Job Description

About Us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.


Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.


We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.



We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

We are seeking an Editorial Assistant to support two international peer-reviewed scientific journals produced by the Natural History Museum, the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology and Systematics and Biodiversity.


The Journal of Systematic Palaeontology and Systematics and Biodiversity were established in 2003 as replacements for the Natural History Museum's long-running series of scientific journals, the Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, with the goal of becoming more international in profile. The two journals publish articles covering the systematics of extinct and extant taxa from across the tree of life. They are published online only by Taylor and Francis with hybrid open access.


In this role, you will work closely with the Editors-in-Chief of the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology and Systematics and Biodiversity to ensure the timely publication of manuscripts and overall smooth running of the journals. This will involve working with manuscripts from the initial point of submission to the final stages of manuscript proofreading, liaising with the editors, authors, reviewers and publisher. You will take responsibility for ensuring manuscripts adhere to journal policies, for example relating to ethics and data availability. You will also be responsible for copyediting accepted manuscripts and promoting the two journals, for example on social media.


This is a permanent part-time (28.8 hours per week) position.

About you

The successful candidate should have an undergraduate degree or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline (e.g. palaeontology or biology). They will have experience of scientific publishing, either through a previous role working with a publisher or as an author of papers in a relevant scientific discipline (e.g. palaeontology, zoology or botany). They should understand how to share and promote technical content on social media, and they will be computer literate and fluent in written and spoken English. They will have the ability to work both independently and as part of a team, with strong attention to detail, as well as excellent communication and interpersonal skills.


See for full Person Specification.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum's values and forms the framework for the way we work.


Find out more here

What we offer

27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent) Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 410%) Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan Life insurance Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events.We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.

How to apply

If that sounds like you, please apply by clicking Apply for job below.

Closing date: 23:59, Sunday 11th May 2025

Interviews expected w/c

2nd June 2025

Please note that this role does not qualify for Museum sponsorship so the successful postholder will need to have a valid right to work in the UK at the point of offer.