National Museums Scotland is one of the leading museum groups in Europe with one of the largest and most diverse collections in the world. As an organisation our values are Creative, Inclusive, Collaborative and Forward-thinking. We are looking for enthusiastic, individual to join our Collections Service Team.
About the role
We are seeking a skilled and qualified Aircraft Conservator to join our busy Engineering and Furniture Conservation Team. This is a rare opportunity to work with a nationally significant aviation collection. The successful candidate will be responsible for the ongoing care and maintenance of the aviation collections at National Museums Scotland. They will be based across two sites; with the majority of collections based at National Museum of Flight in East Lothian but also working at National Museums Collections Centre, Granton where our conservation workshops are situated.
The role will focus on the care of our aircraft collection but also cover wider aviation related collections and stores work. The role requires strong technical skills and manual dexterity to treat a range of different objects, as well a good understanding of the health & safety requirements for the conservation of large objects.
As the successful candidate, you will have experience of working with aviation collections or similar materials. You will be pro-active and self-motivated professional able to lead on a wide range of projects. You will have an excellent understanding of material issues and treatments. You will be aware of professional conservation standards and best practice and have a conservation qualification or be able to demonstrate similar experience.
About you
- Implement and supervise conservation projects to develop knowledge and best practice.
- To propose and apply solutions drawn from personal expertise to conserve aviation collections, developing solutions with minimal guidance.
- To be committed to good health and safety and access practice and ensure familiarity with National Museums Scotland health and safety and access policies, procedures and guidelines.
Skills and experience we’re looking for in our Aircraft Conservator:
- Excellent practical conservator with a high level of practical ability, good mechanical aptitude and hand skills.
- Previous experience working with aircraft or aviation collections
- Understand potential hazardous materials that can be found in aviation collections.
- Good documentation and reporting skills
Benefits of joining us as our Aircraft Conservator include:
- Annually alongside your salary, National Museums Scotland contributes 28.97% of this towards you being a member of the Civil Service Pension Scheme
- A generous annual leave of 28.5 days – rising to 33.5 after 5 years, plus an additional 8 paid days public holidays.
- Free access to national (and international) museums and exhibitions
- A range of wellbeing benefits including Employee Assistance Programme 24/7
- Access to all the above and more from day one of employment.
How to apply
Please be sure to view relevant attachments for this role (available on our Careers Portal: careers.nms.ac.uk) for full details of the position.
The closing date for this role is 17/07/2026 (17th July 2026).
The Selection Event is likely to take place 31/07/2026 (31st July 2026).
"Avro Vulcan XM597, Scottish National Museum of Flight, 7 September 2007" by Alexander Cunningham from Hawick, Scotland is licensed under CC BY 2.0.