job.

Skills Required

• Self-motivation and initiative; ability to take ownership of problems and resolve them effectively.
• Effective interpersonal skills to engage and work with a range of different audiences in a clear and confident manner.
• Exceptional ability to build personal and organisational relationships at all levels.
• Strong organisational skills: a proven ability to work on own initiative and in a team, to prioritise and manage own time to meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills: the ability to effectively represent the Museum through formal presentations, one-to-one meetings, written proposals, reports and promotional copy writing.
• Demonstrable flexibility in approach to work; able to adjust plans as necessary to meet overall ambitions of the learning team and the Museum.
• Ability to successfully articulate, plan and deliver events.
• Proven knowledge of working alongside colleagues/volunteers to deliver events/projects.
• Art skills such as proficiency in drawing and other traditional techniques.
• Experience of developing engaging learning experiences in a heritage or other education setting.
• Experience of successful working in diverse teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills.
• Computer literate with experience in the use of MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Knowledge of learning in museums, and passionate about engagement and participation best practice.
• Proven knowledge of working with a range of learners, including those with learning difficulties.
• Experience of design software such as Canva or Adobe Express or similar.
• Good working knowledge of basic sciences (at primary school level), simple machines, energy transfer, invention.
• Proficiency in social media platforms.

Contract: Fixed term; 12 months with possibility of extension.

Salary: £20,000-24,000pa [FTE salary of £25,000 to 30,000 pa - dependent on experience].

Hours: 32 hours (4 days) per week to include occasional weekend and regular evening work.