National Portrait Gallery - 2x Trustees
- Body
- National Portrait Gallery
- Appointing Department
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- Sector
- Culture, Media & Sport
- Location
- London (however meetings are held remotely at present).
- Number of Vacancies
- 2
- Remuneration
- Board appointments are not remunerated, but reasonable expenses are paid.
- Time Requirements
- Quarterly Board meetings, ad hoc meetings and an annual Strategy Day.
Campaign Timeline
-
Competition Launched
25/01/2021
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Closed for Applications
25/02/2021 at 23:00
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Panel Sift
w/c 22nd March
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Final Interview Date
w/c 3rd May
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Announcement
TBC
Announcement
An announcement has been made on the outcome of this appointment.
The Prime Minister has appointed Inaya Folarin Iman and Simon Sebag Montefiore as Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery.
Assessment Panel
- Panel Member
- Carrie Cooke
- Positions
- Deputy Director, DCMS Departmental Official
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- Panel Member
- David Ross
- Positions
- Chair, NPG Representative of Organisation
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- Panel Member
- Ian McCaig
- Positions
- Senior Independent Panel Member
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Vacancy Description
The National Portrait Gallery’s Board is seeking two new Trustees: a Historian and a Cultural Management/Youth Engagement Trustee.
National Portrait Gallery – Background
Established in 1856, the aim of the National Portrait Gallery is to maintain a collection of portraits of the most eminent persons in British history, of other works of art relevant to portraiture and of documents relating to those portraits and other works of art.
The National Portrait Gallery is unique in being both for and about people. From Katherine Parr to Martin Parr, we serve as the nation’s family album, inviting everyone to meet the people who have made – and are making – Britain what it is today. The Gallery highlights the cultural and historical links that we all share and that bind us together, something that is more important now than ever. It plays a clear and urgent role in helping to foster empathy, social cohesion and inclusion, which were among its founding principles and remain just as true and relevant today.
The Gallery is home to the largest and most prestigious collection of portraits in the world. Its Collection (comprising the Primary Collection, the Reference Collections and the Photographs Collection) includes people from all four corners of this country, who have shaped our society over the past 500 years, and show the potential in everyone to make a difference.
The Gallery’s website attracted a record-breaking 5.5 million visits in 2019/20 and its social media channels now reach over 1.4 million followers.
The Gallery currently employs around 126 staff and total income in 2019-20 was £23.5 million. As with other national museums, while it receives government support as an Arm’s Length Body of DCMS, the Gallery increasingly relies on its ability to supplement this grant from other sources and self-generated income, which amounted to 70% of annual income in 2019-20. While the building at St Martin’s Place remains closed and as the Gallery seeks to complete its major capital campaign, the ability to generate income from a variety of other sources remains of increasing importance.
Person Specification
Historian Trustee
Candidates should be able to demonstrate:
- A thorough knowledge of British history and culture post-1500, social history in particular.
- A background as a scholar or writer with established academic qualifications in the field of British history and prominence within the sector.
- Proven ability at expanding and deepening public’s engagement with history and bringing history to life across multiple platforms.
- Strong commitment to broadening history’s audiences through making history more inclusive and diverse.
Cultural Management/ Youth Engagement Trustee
Candidates should be able to demonstrate:
- A successful track record of delivering cultural projects and initiatives working with younger audiences.
- A high-level understanding of current audience trends and how they could be used strategically to broaden the Gallery’s audiences, younger audiences in particular.
- Commercial awareness and an appreciation of future opportunities, including opportunities digital transformation presents, for the Gallery.
- An ability to represent younger people’s views and perspectives at Board level.
Additionally, for both roles the two successful candidates will be able to demonstrate the majority of the following other essential criteria:
- An understanding of, and commitment to, the vision and values of the National Portrait Gallery and its future development, particularly the Inspiring People.
- An understanding of the diverse communities in the UK and a real commitment to promoting diversity and equality.
- A commitment to preserving the Gallery’s collection, maintaining an acknowledgment of art’s important role in teaching us about our past and, sometimes the need to contextualise or reinterpret, but never to erase.
- Excellent communication and representational skills with a range of stakeholders and the ability to contribute to policy and strategy development with innovative thinking.
- An ability to take responsibility and demonstrate sound judgement in strategic decision making.
- An ability to contribute to the Board’s advice on proposed acquisitions and the commissioning process.
- A good understanding of the self-generated income needs of the Gallery and willingness to support its fundraising activities.
Duration of Appointment:
The appointment is for a period of up to four years with the possibility of re-appointment at the end of that term. The posts are expected to begin in Spring 2021.
Additional Information
The Board of Trustees
The chief role of Trustees is to assist the Chair in meeting the Board’s overall responsibilities under the Museums and Galleries Act and the Charities Act, and in accordance with the guidance issued by the Secretary of State. Trustees offer guidance and expertise on the Gallery’s strategy and its practical implementation. They must be positive advocates for the Gallery, representing it to ministers, officials at DCMS, and others. They must also assist the Chair in ensuring that the Gallery’s affairs are conducted with probity.
Trustees must be able to attend Board meetings and such other sub-committee meetings as may be necessary. Board meetings are held four times a year in London (remotely at present), with one additional strategy day. Some additional time will need to be devoted to ad hoc meetings, studying papers, attending events organised by the Gallery (where restrictions allow) and occasional visits to regional partnerships.
Current Board members:
- David Ross (Chair)
- Roger Blundell
- Dr Mark Cecil
- Rob Dickins CBE
- Dr Joanna Kennedy
- Marcus Harling
- Dr Andrew Roberts
- Björn Savén
- Sir Peter Stothard
- Rachel Wang
- Professor Shearer West
- Jonathan Yeo
- The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP
- Rebecca Salter PRA (ex officio)
- The Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP (ex officio)
- Christopher Townsend OBE (co-opted)
How to Apply
To apply, please send the following four documents:
- A CV of no more than two sides of A4; this should provide details of your education and qualifications, employment history, directorships, membership of professional bodies and details of any publications or awards;
- A supporting statement of not more than two sides of A4, setting out how you meet the criteria – please make sure you refer to the contents of the role specification;
- The Conflicts of Interest Form and the Diversity Monitoring Form. The Diversity Form will not be seen by the selection panel in order to meet the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments.
Completed applications should be sent to: publicappointments@dcms.gov.uk, please put ‘National Portrait Gallery’ in the subject title along with the specific Trustee role you wish to apply for.
For queries about your application, or the application process, please contact the Campaign Manager: rhianna.bridgewater@dcms.gov.uk. For queries about the roles themselves, please contact: EKoliou@npg.org.uk.
We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role. By ‘minimum criteria,’ we mean that you must provide evidence in your application, which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria. If you want to apply under this scheme, simply state this in the covering email or letter when submitting your application.
If you would like a confidential discussion regarding any reasonable adjustments during the process, please also indicate this in the covering email or letter. The closing date for applications is 11pm on 25th February.
We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy. If you have any complaints about the way your application has been handled, please contact publicappointments@dcms.gov.uk.
Supporting information
This process is regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ (OCPA‘s) Code of Practice. All applicants are expected to have adhered to the Seven Principles of Public Life.
Conflicts of Interest
Candidates must note the requirement to declare any interests they may have that might cause questions to be raised about their approach to the business of the National Portrait Gallery. They are required to declare any relevant business interests, shareholdings, positions of authority, retainers, consultancy arrangements or other connections with commercial, public or voluntary bodies, both for themselves and for their spouses/partners. The successful candidate will be required to give up any conflicting interests and his/her other business and financial interests may be published.
Political Activity
To allow the panel to explore conflicts of interest, and in particular political activity, with the candidates in the context of their ability to perform in the role, candidates should declare any significant political activity which they have undertaken in the last five years. This information will only be provided to the panel for those applicants selected for interview. Details of the successful candidate’s declared political activity will be published when the appointment is announced.
Due Diligence
As part of our due diligence checks we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This will include us undertaking searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. This information may be made available to the Advisory Assessment Panel and they may wish to explore issues with you should you be invited to interview. The information may also be shared with Ministers and Cabinet Office.