The Art Works Director

The National Galleries of Scotland is home to one the world’s finest collections of art, which ranges from the Middle Ages to the present day and includes masterpieces by Rembrandt, Leonardo, Warhol, Monet, Van Gogh, Botticelli, Picasso, and Magritte. Our spectacular buildings house the world’s greatest collection of Scottish art, and a world-renowned collection of Scottish and international photography, which runs to 40,000 images.

“The Art Works project at Granton in the north of Edinburgh offers an extraordinary opportunity to make our collection work hard all the time, not just when it’s on display in the galleries or on tour.  We want The Art Works to be a game changer – a place where anything is possible.  A place for looking and exploring, for talking and making, where visitors can experience the collection in a uniquely flexible way.  A place to create surprising juxtapositions, to look at art from multiple points of view, to add new insights on the past and alternative perspectives for the future.

The Art Works will play a significant role in the regeneration of North East Edinburgh, resonating with local history and reflecting the interests of the community, while attracting scholars, artists, and enthusiasts from Scotland and from all over the world. Success will depend on a spirit of generosity and collaboration combined with the rigour and imagination we bring to everything we do.”

This senior role within our organisation will have a significant impact on the future of the National Galleries of Scotland and our vision of Art for Scotland: Inspiration for the world.

As the successful candidate you will be responsible for building on the existing work to present a detailed rationale for the creation of  The Art Works, developing the preferred option (including social and economic benefits) and demonstrating its alignment to the NGS vision and aims and the evolving estates activity. You will be responsible for producing business cases, funding strategy and gaining approval as well as ongoing stakeholder engagement.  At this critical development stage of the project you will play an active role in developing our future thinking by working with the Leadership Team and contributing your thinking to our strategy.

As the successful candidate you will have a demonstrable track-record of successfully leading major capital projects of a comparable scale, visibility, and complexity, and will have a proven ability to balance strategic leadership with operational delivery.

You will lead with professionalism and integrity to gain trust and the respect of all stakeholders, both internal and external and to build credibility. As the successful candidate you will oversee and direct all aspects of project delivery, working with multiple stakeholders to deliver the infrastructure and systems required. Establishing key stakeholder relationships with the Director of Conservation and Collections Management and the Chief Operating Officer and their Directorates will be paramount.

Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Recommend proposals for the next phases of The Art Works project from development concept to delivery phases.
  • Have budget oversite and control of project cost.
  • Ensure that project costs reference and are informed by full life-cycle costs for The Art Works.
  • Identify and apply benefits realisation.
  • Produce business cases in the style of HMT 5-case business model.
  • Produce appropriate materials, data, evidence for reporting purposes to meet the objectives of the project.
  • Meet the reporting and monitoring requirements of publicly funded projects.
  • Design and implement a broad and comprehensive internal and external stakeholder consultation process.
  • Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Deliver sustainable change, including issue pertaining to the environmental and social impact of the new facility.
  • Provide asset management aligned to The Art Works and, where applicable, to NGS.
  • Lead on the development of procurement strategies, understanding and applying public procurement regulations and supplier management and the supervision of the necessary specialist technical and legal services.
  • Provide leadership of risk management and the optimising of risk allocation.
  • Oversee the development and delivery of BIM Level 2/equivalent standard for The Art Works.
  • Manage project staff and oversee project related recruitment.
  • Interested candidates are kindly requested to submit a full C.V. and covering letter of no more than 2 pages setting out their suitability for the role including compensation expectations via ‘apply now’ button.  For a confidential discussion, please contact our retained consultant, Iain Atkinson, Associate Director, Eden Scott, on 07714 124 033 or by email iain.atkinson@edenscott.com

    It is anticipated that the initial term of the project will be 6-9 months to take the project through RIBA Stage 2 and thereafter, subject to funding and approvals, it is likely that the successful candidate will lead the project through to completion.

    Click on the link below for further information on The Artworks Project.

    https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/art-works