Assistant Curator, European and Scottish Art

Assistant Curator, European and Scottish Art

Location Edinburgh Salary £32,171 - £35,093 per annum plus generous benefits Final date to receive applications Friday, August 21, 2026 Job Summary

About the role

We’re excited to offer a permanent opportunity within our Collection & Research department. We're looking for a highly motivated, well-organised and collaborative individual who is passionate about engaging our visitors with art, to support our curatorial team in delivering a range of activities.

Are you a champion of European and Scottish art with a particular interest in the largely pre-1900 collection displayed in the National at the Mound in Edinburgh? Do you have experience of supporting curators in a gallery or museum environment, or with an art or heritage collection? Are you a good communicator and committed to promoting equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion?

If so, we’d love to hear from you.

You must be forward-thinking, detail-oriented, positive and confident in managing your time effectively to meet targets and deadlines. You will also be able to work both independently and collaboratively, while being supported and guided by colleagues in the curatorial team.

This is a great opportunity to develop your skills and gain experience across a range of curatorial activities, particularly in display maintenance, provenance research and audience engagement. You’ll assist with several aspects of work carried out by the European and Scottish Art curators. You’ll also undertake research into the National Galleries of Scotland’s art collection, with a particular focus on spoliation-related provenance and collection audit and review, and will respond to enquiries about the collection.

In addition, you will help to maintain existing collection displays, document future display plans and support our acquisitions and loans processes, as well as the department’s contributions to our transformative capital project:
The Art Works. The role includes developing and sharing information about European and Scottish art with our focus audiences, including giving in-gallery talks and tours across the collection and writing digital interpretation.

The closing date for completed applications is 12 noon on Friday, 21 August 2026.

At the National Galleries of Scotland we’re committed to embedding Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in the way we work. We want everyone to feel a sense of belonging and freedom to be themselves at work or at play with us. Take a look at our Equality, Inclusion and Diversity priorities and commitments for more information.