Join the Team

The Thackray Museum of Medicine might have one of the country’s most important collections of medical history but what makes us special is our people. Together, our Trustees, volunteers, staff and collaborators represent a diverse and dynamic team of unique talents, united by a common purpose. We value independently minded people who enrich our museum with fresh thinking and new experiences and we are far more interested in what you bring us as an individual than in how many letters you have after your name. If that sounds like the sort of team you would like to join, here are some current opportunities.

Café Manager

Full time, including regular weekend working and occasional evenings
Salary: £25,000-£26,500 dependent on experience

The Café Manager is a new role at the Thackray Museum of Medicine. It is key to our ambition to develop and deliver an excellent in-house catering function of which we can be proud – one which serves locally sourced delicious food and great coffee and which has sustainability and accessibility at its core. You will lead a team delivering great food and great service to museum visitors and staff, to our local communities – and to the staff, patients and visitors of St James’s Hospital. The Café Manager leads on the development, coordination, and delivery of all café operations, which may extend to the delivery of conference functions and events.

As well as sharing your passion for service and quality with your team, you will help to make sure that the museum’s mission to make a positive difference to the lives of our public and our community are embedded in our Food and Beverage offer – and that a visit to our café is as much a fun and rewarding experience as to any other part of the museum, for all of our visitors.

Interested?

Download a copy of the job description and person specification for this role

Download an application form (Word format – if you would prefer to submit your application in a different format such as audio or video recording, please let us know)

Volunteer with us

Volunteers are a valued part of our team at Thackray and we’d love to hear from you, whether you can spare a couple of hours a month to assist in our archives, or a day or two to greet visitors. We welcome everybody, so talk to us about how we can work together to keep inclusion at the heart of what we do.

To find out more, contact the Volunteer Coordinator at: [email protected]

Benefits

Volunteering at the Thackray Museum will give you experience of an entry-level heritage role within a recently redeveloped and exciting new visitor attraction. There is scope for personal development as you increase your knowledge of the museum sector. As a valued member of our team, you will receive:

• Travel expenses.
• Training and regular supervision.
• Invitations to special events.

Your work will also bring educational and social benefits to local people and help us re-establish and build our identity within Leeds’s cultural scene.

Visitor Experience Volunteer

We’re always on the lookout for volunteers to support our Visitor Experience team.

A message from our Volunteer Coordinator, Ross: “Over the last couple of years, the Thackray Museum hasn’t been closed just for lockdown, but also a huge refurb. We’ve rejuvenated our galleries and made our stunning Victorian building more accessible for everyone. Now we’ve reopened, we need caring, passionate people to help us share it safely and bring our amazing stories and heritage to life.”

Volunteers bring character and warmth to our museum by welcoming and directing visitors and schools, talking about exhibits and objects, and encouraging people to take part in activities. Training will also be provided to help volunteers assist with basic cleanliness, Covid awareness, and the safety of everyone onsite.

Special call-out! Weekend Visitor Experience Volunteers

Can you spare time on a Saturday or Sunday to meet and interact with our visitors? Recent activities have included demonstrating our care robots and showing off our live leeches! You could offer a regular weekend shift or simply a few hours whenever you’re available. We’re open 10am to 5pm every weekend and would be happy to have a chat about how you could help.

Read the role description here

Download an application form here