Paper Conservator Touring Exhibitions

We are delighted to announce a new opportunity for a Paper Conservator to join our Conservation Department at the National Galleries of Scotland.

We are seeking a skilled and collaborative Conservator to help us share our collection with audiences around the world. You must have practical hands-on experience in the conservation of paper within an art gallery, museum or similar cultural or heritage organisation. Ideally, you will have a degree with a recognised post-graduate conservation qualification in Paper Conservation or substantial practical experience.

To succeed in this post, you’ll enjoy being resourceful, proactive, testing out new ideas, and providing solutions. You will have excellent interpersonal skills and be a clear communicator. With strong organisation skills you will have the ability juggle several projects simultaneously.

Our extensive works on paper collection is often on the move. You’ll be at the heart sharing this collection with the widest possible audience ensuring that works from our rich and varied collection travel safely, sustainably and look their very best when on display. Your work will play a vital role in delivering our wider strategy, supporting our Public Offer, equalities, and environmental priorities.

You’ll help preserve the collection while enabling us to deliver a generous lending programme from our diverse collections, also an ambitious number of exhibitions across our galleries. Through research and outreach, you will deepen knowledge of the collection and help attract new audiences to engage with it.

This is more than just a conservation role. It is an opportunity to make a lasting difference to the way we care for, understand and share our collection.

National Galleries of Scotland is launching an ambitious international touring programme contributing to our aim to make art work for everyone. This new initiative builds on past touring success and increases opportunities for the collection to be shared with audiences across the world. The touring programme is also part of our strategy to grow our income to ensure our future financial sustainability.

The role sits within our Paper Conservation section within the Conservation Department. You will also work closely with colleagues specialising in frames, preventive conservation, paper, sculpture, and time-based media. Together, we are a collaborative department where everyone strives to keep abreast of recent developments within the wider profession. Knowledge-sharing, research, and innovation are encouraged and celebrated. You will have the chance to develop and embed professional approaches to painting conservation across the collections.

• Assessing the condition of works on paper (including prints, drawings, photographs, books and archival material for our busy touring exhibition and short-term loan programme.
• Preparing works for travel with a focus on preventive conservation measures and rigorous documentation.
• Delivering a variety of interventive paper conservation projects with sensitivity, skill and imagination while undertaking research and exploring new ways of working, where appropriate.
• Developing appropriate methodologies for documenting works on paper including entering information into our collections management database.
• Supporting the other paper conservators with exhibition preparation and delivery.
• Communicating and collaborating frequently with colleagues from across the organisation, for example, other conservators, conservation and art handling technicians, members of collection management and curators.
• Delivering a variety of interventive paper…