Operations and Compliance Assistant at Museums Galleries Scotland

Working Hours: 35 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Starting salary: £26,115
Location: Edinburgh/Hybrid
Closing date: 9am Wednesday 9th September

About the Role

Museums Galleries Scotland is the National Development Body for the Scottish museums sector. We’re here to support more than 452 museums and galleries, whether through strategic investment, advice, advocacy, skills development or other means. We are a forward facing and inclusive organisation, committed to the ongoing development of a positive culture for our team.

This is an exciting time to join MGS as we embark on year two of Museum Futures, a programme created to accelerate collaboration, innovation, and organisational sustainability within the sector. It’s also the final year of Delivering Change, a collaborative programme to enable organisations to restructure based on anti-oppressive principles. Alongside this, we are working to strengthen and expand the impact of our advocacy work.

The Operations and Compliance Assistant provides administrative and operational support to ensure smooth delivery and ongoing development of our business and administration processes.

With a varied workload, this role is part of a Resources team with a strong focus on business improvement, delivering core activities which support sustainability across the organisation and model the practices we want to see across the sector.

The Operations and Compliance Assistant brings strong organisational and administrative skills and a collaborative approach, a positive, can-do attitude, and an interest in supporting and improving processes. A clear and effective communicator, they act as a point of connection across teams in a fast-paced environment. This role gives an opportunity to be involved in a range of projects and programmes alongside day-to-day office administration.

Overview of Responsibilities

• Support Resources and Skills team colleagues across a range of areas and help deliver business improvement activities.
• Support all aspects of office administration and facilities including ordering supplies, managing equipment and liaising with IT support.
• Support finance processes including raising purchase orders, making card payments, and liaising with colleagues and suppliers.
• Assist staff with travel arrangements.
• Be a first point of contact for general enquiries via email and telephone.
• Deliver administrative processes which support the compliance of the MGS SQA Assessment Centre.
• Provide occasional administrative support for projects, programmes and meetings/events and be a point of connection across the organisation.
• Create and maintain resources and documents
• Maintain records and prepare data to support compliance and reporting.
• Work with colleagues across the organisation to align MGS practices to the National Strategy, contribute to collaborative action plans, and support development of good practice in the sector.

The above-mentioned tasks and responsibilities constitute an overview and not an exhaustive list. Workload and priorities are ultimately determined by the annual MGS Operational Plan.

Relationships

• Build and nurture effective working relationships across the organisation
• Collaborate with other staff to support and deliver MGS projects and programmes
• Work fairly and with integrity and adapt style to different people, cultures and situations
• This role works closely with the Resources and Skills team, in particular the Corporate Officer, as well as supporting others across the organisation

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Strong administrative and organisational skills across a varied workload
• Experience supporting a range of business operations and processes
• Experience supporting compliance areas
• People-focused and collaborative approach
• Attention to detail
• Working with data (written and numerical) and documents
• Strong customer focus and ability to communicate positively with a range of people
• Clear and effective written communication skills
• Problem solving, using initiative and a positive approach to change
• Prioritising own workload
• Confident using MS Office and a range of digital platforms

Preferred 

• Experience delivering administrative support in an office environment
• Experience supporting finance processes
• Ability to identify and implement improved ways of working
• Organising travel
• Creating templates and resources

We work with staff to help everyone reach their potential in the workplace and welcome conversations with individuals about their needs, circumstances and aspirations.

HOW YOU WORK

• Works collaboratively
• Communicating with impact
• Respect, inclusion and integrity
• Effective decision-making
• Sector focus
• Drive for results
• Innovation, agility and building capability

In particular this role requires someone who organises and plans work effectively, collaborates well and promotes this approach across teams, can make effective decisions following appropriate criteria, readily contributes ideas and willingly adapts working practices to support changes.

All staff are expected to champion and help deliver MGS’s commitments to anti-racism and climate.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS –Although this is a hybrid role, regular office attendance in Edinburgh will be required for effective office and facilities support – a minimum of two days a week. This will be agreed with the line manager. The office is centrally located with excellent public transport links.

Please download the job information pack for the full details of this role. 

How to Apply

1. Please complete an application form, by downloading it from our website.
2. Then submit your form via our online system Breathe HR.

Please have your application form ready to upload when you apply through Breathe. You can’t go back in and upload it later as it will say your email address has already been used. Please use our application form, CVs will not be accepted.

The deadline to apply is 9am Wednesday 9th September 2026. 

If our application form makes it difficult for you to apply and demonstrate your skills effectively, we would be happy to accept a video, audio or alternative application format. Please refer to the guidance on alternative application format to ensure your application will cover all the required information. If you would like to discuss an application in an alternative format, please contact us on the email below or call 0131 550 4197.

If you have any queries please email hr@museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk, including the name of the post in the subject box.

Please note that interviews for this post are planned to take place on Tuesday 22nd and/or Wednesday 23rd September 2026 (online).  

Museums Galleries Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of the community and is an equal opportunities employer. We hold Living Wage and Investors in People Gold accreditation and are happy to talk flexible working.

We will guarantee an interview to people with disabilities who meet the essential criteria in our person specification. Please note, we always make best efforts to implement this however there may be occasions where it is not practicable to interview all disabled people that meet the essential criteria for the job. For example if we receive a very high number of applications meeting this criteria. In this situation we will consider a reasonable alternative approach – for example setting a maximum number of interviews and ensuring that a proportion of interviews are offered to the disabled candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Please note that details supplied may be held in electronic and paper files for administration purposes only during the recruitment process.  We retain recruitment files for six months following the date of interview, after which they are disposed of appropriately. Our privacy policy.