Marketing and PR Officer at Museums Galleries Scotland

Museums Galleries Scotland is the National Development Body for the Scottish museums sector.  We’re here to support more than 452 museums and galleries, whether through strategic investment, advice, advocacy, skills development or other means. We are a forward facing and inclusive organisation, committed to the ongoing development of a positive culture for our team.

This is an exciting time to join MGS as we embark on year two of Museum Futures, a programme created to accelerate collaboration, innovation, and organisational sustainability within the sector. It’s also the final year of Delivering Change, a collaborative programme to enable organisations to restructure based on anti-oppressive principles. Alongside this, we are working to strengthen and expand the impact of our advocacy work.

As Marketing and PR Officer, you will play a key role in delivering communications across these programmes, as well as a range of MGS projects.

A key support position within a busy Marketing and Communications team, you will contribute to and champion an integrated approach across the full marketing and communications mix. With a strong awareness of MGS and our key audiences, you will help implement relevant strategies, processes and activity that raise the profile of both Scotland’s museums and MGS, while also sharing best practice to support sector development.

The Marketing and PR Officer will be an experienced communicator with a positive, ’can-do’ attitude, who understands how to tailor activity to reach different audiences and is comfortable working with the media.  Strong communication skills are essential, including the ability to give and receive constructive feedback.

The role also requires excellent organisational and administrative skills, with close attention to detail. The ability to multitask and demonstrate enthusiasm and initiative constitutes a natural part of the job.

• Support the planning and delivery of marketing, PR and advocacy plans and initiatives to meet organisational objectives.
• Develop digital/online content, including copy for website such as news stories, blogs, or case studies.
• Support the planning and delivery of MGS media announcements and photocalls.
• Shared responsibility for media monitoring, sharing of relevant news items and reporting
• Work with third party contractors and suppliers.
• Share marketing best practice and advice with the sector, to enhance knowledge of this area.
• Provide administrative support relevant to the role.

The above-mentioned tasks and responsibilities constitute an overview and not an exhaustive list. Workload and priorities are ultimately determined by the annual MGS Operational Plan.

Relationships

• Build and nurture effective working relationships across the organisation
• Proactive attitude to seek new knowledge, identify and seize learning opportunities
• Collaborate on joint projects and take part in relevant working groups
• A positive working relationship within the MGS team to ensure optimum impact
• Work fairly and with integrity and adapt style to different people, cultures and situations
• Responsible for maintaining day-to-day relations with other parts of the business relevant to the Marketing and Communications effort

Essential

• Minimum two years’ experience of working in a communications role
• Excellent communication skills, including written skills.
• Experience of undertaking press engagement activity, developing press releases and handling media enquiries
• Experience of delivering media announcements across multiple communications channels
• Good understanding of on and offline copywriting and digital marketing
• Good organisational/administrative skills
• Microsoft Office and other relevant software knowledge

Preferred 

• Qualification in PR, Marketing or related area at SQA level 4 or above.
• Communications experience within the Arts/Cultural/Heritage sector
• Experience of shared management of small to mid-scale projects, delivered on time and to budget
• Experience of evaluating communication campaign activity
• Interest in museums and the wider heritage and cultural sector

We work with staff to help everyone reach their potential in the workplace and welcome conversations with individuals about their needs, circumstances and aspirations.

HOW YOU WORK

• Works collaboratively
• Communicating with impact
• Respect, inclusion and integrity
• Effective decision-making
• Sector focus
• Drive for results
• Innovation, agility and building capability
• Supporting and developing people

This role requires someone who collaborates well and promotes this approach across teams, can make effective decisions following appropriate criteria, organises and plans work effectively, readily contributes ideas, and conveys information clearly.

All staff are expected to champion and help deliver MGS’s commitments to anti-racism and climate.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS – The Marketing and Communications team meets in person once a month in the office in central Edinburgh, so it is preferred that the postholder be able to attend this in person. (Where circumstances may be a barrier to this, we are open to a conversation about flexibility.)

Please download the job information pack for the full details of this role. 

1. Please complete an application form, by downloading it from our website.
2. Then submit your form via our online system Breathe HR.

Please have your application form ready to upload when you apply through Breathe. You can’t go back in and upload it later as it will say your email address has already been used. Please use our application form, CVs will not be accepted.

The deadline to apply is 9am Friday 15th May 2026. 

If our application form makes it difficult for you to apply and demonstrate your skills effectively, we would be happy to accept a video, audio or alternative application format. Please refer to the guidance on alternative application format to ensure your application will cover all the required information. If you would like to discuss an application in an alternative format, please contact us on the email below or call 0131 550 4197.

If you have any queries please email hr@museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk, including the name of the post in the subject box.

Please note that interviews for this post are planned to take place on Thursday 28th & Friday 29th May 2026.  

Museums Galleries Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of the community and is an equal opportunities employer. We hold Living Wage and Investors in People Gold accreditation and are happy to talk flexible working.

We will guarantee an interview to people with disabilities who meet the essential criteria in our person specification. Please note, we always make best efforts to implement this however there may be occasions where it is not practicable to interview all disabled people that meet the essential criteria for the job. For example if we receive a very high number of applications meeting this criteria. In this situation we will consider a reasonable alternative approach – for example setting a maximum number of interviews and ensuring that a proportion of interviews are offered to the disabled candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Please note that details supplied may be held in electronic and paper files for administration purposes only during the recruitment process.  We retain recruitment files for six months following the date of interview, after which they are disposed of appropriately. Our privacy policy.