Harewood House Trust is looking for an experienced and passionate Curator of Community Voices to join our team and play a leading role in shaping how Harewood’s histories are explored, understood and shared with our audiences.

An opportunity to help shape the future of a historic house

Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Curator of Community Voices will play a key role in delivering the Development Stage of Reimagining Harewood – an ambitious programme that will transform the visitor experience, enhance our historic landscape, develop new interpretation and create greater opportunities for communities to engage with Harewood.

About the role

As Curator of Community Voices, you will work closely with the Senior Curator, Archivist, Community Engagement Co-ordinator and wider Harewood team to bring a broader range of perspectives and voices into our interpretation, collections and public programme.

A central part of the role will be developing meaningful relationships with local Black and global majority communities and descendant communities. You will lead and support community-curated projects, facilitate focus groups and establish a network of critical friends to help shape new interpretation and engagement activity.

You will play a key role in the development of a new visitor welcome centre as part of Reimagining Harewood, working alongside interpretation and audience development consultants and internal teams. You will contribute to the development of an interpretation plan and the longer-term interpretation strategy for Harewood.

You will also undertake research and development work, contribute to staff and volunteer training, support funded project reporting and evaluation, and help ensure that community perspectives are embedded authentically and sensitively across Harewood.

The role will involve engaging with Harewood’s challenging histories, including its historic connections to the Caribbean and the transatlantic trade in enslaved African people. You will bring historical expertise, curiosity and care to this work, helping us to develop narratives that recognise the complexity of Harewood’s past and its continuing relevance.

You will also be an active member of Harewood’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group and an advocate for access, inclusion and anti-racist practice across the organisation.

About you

We are looking for an experienced curator or heritage professional who combines strong curatorial practice with excellent community engagement skills.

You will have proven curatorial experience within the museum or heritage sector, alongside experience of care-centred practice when working with communities. You will be confident building trusted relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and able to communicate sensitively and diplomatically with different audiences.

You will bring:

  • Strong historical expertise and an understanding of colonial histories, ideally including experience of interpreting complex or contested histories.

  • Experience of developing and delivering curatorial, interpretation or community engagement projects.

  • Strong project management skills, with the ability to oversee work from inception and development through to delivery and evaluation.

  • A proactive, creative and resourceful approach, with the confidence to develop ideas, identify opportunities and take initiative.

  • Excellent written communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to adapt your communication style to different audiences and stakeholders.

  • Experience of researching, identifying and developing relationships with external organisations, community groups and professional partners.

  • Experience of managing budgets effectively and working within agreed financial parameters.

  • Strong written and numerical skills, with excellent attention to detail.

  • Excellent time-management skills and the ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines.

  • Proficiency in Microsoft 365, including Word, Excel, Outlook and SharePoint.

  • A collaborative and enthusiastic approach, with the ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team.

  • A commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and creating more accessible and representative heritage experiences.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate experience of actively implementing anti-racist practice within a heritage or cultural context, and who understand the importance of care, reflection and safeguarding when working with communities and challenging histories.

Experience of working on funded audience engagement projects, monitoring and evaluation, and producing project reports would be desirable. An understanding of safeguarding and experience of working with children, young people or vulnerable adults would also be welcomed.

A full, clean UK driving licence is desirable.

What you will bring to Harewood

This role requires someone who is both curatorially rigorous and community-focused. You will be comfortable undertaking detailed historical research while also listening carefully to different perspectives and creating opportunities for communities to influence how their histories are represented.

You will be someone who can build trust, navigate sensitive conversations and work collaboratively across an organisation. You will bring energy and creativity to developing new ideas, while also having the organisation, numerical skills and project management expertise needed to deliver them successfully.

Above all, you will share our commitment to making Harewood a place where more people feel welcomed, represented and able to engage with its history.