Senior Administrator

Senior Administrator: African Histories and Heritage Programme

Full-time 41 hours per week

Hybrid (at least 3 days per week on-site in Bloomsbury, London)

3-year fixed term contract

£31,979 per annum

Application deadline: 23:59 on 9 October 2026

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to play a central role in the day-to-day running of the African Histories and Heritage Programme, a high-profile collaborative programme delivering a range of ground-breaking research projects and public programming. Working within the programme office, you will provide vital administrative, financial and operational support to research leads, curators and project teams, helping to deliver ambitious projects that will contribute to new knowledge, increase access to the collection and inform future thinking around the Museum’s Africa galleries.

As a key member of the programme office, you will help bring together colleagues, partners and stakeholders, supporting a friendly, productive and cohesive programme environment. The role is based in the programme office for at least three days each week and will also support partner visits, delegations, events, training activities and other programme initiatives across the Museum.

About you

You are an organised and proactive administrator with excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Confident managing competing priorities, you can build strong relationships with a wide range of colleagues and partners, provide effective support to multiple projects and maintain accurate administrative and financial processes. Experience of financial administration, minute taking and office management is essential, along with strong IT skills and close attention to detail.

You will enjoy being at the centre of a busy team, acting as a trusted point of contact and helping to create a positive, collaborative working environment. Experience in museums, heritage or the wider cultural sector would be an advantage, as would an understanding of project management processes and stakeholder coordination.

Key areas of responsibility

• Coordinate and deliver administrative support across the African Histories and Heritage Programme, ensuring projects and activities run smoothly and efficiently.
• Provide secretariat support for governance meetings, including preparing papers, arranging meetings, taking minutes and tracking actions.
• Support project teams, curators, researchers and external partners by coordinating activities, communications and stakeholder engagement across multiple projects.
• Manage financial administration, including raising purchase orders, processing invoices, monitoring budgets and supporting accurate financial reporting and audit requirements.
• Coordinate travel, visits, events and programme activities, ensuring appropriate procedures, risk assessments and approvals are in place.

Internal Applicants: We welcome internal applicants regardless of background, department or length of service but encourage you to let your manager know before applying. If you are on a permanent contract and want the fixed-term contract to be treated as a secondment, you will need to obtain your manager’s support before submitting an application.[SN1]

The Masterplan

The British Museum is undertaking its biggest transformation since its founding nearly 300 years ago. This physical and intellectual transformation includes large scale building and gallery transformation, new ways of connecting with audiences and different ways of working. As we look towards this exciting future, we remain guided by the words of our founder Hans Sloane - who dreamed of a museum connecting all arts and sciences, which would be accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Benefits

At the British Museum, we believe our people are at the heart of everything we do and have designed a benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary. Our full list of benefits can be found here, but we’ve outlined some highlights below:

• Free exhibition entry for you and guests, exclusive private views, ICOM and reciprocal museum access.
• Civil Service Pension Scheme defined benefit with 28.97% employer contribution.
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays and 2.5 privilege days (and +5 days after 10 years).
• Discounts at onsite catering, Museum shops and local Bloomsbury partners.
• Social and wellbeing perks including Staff parties, social clubs, CSSC sports and leisure, and support from the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship.
• Peer support and allyship with five diversity networks for community.
• Interest‑free loans including season ticket, rental deposit and bicycle loans.

Our Values

Our values drive everything we do, from how we handle our objects to how we work in our team to fostering a culture where everyone feels heard and empowered:

• Care Deeply
• Embrace the Unknown
• Spark Curiosity
• Value Many Voices

These are a core part of how we recruit. Throughout the application, interview and selection process, we look for examples of how candidates demonstrate these behaviours in their own work and experiences. We encourage you to familiarise yourself with our values and reflect them in your application.

Additional details

If you have any additional needs that we should be aware of to support you with your application, please provide details to bmrecruit@britishmuseum.org.

Right to Work: The British Museum holds a Skilled Worker sponsor licence. Applicants are responsible for determining whether the advertised salary and role meet current UKVI sponsorship requirements and for ensuring they have, or can obtain, the appropriate right to work in the UK. The Museum cannot provide immigration advice, and eligibility should be checked before submitting an application.

The Museum also adheres to the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) for pre-employment screening of Civil Servants.