Outreach Officer (0.8 FTE, 2 years fixed term)
Salary: £33,000 per annum., pro rata
Apply by: Friday 3rd July
We’re looking for a warm and enthusiastic Outreach Officer who enjoys working with people. Someone who is excited about creating engaging opportunities for communities to get involved with Nairn Museum.
Nairn Museum
Nairn Museum is an independent museum in the Scottish Highlands. Housed in a Georgian villa, the Nairn Museum shares the heritage and culture of the Highlands through fascinating stories. We are proud to serve both our local community, from schools to care homes, as well as a global network of visitors with ancestral ties to the Highlands.
With one permanent Curator-Manager, plus a fixed-term Collections Assistant, and a dedicated team of volunteers, we focus on collections care and creative ways of sharing heritage. Our work is rooted locally but globally connected.
This role is part of an exciting new phase in our development, supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Communities & Collections Fund. The Outreach Officer will play a key role in building strong relationships with different community groups, ensuring that people are at the heart of how museum collections are brought to life.
Job Purpose
In this role, you’ll lead the development and delivery of Nairn Museum’s community engagement and participatory programme, working alongside local people to create meaningful opportunities for involvement.
You’ll help embed collaborative approaches across the museum, ensuring that collections and the stories around them are explored through different perspectives.
Practical Requirements
The role is principally based at Viewfield House, Nairn. The standard working hours are 28 hours per week. We anticipate the role to be 4 days per week. Some evening or weekend work may be required.
The role will involve local travel in the area.
Person Specifications
Skills and Experience Essential
- Experience of working with communities, groups, or volunteers in a cultural, heritage, education, or community setting.
- Enjoys working with people and building positive relationships with a wide range of individuals and groups.
- Confidence in facilitating conversations, workshops, activities, or events that encourage participation.
- An understanding of inclusive practice and the importance of creating welcoming spaces where everyone feels valued.
- Ability to work independently, manage your own workload, and use initiative.
Skills and Experience Desirable
- Interested in exploring heritage and culture from different perspectives.
- Knowledge of Scottish social history, or any histories of movement and migration
- Confidence using digital tools, social media, or online platforms to engage audiences.
We don’t expect candidates to meet every criterion. If you’re enthusiastic about the role and can demonstrate interest in developing skills, we’d love to hear from you.
Key duties and responsibilities include:
Community Outreach
- Build meaningful relationships with local communities, including schools and community groups.
- Reach out to and support participants whose experiences, family histories, or interests connect to the themes explored by the project.
- Create welcoming opportunities for people to share ideas through workshops, creative activities, and community events.
- Help ensure that a wide range of voices and lived experiences are represented in Nairn Museum’s work.
Activity and Event Planning
- Work with communities to co-design and deliver an engaging programme of activities, including workshops, events, creative commissions and pop-up exhibitions.
- Support participants to explore, interpret, and share stories connected to identity and belonging.
- Collaborate with artists, facilitators, and community contributors to create inspiring outputs, which may include exhibitions, performances, open-mics, ceilidhs or digital content.
- Contribute ideas to the development of a podcast series.
Access and Audience Development
- Help make the museum welcoming, relevant, and accessible to a broader range of people.
- Develop and support activities that take the museum beyond its walls and into the community through partnerships, outreach, and events.
- Use digital platforms and social media to encourage participation and share project stories.
- Support efforts to engage people who may not have engaged with local heritage before.
Reporting and Finance
As Outreach Officer, you will report to the Curator-Manager, who in turn reports to the Board of Directors.
You will:
- Work closely with the Curator-Manager to plan, deliver, and evaluate project activities.
- Contribute to project reporting and evaluation.
- Keep records of participation, engagement, and project outcomes.
- Manage your workload effectively and work independently when needed.
- Take part in training and professional development opportunities.
- Support the management of project budgets, including creative commissions and exhibitions.
- Workplace Culture
- Contribute to a positive, supportive, and collaborative working environment.
- Follow appropriate Health and Safety measures.
- Help the museum work in environmentally sustainable ways.
- Follow Nairn Museum’s policies and procedures and raise any concerns where appropriate.
Other Duties:
You may be required to perform duties, appropriate to the post, other than those set out in this specification. The particular duties and responsibilities attached to the post may also be varied without changing the general character of the duties, or the level of responsibility entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and would not themselves justify reconsideration of the grading. As a result of such variations, it will be necessary to update this job description from time to time.
How to Apply
Please send your CV and a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role.
In your covering letter, clearly describe how your education, experience, skills, and interests match the Essential and Desirable Skills and Experience listed in the Person Specifications. Applications will be shortlisted based on how closely your qualifications and experience meet these requirements.
Send applications and any questions to:
Annie MacDonald at admin@nairnmuseum.co.uk by end of day on Friday 3rd July 2026.
Nairn Museum encourages applications from all sections of the community and is an equal opportunity employer.
Nairn Museum is a Fair Work First employer and committed to the Real Living Wage. https://nairnmuseum.co.uk/fair-work-first
Nairn Museum is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in Scotland No SC219539 and a Charity registered in Scotland No SC019425
