Director of the Hamilton Kerr Institute

The Hamilton Kerr Institute (HKI), one of the leading centres for teaching, research and practice in the conservation of easel paintings, is looking for an outstanding individual to become its next Director at a time off exciting and significant change. The Hamilton Kerr Institute, together with the Fitzwilliam Museum conservators and scientists together form the Fitzwilliam Museum Conservation Division with responsibilities for conservation not just for the Museum itself but also for the internationally important collections of the 8 Museums and the Botanic Garden that make up the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM).

As the Fitzwilliam Museum reinvents itself, aiming to be a crucial bridge between the University, the city and the rest of the world, the Hamilton Kerr Institute will also be going through a period of transformational change bringing together the current team at HKI with the Conservation and Scientific Research team at the Fitzwilliam Museum to form a new powerhouse of teaching, research and practice as an extraordinary scholarly resource within the University, the region and the world.

The new Director of HKI will have the task of re-thinking the scope and re-imagining the role of the Institute, building on the distingushed histories of the HKI and the Fitzwilliam Conservation Department. Reporting to the Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Luke Syson, and answerable to the Syndicate (Board) of the Fitzwilliam Museum and the newly established Advisory Council for HKI, chaired by David Saunders, the new Director will have the challenge of leading the change envisaged for the Institute, working to establish a sustainable operation into the future which is cost neutral and internationally recognised for the breadth and excellence of its work.

In the new Director, the Fitzwilliam Museum seeks a consummate professional with excellent strategic skills and the inspirational leadership which can drive forward the agenda for HKI and can also contribute to the transformation of the Fitzwilliam Museum. They will have experience in a collections and/or conservation capacity ideally in a complex institution, will be well networked at home and abroad and will have the vision, drive and commercial savvy to realise an ambitious new role for HKI. They will relish the unique opportunity which this role offers, to develop a Conservation Institute that has expertise acoss a broad remit in the context of the Fitzwilliam Museum, the University of Cambridge and the international network with which the Institute engages.