Audience Development Officer

Wakefield Museums & Castles are looking to recruit an experienced Audience Development Officer to work across our award-winning museums and castles service.

Wakefield Museums & Castles is the local authority museum service for the Wakefield district. We care for, interpret and share the heritage of our district, from prehistory to present day. We welcome over 165,000 visitors each year to our three museums, two Scheduled Monuments and collections store. We are a fully Accredited museum service and an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

Over recent years, we have made significant developments to help us reach new and diverse audiences. We have expanded our collections and programming and diversified the stories we tell. We have embedded community participation in all areas of our work. Our new website has strengthened and expanded our online and digital presence. This has enabled us to think more strategically about how we use digital to engage people.

We are now looking to recruit an experienced Audience Development Officer to help us build on this work.

About the Role:

The Audience Development Officer will devise, develop and deliver ambitious marketing and engagement campaigns for our museums and castles service. They will promote our service, our collections, our programming and our everyday offer. They will ensure that we reach and engage with a wide variety of residents and visitors.

We are looking for a dynamic, creative individual to push forward our Audience Development work. You will deliver and evaluate imaginative and impactful campaigns, both digital and print. You will drive engagement and visits across our offer. You will lead on strategies and plans, coordinate working groups, and work with colleagues to raise the profile of our service.

We are seeking an individual with proven experience of delivering and evaluating audience development campaigns. You will have experience of diversifying audiences and increasing engagement in a cultural or visitor-focused environment.

The Audience Development Officer role is essential to our vision of a representative, accessible and community-driven museum service. You should have a commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and a passion for connecting with a wide range of people.

As part of this role, you will:

• develop and deliver our Audience Development Plan and our Communications Plan, working with colleagues from across the service
• develop and deliver our Digital Engagement Strategy and Plan, looking ahead whilst delivering on the day-to-day
• develop creative campaigns that drive visits to our physical sites and our website
• connect a wide range of people with our collections, encouraging them to explore and utilise them as inspiration for creativity and learning
• encourage user-generated content and active engagement
• review, evaluate and report on analytics to identify successes and improvements and diversify audiences
• motivate, support and upskill colleagues, particularly in the use of digital for engagement
• bring experience of managing, co-ordinating and supporting other, e.g. colleagues and volunteers
• increase accessibility and inclusivity by providing flexible digital experiences
• play a key role in building relationships with partners and stakeholders, internally and externally, to support the development and delivery of audience development campaigns

What can I expect?

• A friendly, supportive and enthusiastic team
• A competitive salary
• Generous holiday entitlement with the option to buy up to 10 extra days of annual leave
• Hybrid working (subject to role suitability)
• Access to high-quality training programs to advance your career to the next level.
• We are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our staff. We recognise that resilient teams need good work life balance as well as supportive leadership.
• Discounted and subsidised public transport (Arriva Bus Annual Travel Ticket, Northern Trains Limited (NTL), MetroCard).
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) scheme providing a tax efficient way to increase our pension.
• Great range of benefits including an Employee Assistant Programme, discounted membership to our excellent leisure facilities with free 12 weeks exercise program, discounts for a range of retail, entertainment, health and leisure providers, a cycle to work scheme, and many more.

Want to know more?

If you would like to know more about the role, the recruitment process or working for Wakefield Council, please contact:

Leah Mellors, Museums Development Manager at lmellors@wakefield.gov.uk

For more information about Wakefield Museums & Castles, visit our website www.museumsandcastles.wakefield.gov.uk

We expect interviews for this role to take place in the week commencing 23 November 2026.

Safeguarding

Wakefield Council is wholly committed to ensuring children and vulnerable adults are fully supported and safe. We are dedicated to the safeguarding of all children and vulnerable adults whilst promoting their welfare. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this responsibility.

Probation

In accordance with the Council Probation Procedure, this post is subject to a 6-month Probationary Period.

Fluency Duty

To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 (Fluency Duty), public facing roles will be subject to the Fluency Duty.

Diversity

Having a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve helps us to achieve the best outcomes for all. We encourage applications from everyone and actively seek to ensure that everyone feels included in the workplace so that we can make the most of our differences.

Why Wakefield

To find out more about the benefits of working at Wakefield Council, click here.