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

The Natural History Museum has recently been awarded a grant by the UK Natural Environment Research Council for an exciting project to sequence and analyse population-scale genome datasets of a representative set of UK insect pollinators. This work builds on our leadership in the Darwin Tree of Life and Biodiversity Genomics Europe projects, leveraging that experience to deepen our understanding of diversity changes in this vital group.

Based in the Life Sciences department, you will work with the project Lead Investigator Ian Barnes, co-Leads Gavin Broad and Ben Price, project co-ordinator Inez Januszczak, core technical staff, and a variety of stakeholders. The project will analyse DNA from modern and museum insect pollinator collections, to assess changes in diversity and selection in these species over the last 100 years. Through comparison with environmental and climate records, we hope to infer the drivers of these changes, and make recommendations to relevant stakeholder groups.

You will ensure we have robust and well-documented data analysis methods, which we can use to identify changes in the genomes of key UK insect pollinators. You will work with NHM colleagues and other project partners to ensure that our sampling strategy covers the full historical range of diversity in our chosen species, and to communicate your findings across the project and beyond.

About you

We are looking for a highly motivated bioinformatician with a PhD in a relevant field to join a collections genomics-focused research community within the Museum’s large Science department. You have a strong track record in analysing whole-genome sequencing data, particularly from degraded or historical samples. You have experience developing reproducible pipelines, working with large genomic datasets, and applying population genomics methods to real-world conservation questions. You should be confident working collaboratively and independently, and have an interest in working in entomology.

To apply, please provide details of how you fit the person specification, providing examples of projects where you have shown competencies relevant to the role, and highlighting your passion for biodiversity and why your are an excellent fit for a project aiming to understand long-term genetic change in UK pollinators.

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 4 - 10%)
• 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

This role operates on a hybrid model, and it requires at least 2 days of working on-site at South Kensington.

How to apply

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

Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently.

Closing date: 7 September 2025 at 23:59

Interviews expected: w/c 22 September 2025

Please note that this role qualifies for Museum sponsorship. Whilst we would still expect the successful postholder to have valid right to work in the UK at the point of starting the role, the Museum can support in obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for this role to apply for future or continued right to work in the UK. Please contact our Recruitment Team at hrteam@nhm.ac.uk if you have any further queries regarding this.