Community Coordinator (Green Connections)

As Green Connections Community Coordinator, you’ll champion and build relationships with communities in Darnall and the S9 area. You will work with the Curator of Natural Sciences to facilitate a programme of activity, for example events, displays, workshops, nature walks or digital content, developed in collaboration with communities. This programme will be inspired by Sheffield’s Natural Science collection and on the theme of climate and environmental crisis.

The Job

The purpose of the job is to:

·       Build relationships and liaise with community groups in Darnall and the wider S9 area, in order to increase awareness of and engagement with Sheffield’s collections and museums.

·       Work with the Curator of Natural Science to facilitate a programme of activity (for example events, displays, exhibitions, workshops, nature walks, films or other digital outputs) developed in collaboration with communities, inspired by Sheffield’s Natural Science collection and on the theme of climate and environmental crisis.

·       Promote and facilitate access to Sheffield’s collections.

·       Work with the Curator of Natural Science to plan and co-ordinate the Green Connection project.

·       Work with colleagues to develop and test evaluation models.

The Bigger Picture

You will:

·       Actively listen to communities, learn about their needs, the barriers to engagement and perceptions of Sheffield Museums to evolve our working practices and programmes in order to be more inclusive and useful.

·       Help to create, sustain and retain connections with individuals and communities, broker relationships and inspire people to engage with Sheffield’s collections and natural heritage.  Show that museums provide a vital and relevant service to the city’s population.

·       Utilise and test collaborative working practices and provide feedback that will be shared across Sheffield Museums.

·       Work collaboratively with communities, colleagues, creative practitioners and other specialists, to deliver outputs inspired and directed by communities, connecting their needs with Sheffield’s natural science collections and wider natural heritage, to improve engagement with, and ownership of, Sheffield’s collections and environment.

·       Contribute to and deliver against Sheffield Museums’ strategic plan, significantly increasing community ownership and the different perspectives and lived experiences that are represented in the city’s collection.

·       Advocate for wider ownership of the collection across the city, proactively sharing information about the collection with colleagues, visitors, partners and communities.

·       Facilitate access to the collections through visits to the store, digital platforms, and workshops.

·       Develop a network of individuals and community representatives who will advocate for the role and importance of the museums and collections within the city.

·       Help to supervise and administer volunteers and community project participants to support this work.

The Day to Day

You will:

·       Help to identify community partners in Darnall and establish trusting relationships with them.  Liaise directly with them, helping to identify their needs and develop opportunities for the museums and collections to be useful to partners.

·       Collaboratively facilitate projects with communities that will use the collections to explore environmental change in different ways, trying new things and evaluating impact.

·       Act as a representative and advocate of Sheffield Museums and liaise with external stakeholders and partners including but not limited to universities, community and interest groups, creative and environmental practitioners, businesses and specialist network agencies, taking the opportunity to promote fundraising where appropriate.

·       Be responsible for your own safety, the safety of colleagues and visitors, taking all appropriate measures required to maintain the security and safety of collections, buildings and people

·       Monitor the activity of volunteers to ensure a high standard of service is provided.

·       Be available for out of hours emergency call out at all sites as required.

·       Undertake any other reasonable duties that may be required by the post holder.

This post is supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund delivered by the Museums Association.