Collections Manager for the Botanical Garden, at the Natural History Museum of Denmark

Application deadline: 01-12-2024

The Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD), University of Copenhagen, is advertising a permanent fulltime position for a Collections Manager of Living Botanical Collections in the Botanical Garden, starting January 1, 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter. The candidate will be part of a diverse Collection Management Team across the museum, working closely with the gardeners and referring to the Head of the Botanical Garden Unit.

The successful candidate will oversee the living botanical collections at NHMD and the garden’s collections management system on a day-to-day basis.

Ideal candidates will share a passion for nature, and for the long-term preservation of living botanical and other natural history collections.

The successful candidate is also expected to help support the development of the botanical garden’s living conservation collections, including helping with the upcoming modernization of the museum’s seed bank facility.

We welcome applicants with various educational and practical backgrounds, be it technical or scientific, but please note that the position does not include opportunities for research.

Responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to:

• Assisting garden horticulturalists with the physical care, maintenance, preservation, and security of the living plant collections, including historical and future seed collections.
• Improving and updating the physical organization of specimen collections.
• Processing incoming and outgoing specimens and/or materials, including donations, exchanges and loans, with appropriate permits and documentation.
• Developing and updating relevant collections policies and protocols, including for biosecurity in collaboration with the Head of the Botanical Garden Unit and the Deputy Director of Collections.
• Documenting the collection through the botanical garden’s collections management database, IRIS BG, including regularly updating records in the Botanical Garden Conservation International (BGCI) database, PlantSearch.
• Maintaining the botanical garden’s profile on various membership sites, including Botanical Garden Conservation International and associated Conservation Consortia, and the Interactive Community of Arboreta (ArbNet).
• Staying current in modern techniques in botanical garden collections maintenance and database management.
• Working cooperatively with horticulturists, other collection management and museum staff, including curators, to achieve the highest level of collection care and productivity across organizational units.
• Being responsible for hosting horticulture students and interns in the botanical garden.
• Providing service to scientific guests and host visitors, students and volunteers in the garden.
• Coordinating responses to living plant collections and horticulture related questions.
• Supporting the museum’s communication unit by compiling botanical garden news for internal and external newsletters, the museum’s website, and social media.
• Assisting with plant identifications and the preparation of specimens in the living collection for the herbarium.

Desirable qualifications and skills:

• Knowledge of botany equivalent to a Master’s degree in biology or a comparable field.
• Minimum 3-year work experience in a Danish Botanical Garden, as a collection manager.
• Work experience involving day-to-day management of living biological collections.
• Working knowledge of botanical taxonomy, systematics, and natural history.
• Documented experience with seed work.
• Experience working with Iris BG, and good computer skills.
• Work experience with relevant international compliance procedures regarding import, export, and shipping of scientific specimens.
• Speak and write English and Danish.

About the Botanical Garden and the Natural History Museum of Denmark

The Botanical Garden is part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen. Natural history museums and botanical gardens have never been more important. The impact of climate change and anthropogenic forces on biodiversity has reached a critical point. We need action to build a more sustainable relationship with nature. The Natural History Museum of Denmark is the national museum for nature. We work to empower citizens to connect with nature with the aim to create positive change for life on Earth. We want to inspire, engage and enable people to enjoy, understand, and care for the diversity of the natural world.

We are currently building a new Danish national museum for nature. One big museum site, in the Botanical Garden, in the centre of Copenhagen, will host state-of-the-art laboratories, outstanding research collections, new public galleries, and combined facilities for programming, education, and citizen science. Over the next few years, the museum aims to change the way people think about and use natural history museums.

The botanical garden is 424 years old, 150 years in its current location, and aims to increase its global conservation profile and be a conservation partner for Danish authorities and other conservation stakeholders. The living botanical collections, situated in greenhouses and outdoor sections, contain approximately 8.000 species from all over the world that were collected over a time span of 150 years, including specialist collections and many threatened plant species. More information about the living botanical collections can be found here.

Additional information

More information about the position can be obtained from Head of the Botanical Garden Unit, Tonni Eilersen (teilersen@snm.ku.dk), phone +45 29 61 25 71

More general information about the Natural History Museum of Denmark and the Botanical Garden is available from our website www.snm.ku.dk.

Terms of salary and employment

For candidates with an academic degree the employment and salary is 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 academic officer.

For candidates without an academic degree the employment is made in accordance with the Collective Agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Organisations of Public Employees – governmental institutions (the OAO-S collective agreement) and the Professional Agreement for clerical employees, laboratory technicians and IT-officers in the state.

Negotiation for salary supplement is possible.

The working time are 37 hours per week on average. The working hours are flexible.

Applications

Applications should be written in English and submitted electronically with a CV, a letter of motivation, plus documentation for education and eventually letters of reference via Jobportalen (click on the link "Apply Now" at the bottom of the post) . The application should be submitted no later than December 1, 2024 23:59 GMT +1. Only electronic applications will be accepted.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of gender or personal background.