Cambridge Museum of Technology: Evaluation Consultant

Consultant Brief for Evaluation Consultant

Type of contract: Consultancy / Self Employed

Remuneration: Up to £5,000 (excl VAT) inclusive of travel and other incidental expenses, paid periodically by arrangement.

Location: Cambridge Museum of Technology, The Old Pumping Station, Cheddars Lane, Cambridge CB5 8LD.

Background

Cambridge Museum of Technology is the home of our industrial heritage. Based in the city’s historic sewage pumping station, the Museum helps people to explore, enjoy, and learn about their industrial heritage by celebrating the achievements of local industries and the people who worked in them.

Visible from all corners of Cambridge, the original chimney at the Museum stands tall as a reminder of our industrial past, and a landmark beacon of our relevance today. The Museum occupies a key Riverside site and has huge potential to grow as a community hub, leisure facility and educational centre. The Victorian sewage pumping station is a scheduled monument on Historic England’s At-Risk Register, and some of our (working) technologies on display are the last of their kind. Visitors to our museum can expect to learn the story of sewage and waste disposal in the Victorian Pumping Station, as well as discover Cambridge’s fascinating but forgotten industries. The important Pye collection displays Cambridge’s impressive early high-tech companies.

Full Steam Ahead

Supported through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the ‘Full Steam Ahead’ project recruited three new heritage roles, to expand the Museum’s capacity for both general opening, and for increased education and community outreach work.

The Museum will be able to expand its schools programme, reaching more young people and engaging with teachers to form lasting links. To facilitate this expanding engagement, there will be new opportunities to support and train community and education volunteers to help the Museum deliver this exciting programme. Digital education and family resources will also be developed alongside this new activity, to ensure the significant collections remain widely accessible for all.

The funding will also reinvigorate existing space in the Engineer’s House to be used as a space for community hires. Building on fantastic partnerships within the local Abbey community, the Museum will offer more opportunities for engaging with industrial heritage and our collection, through events and workshops.

Evaluation Consultant Brief

We are seeking to appoint an experienced evaluation consultant to establish an evaluation framework (in 2025/26). The consultant must demonstrate experience of evaluating similar projects, from initial benchmarking through to the production of a final evaluation report that will be submitted to the NLHF, following an agreement of a draft by the Museum Enterprise Manager and Board of Trustees.

We intend to appoint in February/March 2025 and anticipate that the work will take place throughout the life of the project which is currently due to end December 2026. The exact timescale and approach to be agreed as part of the appointment process

The consultant will produce a 12-month evaluation report (June 2025), 18-month evaluation report and evaluate our project (in 2026), and provide support/advice to the project team, as required.

Evaluation planning and delivery will be in keeping with:
• NLHF best practice (Evaluation good practice guidance | The National Lottery Heritage Fund)
• Our delivery stage evaluation, which aligns our work with the NLHF ten-year strategy
• Our project outcomes

Application will be based upon expressions of interest and interview.

Location and Timings

We anticipate some of this work will take place on site, however, some contact can be remote via Teams/telephone as appropriate. Due to the nature of working with volunteers, please note that it may be necessary from time to time to engage in the evening and weekends when availability is most likely.

Remuneration for the Contract

The total fee will be up to £5,000 excl VAT. Payment will be paid in instalments to be agreed upon appointment. (Our suggestion would be 25% upon appointment, 50% on delivery on first draft of the interim and final report, and 25% on completion).

The Evaluation Consultant will be registered self-employed/employed by their consultancy company and responsible for their own National Insurance and Tax payments as required by HMRC.

Appointment Process and Timescale

The expression of interest should include:

A statement of the strengths and evidence of relevant experience that you will bring to the project

Examples of similar projects completed since 2012 and their relevance to this contract. We would also like to see examples of similar reports produced by the consultants at the interview.

Your proposed methodology

Your proposed timetable for carrying out the work

A breakdown of your budget/costings which must include all costs and travel and subsistence and VAT if charged.

Time allocation and day rates

If working as part of a team, the details of the lead consultant, who will remain available as the main point of contact throughout the project. Details of who will carry out the work, their background and experience

Expressions of interest should be submitted via email to Lindsey.Bavin@Museumoftechnology.com in a format of the consultant’s choice. Emails should contain the title Evaluation Consultant.

Submissions must be received by 5pm on 13th February 2025.

Comment

Cambridge Museum of Technology: Collections Officer

Cambridge Museum of Technology: Collections Officer

1 year fixed term

2 days per week

£28k per annum, (£11.2k pro rata)

Overall Purpose of Job:

Working with volunteers and other members of staff, this role is integral to ensuring that the collections are well managed and can be used in the temporary exhibition and learning programmes.

The Collections Officer will manage and care for the collections according to sector standards, train volunteers, and enable use of the collections in exhibitions and learning.

The role holder will also complete a previously started disposals project. During the museum’s redevelopment (2017 -2020), a collections review was undertaken and a disposals list drawn up. The role holder will continue the project, rehoming deaccessioned objects.

Within the small staff team, this post will also have key holding and Duty Manager responsibility on a rota basis.

Key Responsibilities:

Document the collections, including accessioning and cataloguing objects on Modes, in accordance with the museum’s policies and Spectrum standards;

Care for the collections, including pest management, conservation cleaning, repacking collections, and working with volunteers to maintain large, working objects;

Enable access to the collections and support the exhibitions and learning programmes through advising on appropriate use, getting objects out for events, and preparing collections for display;

Rationalise collections in line with the Museum Association’s disposal guidelines and Code of Ethics, completing a previously started disposals project

Train and supervise volunteers in collections roles, on tasks such as accessioning, checking pest traps, and conservation cleaning;

Update policies and procedures, ensuring that all work meets sector and Accreditation standards;

Apply for small grants if they arise;

Work with the Board of Trustees, Management Committee, and Collections Committee to ensure that all activities are communicated and considered within the wider museum operation;