Vacancy -- Trustees - Amgueddfa Cymru National - Museum Wales

Vacancy details

Amgueddfa Cymru National - Museum Wales
Meetings of the Board of Trustees are held 4 times a year, across Wales, with two taking place in south Wales. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, these have become virtual meetings but it is hoped that in-person meetings will be resumed in 2021. Trustee activities will usually be concentrated in the Cardiff area, and as a national institution, we regularly visit our other museums and other partner organisations across Wales.
Amgueddfa Cymru Trustees are not paid, but can claim travel and subsistence expenses.
2
month

Function of body

Amgueddfa Cymru is one of Wales' leading cultural and national institutions. 1.9 million people visit Amgueddfa Cymru every year.

 

Background

Established by Royal Charter in 1907, Amgueddfa Cymru is one of the largest museums in the United Kingdom, and the most important cultural institution in Wales. We are a custodian of internationally significant, diverse collections, and a leader in education and cultural participation.

 

Our sites include Wales’ seven national museums: National Museum Cardiff; St Fagans National Museum of History; Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenavon; National Wool Museum Dre-fach, Felindre; National Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon; National Slate Museum in Llanberis, Snowdonia and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea. We also have a National Collections Centre near Cardiff. There are over 5 million individual items in our collections, embracing art and design, history and archaeology, and the natural sciences.

 

We are funded by the Welsh Government, as a Welsh Government Sponsored Body, and we have a Board of Trustees whose role is to set the strategic direction of the organization, and to ensure proper management of our resources.

The total Welsh Government Grant in Aid from the Welsh Government in 2019/20 was £ 23 million, and we employ over 600 staff.

 

Amgueddfa Cymru's Vision ‘Inspiring People, Changing Lives’

 

Our vision is to inspire people through Wales’ national museums and collections to find a sense of well-being and identity, to discover, enjoy and learn bilingually, and to understand Wales' place in the wider world.

 

Our work is based on the principle that culture is created by people and communities. Our collections and other resources partly come from the society of which we are part, and are continually renewed through our work with the public. Our natural science collections reflect the biodiversity and geodiversity of Wales and make comparison on a global scale. We are accountable for the use of these resources to the nation we serve.

 

We have important partnership schemes with local museums and galleries throughout Wales, as well as a host of other national and community organisations and charities.

 

We are currently developing a new ten year strategy for the organisation, and recently completed an extensive public consultation. Further details can be found here: https://museum.wales/yoursay

 

Role description

The Board of Trustees is the governing body of Amgueddfa Cymru and holds the national collections in trust for the people of Wales. The role of the Board is to provide effective leadership, define and develop strategic direction and set challenging objectives. The Board promotes high standards of public accountability and upholds the principles of regularity, propriety and value for money. It monitors performance against Amgueddfa Cymru's aims, objectives and performance targets.

 

Amgueddfa Cymru is a registered charity and a Welsh Government Sponsored Body. Trustees have obligations to the Welsh Government and to Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament. Amgueddfa Cymru currently receives around 80% of its annual funding (some £23 million revenue funding in 2019/20) from the Welsh Government in the form of Grant in Aid.

 

The role of a Trustee


Trustees must first and foremost support the Director General in implementing the Museum's Vision of 'Inspiring People; Changing Lives'.

 

Trustees must also:

  • attend Board meetings regularly and prepare thoroughly for them;
  • be prepared to serve on sub-committees;
  • actively support the Museum’s management and staff in their work;
  • represent the Museum at public functions;
  • promote the profile of the Museum;
  • give the Museum the benefit of their experience and expertise;
  • facilitate contact with Museum stakeholders; and
  • contribute to the development of policy, strategies and priorities in relation to the management of the Museum's collections.

 

Trustees must be aware of their obligations arising from the position of the Museum as a Welsh Government Sponsored Body. These are set out in the Framework Document, which sets out the Terms and Conditions relating to the funding provided to the Museum by the Welsh Government.

Welsh language skills

The Welsh Government acknowledges the importance of developing and growing bilingual capabilities in public appointments in Wales, and welcomes applications from candidates who demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh.  The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the recruiting body of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.
Desirable
Can read some routine work-related material with support e.g. dictionary
Can prepare routine work-related material with checking
Can understand routine work-related conversations
Can hold some work-related conversations

Person specification

To be effective, the Board needs Trustees with a broad range of expertise and experience. As a Trustee, you will help determine policy, strategies and priorities in the Museum's core activities. You should be able to use your knowledge, skills and lived or professional experience to provide evidence of your ability in a range of the following areas:

  • commitment and enthusiasm of the Museum's work in supporting change and development in Wales through cultural participation;

  • an understanding and interest in the cultural sector as a whole and sensitivity to cultural issues;

  • excellent representation and communication skills;

  • ability to work in a collegiate manner with fellow Trustees;

  • management experience and / or a business, institutional, administrative or other context, with an appreciation of the distinction between the executive and non-executive functions; and

  • a commitment to equality issues and to challenging discriminatory practices where appropriate.


To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate you have the qualities, skills and experience to meet the following essential criteria for appointment:

  • a commitment to the values ​​and vision of Amgueddfa Cymru, and an appreciation of its role and purpose as a national institution in Wales; including the cultural, learning, health and well-being, economic and socio-political contexts in which it operates, as well as an understanding of its obligations under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015;

  • an ability to enhance the Museum's role in serving and representing the diverse communities and regions of Wales;

  • expertise in one or more of the following areas:

    • How our work can positively support the well-being of diverse communities across Wales and those suffering from inequality;
    • Digital services supporting public programmes, learning, infrastructure;
    • Business development, fundraising, commercial operations, income generation;
    • Third sector charities / grass-roots community organisations;
    • Visitor attractions;
    • working with publicly-elected bodies;
    • Health and well-being;
    • Marketing and communication; and

  • a commitment to Nolan's Seven Principles of Public Life

 

Interview dates

25 February 2021
25 February 2021

Closing date

08/01/2021, 16:00

Additional information

How to apply

To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system.  You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form.  To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates.  This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4.  Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit.  The second document is a full, up to date CV.  The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.

In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities.  We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years. 

It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence.  You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go.  You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.

If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Team on  PublicAppointments@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments

Commissioner for Public Appointments logo

This vacancy is closed to applications.