Preventive Conservator

Natural History Museum Denmark, Faculty of Science, the University of Copenhagen is looking for a Preventive Conservator for a full time, permanent contract, to start 1 August 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. 

The role
The Preventive Conservator will work under the Head of Conservation Unit and take lead on designing, implementing and managing various projects to improve the quality of collections care across multiple museum sites. This role is integral to maintaining high standards of preventive care and contributes to the museum’s mission of safeguarding its nationally renowned cultural and scientific heritage.

Your main tasks are:

• Preventive Conservation Planning: Develop and implement preventive conservation strategies, including environmental monitoring, integrated pest management (IPM), emergency preparedness and risk assessments for storage and display areas.
• Collection Care: Collaborate with curators, collection managers, and other stakeholders to ensure proper handling, storage, packing, and transportation of objects.
• Collection Condition Assessments: Conduct regular condition surveys of collections to identify potential risks and recommend mitigation measures.
• Documentation: Maintain detailed records of preventive conservation activities, including environmental data, collection condition reports, and IPM data.
• Training and Outreach: Provide training on preventive conservation practices to staff, interns, volunteers, and external partners.
• Exhibition Support: Assist in the preparation, installation, and maintenance of objects for exhibitions while ensuring adherence to conservation standards.
• Research and Development: Investigate new materials, techniques, and technologies for improving preventive conservation methodology within the museum.

We expect:

• Education as conservator or equivalent academic degree combined with sufficient experience.
• Expertise in preventive conservation practices across diverse natural history collection types (e.g. geology, botany, archival materials, etc.).
• Knowledge of environmental monitoring systems and integrated pest management protocols.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize tasks efficiently and meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills for technical writing and sharing information with multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience in managing interns or volunteers is an advantage.
• A driver’s license with approval to drive in Denmark.
• English is the working language within the conservation unit but knowledge of Danish or interest in learning will be an advantage.

About us
Natural history museums have never been more important. Our planet is shared by millions of living species. But now a single one among them, humans, holds the power of changing life on Earth. Solutions to grand challenges for humanity and the planet alike are only possible by way of local action, global collaboration, and by sharing knowledge and resources.

The vision of the Natural History Museum Denmark is to empower citizens to connect with nature. We want to inspire, engage, and enable people to enjoy, understand, and care for the diversity of the natural world. In the coming years, we will be building a new Danish national museum for the natural world. One big museum complex in the Botanical Garden in the center of Copenhagen to host state-of-the-art laboratories, outstanding research collections, new public galleries, and combined facilities for teaching and science citizenship. Over the next few years, the museum will change the way people think about and use natural history museums. We are working on multiple intersecting capital projects to achieve this, as well as operating the existing museum venues that are open to the public with an exciting program of exhibitions and events.

Terms of salary and employment
The employment and salary are made in accordance with the Circular on the Collective Agreement concerning Academics in the state sector concluded between the Ministry of Finance and AC (the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations).

Employment will be as an academic officer/academic employee (conservator). The salary is based on seniority. Negotiation for salary supplement is possible. The working hours are 37 hours per week on average, Monday to Friday. Flexible hours are possible in agreement with your manager.

Your application
If you find the job interesting, please send an electronic application with attachment via Jobportalen (click on the link "Apply Now" at the bottom of the post) no later than 30 May 2025.

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Further questions
Any questions about the position may be directed to Bethany Palumbo, Head of Conservation bethany.palumbo@snm.ku.dk

The Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen – or SCIENCE – is Denmark's largest science research and education institution with 4,000 employees and 9,700 Bachelor and Master's students in 11 departments and one museum. The Faculty has an annual budget of DKK 3 billion.

Learn more about The Faculty of Science at www.science.ku.dk