Jobs

Working for the Weald & Downland Living Museum

We are an award winning, internationally recognised Living Museum with 50 historic buildings and gardens over a 40-acre site situated within the South Downs National Park.

Extraordinary buildings, fascinating artefacts, glorious surroundings and friendly, dedicated people – the Weald & Downland Living Museum is a unique and incredibly rewarding place to work.

Here at the Weald & Downland Living Museum we value diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds.

If you have any questions or are interested in working at the Museum, please e-mail office@wealddown.co.uk

Voluntary Roles

HR Trustee

The Museum is seeking an empathetic HR Trustee to join its Board. The successful candidate will guide on strategic HR matters and serve as a sounding board for the Executive team and Board.

Candidates should demonstrate a progressive mindset, a commercial approach, and have senior leadership experience in human resources, people management, or organisational development. A CIPD qualification or equivalent is required. While a working knowledge of the culture, heritage, or education sectors is desirable, it is not mandatory. The Museum welcomes candidates from a range of backgrounds, including commercial, government, education, or non-profit sectors.

Candidates should bring rigour and expertise to develop the Museum’s people strategy and culture in innovative ways. A deep understanding of workforce dynamics and organisational development is essential, with a strategic focus on fostering a positive and inclusive culture. The ideal candidate will also have insights into diversity and inclusion, gender pay issues, performance management, training and development, recruitment, and effective people strategies.

Honorary Company Secretary / Legal Trustee

With the incumbent set to retire next May, the Museum is looking for an Honorary Company Secretary / Legal Trustee to join its Board, bringing legal expertise and governance oversight.

As both Company Secretary and Legal Trustee, this person will play a central role in governance, ensuring that Board decisions are effectively documented and that meetings are conducted in alignment with best practices for compliance and strategic oversight. They will provide critical legal guidance on governance and regulatory matters to the Chair, Trustees, and Museum Director, ensuring that the Museum’s activities remain in alignment with its Articles and charitable purpose.

Key responsibilities include maintaining oversight of compliance with the Museum’s governing documents and liaising with the Charity Commission if changes to the Articles are required, an aspect fundamental to the Museum’s mission and good governance. Additionally, the role involves providing high-level legal oversight on contracts, risk management, and compliance, with support from the Museum’s solicitors as needed.

The successful candidate will be able contribute their legal expertise to support the Museum’s strategic initiatives, such as protecting intellectual property, navigating employment law considerations, and ensuring alignment with charity law. This is a strategic role, positioned to help guide the Museum’s growth and evolution from a governance and legal perspective.

These roles are an exciting opportunity for someone to share their professional skills and life experience as part of the strong team of 10 Trustees who are passionate about preserving our heritage for future generations. The Board is responsible for ensuring that the Museum achieves its charitable objectives which are stated as to:

• Promote and encourage the preservation of buildings of architectural or historical interest
• Stimulate public interest in ancient crafts, trades, and manufacturers and to establish centres for the study of historical buildings and artefacts
• Promote research into the best means of preserving, restoring, and recording them

The Museum prepares annual budgets in respect of its operations and capital programmes. These are monitored on an on-going basis, and re-forecasts are made during the year when there are material changes in circumstances. Any surplus funds may, at the discretion of the Trustees, be transferred to The Weald and Downland Open Air Museum Endowment Trust, a separate organisation which exists to support the activities of the Museum, to manage on its behalf; the Endowment Trust may also make grants or loans to the Museum to support its activities.

Weald & Downland Living Museum is partnering with Nurole, the leading board-level search specialist, to find new Trustees. You can find out more and apply for the HR Trustee here and the Honorary Company Secretary / Legal Trustee here. To arrange an informal conversation or in case of any other queries, please contact huching.mao@nurole.com