Community Participation Officer

Part time 21.6 hrs, Fixed Term contract / Secondment Opportunity for 18 months. Are you passionate and experienced in community engagement? Are you able to work with diverse audiences to create dynamic and varied content for exhibitions in museums using social history collections? If yes, this could be the role for you to join the ambitious project: Re-imagining Hackney Museum - Empowering Communities with Collections.

As Community Participation Officer you will lead on facilitating engagement projects with pre-identified local audiences and community groups that will ensure their participation to interpret specific key stories in creative ways. Projects include:

• Working with communities to explore the histories of lascars, Huguenot refugees and people escaping enslavement in the borough. Community engagement will inform the external commissioning of 3 x short films made about the subjects to feature in the new permanent exhibition.
• Working with a range of age groups and abilities to visually map the global journeys of 16th to 19th century residents of the borough. Community engagement will inform the external commissioning of an artwork to produce a globe that will form a focal point in the new permanent exhibition.

The new permanent exhibition is due to open by early 2027. This post holder will also develop and deliver five walking tours in collaboration with local community group members using subjects in the new permanent exhibition and support the supervision of volunteers, work experience and work placements.

The ideal candidate will have experience of working in a small but fast-paced, multi-disciplinary project environment; working closely with the Project Curator, Learning Producer and commissioned specialists/artists to realise both in-depth community participation, and permanent exhibition quality outputs. This is a really exciting opportunity to support local communities to see Hackney Museum as a place for them and shape the future of the museum service. Flexible working will be considered, providing it fulfils the requirements of the role.

This role requires an enhanced DBS check. Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values. Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work such as our fight for equity in Hackney with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. But the work doesn’t stop there, we are proactive in our approach to bringing fairness to all aspects of life including gender, neurodiversity and across the poverty divide.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation. If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values, so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below. We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CVs. To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application. As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency-based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

Closing date for applications: 15 June 2025 (22:59). Interview date: 10 July 2025.

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available.