Over 300 scientists based at the Museum tackle important global challenges, spanning mineral scarcity, food security and biodiversity loss. The Museum is globally renowned for excellence in science and research and championing digital capacity and innovation.
This is a once in a century opportunity to shape the future of the Museum, protect and share our unique collection and further our science.
The NHM Unlocked Programme is the multi-year, £180m plus programme to deliver a new centre, to safely move tens of millions of unique specimens, from whales to woodlice, and to take people through this major change in the organisation in a positive and engaging way. The Unlocked programme is part of exciting wider changes in the Museum to ensure our collections can be used to support action and policy to address the global biodiversity crisis, including through sharing data on our collections on line with the global scientific community.
The new centre will include a large collections store alongside new specialist laboratories and non-technical works spaces. As part of this development, the Museum will be moving over a third of its 80 million specimens and Library and Archive collections from its four sites (in London, Hertfordshire and Yorkshire) to the new site, plus undertaking substantial internal moves.
In addition to the need to catalogue, prepare, pack and move specimens and objects, there is also the requirement to move specialist laboratory equipment. The moves are currently scheduled to take place from late 2026, with preparation and planning having already commenced.
Based in NHM Life Sciences’ Vertebrate collection the Vertebrate Preparator will be responsible for preparing Vertebrate material (current and backlog), digitisation of collections, and data management towards auditing Vertebrate material in preparation of move to MCF2.0@Reading.
The successful applicant will be responsible for sorting, preparing, and digitising material and integrating workflows in line with the Vertebrate Science Strategy and liaising with the Data Management Team for the new NHM Reading Mammals collection.