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Museum education officer : Salary and conditions

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  1. Job description
  2. Salary and conditions
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Case studies

  • Range of typical starting salaries: £16,000 - £19,000 (salary data collected Oct 2009).
  • Range of typical starting salaries for senior posts, contributing to the museum’s strategic development (e.g. after six - ten years’ experience): £30,000 - £35,000 (salary data collected Oct 09).
  • Salaries vary between independent, local authority and national museums. Independent organisations may not pay as highly as local authorities. The Museums Association (MA)  produces annual museum salary guidelines.
  • Working hours are mainly nine to five with the possibility of extra hours. The role increasingly involves evening and weekend work and may require working during public holidays.
  • The working environment varies depending on the type of museum. Staff may be based in a single museum, or may be based centrally and cover a variety of local provision. In either case, local travel for outreach work or to attend meetings and exhibitions is quite common.
  • Part-time roles are available as well as flexible working opportunities (job-share, flexitime, etc.).
  • Recent years have seen a significant increase in fixed-term contracts, which vary from a matter of months to a five-year period.
  • Self-employment is also becoming more common.
  • A high proportion of the current workforce is female, although this is starting to even out.
  • People from minority groups are currently underrepresented in the museum sector and the MA’s ‘Diversity’ programme aims to improve access to work for members of ethnic minorities and disabled people.
  • The majority of opportunities are in large towns and cities, where the larger museums are to be found, but museums also exist in smaller towns and in rural areas.
  • The role generally requires a smart-casual appearance, and the working atmosphere tends to be informal.
  • Overnight absence from home and overseas travel are rarely required.
 
AGCAS
Written by Julia Yates, University of the Arts, London
Date: 
December 2009
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