Assistant Curator, East Asia

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Assistant Curator Asia: East Asian Collections | Full Time | 35 hours | Temporary 12 Month Contract 
 
Full Time Salary:  £31,929 to £34,549 (pay award pending)
Hours: 35 hours per week | Monday - Friday
Location: National Museum of Scotland | Hybrid

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. We are looking for enthusiastic, passionate, honest, service-driven individuals to join our team.

Benefits of joining us as our Assistant Curator Asia: East Asian Collections will include:

• Annually alongside your salary of £31,929 to £34,549, 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.
• 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 Curator Asia: East Asian Collections role:

The position we are recruiting for is situated within the Global Arts, Cultures and Design department, and the selected candidate will be reporting to the Principal Curator in the Asia Section. The job holder will bring with them knowledge of and enthusiasm for working with collections of material culture from East Asia. They will contribute to, enhance and promote the curatorial competence of National Museums Scotland particularly with regard to Asian cultures. Working within a multidisciplinary organisation and with external stakeholders, the job holder will develop specialist knowledge. The job holder will contribute to the Asia team’s efforts to engage diverse communities with the collections.

As an Assistant Curator Asia: East Asian Collections at National Museums Scotland you will:

• Apply expert knowledge of the subject and collections to create and improve National Museums’ documentation programmes
• Assist with programmes of improvement to collections care to meet National Museums’ best practice
• Assist with the supervision of volunteers supporting curatorial work, to ensure their contribution is focused and recognised

• Contribute to the Learning & Engagement activities of National Museums on the development and delivery of projects to reach a wide variety of audiences
• Commit to good health & safety and access practice and ensure familiarity with National Museums’ health & safety and access policies, procedures and guidelines

Skills and experience we’re looking for in our Assistant Curator Asia: East Asian Collections:

• Excellent ICT skills in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proven experience in paid or unpaid work in museums or a similar environment

Hiring the right person for the right job is everything to us. We want to encourage you to apply if you think this is the role for you.

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 01/03/2026 (1 MARCH 2026). The Selection Event is likely to take place 02/03/April (2 APRIL 2026).

Assistant Curator, East Asia

Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

EH1 1JF

£31,929 to £34,549 per year Generous Civil Service Pension Scheme, Holidays and more

Temporary - Full-time

Posted today

Closing date: 02/03/2026

Job reference: NMS144782

Documents

AC East Asia - Recruitment Pack_FINAL.pdf

Assistant Curator, East Asia

Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

£31,929 to £34,549 per year Generous Civil Service Pension Scheme, Holidays and more