National Museums Liverpool (NML) is the only national museum service in England based wholly outside London. We manage internationally recognised museums and art galleries, including World Museum, Walker Art Gallery and Museum of Liverpool, which between them attracted more than three million visitors a year before Covid and we plan to get back there or beyond in the next three years. The range of the collections is immense, including archaeology, fine and decorative art, science, slavery natural history and social history. Reflecting this, approximately 50% of NML's visitors come from outside Merseyside.
Memorable Experiences - For Everyone - Challenging Expectations
NML is at an exciting moment in its history, having embarked on a ten-year transformation programme. We aim to build on our success, year-on-year, in terms of our visitor figures and commercial business without losing sight of what makes NML unique; our seven museums, each providing different experiences to diverse audiences, and collectively creating memorable experiences for everyone whilst challenging expectations.
The “for everyone” part of that mission is massively important to us and by 2030:
We will have the most representative audience and colleague profiles within the UK museums sector.
We will engage more than ten million people each year: more than four million visitors to our museums and galleries and a further six million through digital engagement, touring exhibitions and outreach work.
We will be a place where people want to work, are happy to work and are proud to work.
We will generate over £50,000 a day, more than half of our turnover, through commercial business, grants, gifts and donations.
We will ensure that we provide great facilities in order to look after our valuable collections and colleagues, with accommodation fit-for-purpose for at least the next 30 years.
All schools in the Liverpool City Region will visit at least one of one of our museums and galleries each year.
We will be recognised as a valued leader of cultural and economic growth for the city, city region and North of England and as one of the World’s finest museum groups.
World Museum – the donation of the natural history collections of the 13th Earl of Derby led to the creation of this first of our museums, covering archaeology, global cultures, natural and physical sciences.
Walker Art Gallery – housing one of Europe’s most significant art collections, including works by Rembrandt, Poussin and Degas; as well as modern and contemporary artists, including: Freud, Hockney, Bridget Riley, and a major sculpture collection.
Maritime Museum – which tells the twin stories of Liverpool’s maritime trade and the history of immigration.
International Slavery Museum – the UK’s only dedicated museum of historic and contemporary slavery.
Museum of Liverpool – the story of Liverpool, its people, and the global significance of the city.
Lady Lever Art Gallery – showcasing fine and decorative art from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries.
Sudley House – housing the collections of George Holt, including works by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Millais, and Turner.
We also run celebrated initiatives including the biennial John Moores Painting Prize, at the Walker Art Gallery, which provides a platform for artists – whether they’re undiscovered, emerging or established in their careers – to inspire, disrupt and challenge the British painting art scene today. And the amazing success in recent years of our House of Memories programme is spreading both within the UK and across the world, with partnerships now in place in Scotland, USA and Singapore.
National Museums Liverpool is an exempt charity by virtue of Schedule 2 to the Charities Act 1993. We receive grant in aid of over £18m per annum from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We generate further income from a number of sources, employ over 500 people, and operate shops, cafés, publishing and event services through NML Trading Ltd, a registered company wholly owned by the charity.
Main Responsibilities
● Provide leadership and focus for the Board, ensuring it meets its financial and statutory obligations; and to maintain a balanced, diverse and supportive Board.
● Work closely with the Director to develop the vision and strategies of NML, and to provide appropriate support to the Executive Team in delivering agreed priorities to appropriate standards, on time and within budget.
● Promote and champion NML, building and strengthening public understanding of its potential, and articulating the need for fresh investment from both public and private sources
● Work with the City Region and Cultural Partnership in particular to lead an ambitious and future facing heritage offer
● Monitor performance and ensure that Government’s expectations are understood and met, that NML achieves its goals and has the professional capacity to support the sector and its stakeholders.
● Oversee and assess the performance of the Director and the Executive Team, attending as necessary to their diversity, recruitment, professional development and remuneration.
● Represent NML’s interest at regional, national and international level (as appropriate) and to work effectively with local and central Government (including Ministers).
This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the
Commissioner’s website