Assistant Artefact Conservator
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Assistant Artefact Conservator | Part time | 21 hours per week
Full Time Salary: £31,929 – £34,549 (pay award pending)
Actual Salary (Pro-rata): £19,157.40 - £20,729.40
Hours: 21 hours per week | 3 days across Monday - Friday
Location: National Museums Collection Centre
National Museums Scotland is one of the leading museum groups in Europe with one of the largest and most diverse collections in the world.
As an organisation our values are Creative, Inclusive, Collaborative and Forward-thinking.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Assistant Artefact Conservator (parttime 0.6 FTE) to join our busy and dynamic conservation team, caring for our internationally significant collections of over 12 million items.
Benefits of joining us as our Assistant Artefact Conservator include:
- Annually alongside your salary, National Museums Scotland contributes 28.97% of this towards you being a member of the Civil Service Pension Scheme
- A generous annual leave of 28.5 days – rising to 33.5 after 5 years, plus an additional 8 paid days public holidays. For part time staff annual leave and public holidays will be pro-rated to reflect your normal working hours
- Free access to national (and international) museums and exhibitions
- A range of wellbeing benefits including Employee Assistance Programme 24/7
- Access to all the above and morefrom day one of employment.
About the Assistant Artefact Conservator role:
The artefact conservation team works across several disciplines including archaeology, decorative arts, sculpture, ethnographic, military and Scottish history collections. You will bring your conservation knowledge to our exhibitions, displays, loans and collections programmes. You will have a recognised conservation degree and be able to work, independently and collaboratively, on the examination and treatment of artefacts, and advise on their safe display and storage. Responsibilities include documenting the condition and treatments of objects, so good IT skills are required.
You will be a team player, who is able to work to tight deadlines and effectively plan, prioritise and risk assess your work programme. You will also have an enthusiasm for conservation and be able to communicate this to our audiences.
As an Assistant Artefact Conservator at National MuseumsScotland you will:
- To apply specialist conservation knowledge to National Museums Scotland’s conservation programmes
- To carry out practical conservation on artefacts of a wide range of material, period and provenance.
- To work closely with exhibition, curatorial and other key sectors in the museum, normally under guidance, to provide the conservation necessary to ensure that deadlines for exhibition, display and care of collections are met
Skills and experience we’re looking for in our Assistant Artefact Conservator:
- First degree in a relevant discipline, or knowledge from relevant experience
- Able practical conservator with proven relevant experience
- Good theoretical understanding of material issues and treatments
Please be sure to view relevant attachments for this role (available on our Careers Portal: careers.nms.ac.uk) for full details of the position.
The closing date for this role is 08/02/2026. The Selection Event is likely to take place 19/02/2026.
Assistant Artefacts Conservator
Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
EH5 1JA
£31,929 to £34,549 per year Generous Civil Service Pension Scheme, Holidays and more
Permanent - Part-time
Posted today
Closing date: 09/02/2026
Job reference: NMS133825
Assistant Artefacts Conservator
Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
£31,929 to £34,549 per year Generous Civil Service Pension Scheme, Holidays and more