North East Museums seeking a digital content consultant

North East Museums is seeking a digital content consultant to work with its Communications team.

North East Museums (formerly Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums) is a regional museum service. We manage 12 museums and art galleries across North East England, and the archives service for Tyne and Wear, attracting around 800,000 visits a year.

Our in-house Communications team plans and delivers integrated marketing campaigns across print, advertising, web, email, social media, events and public relations.

In November 2024, our organisation launched a new name and visual identity: North East Museums. Building on our new brand and tone of voice guidelines, we developed an initial social media strategy. The strategy focuses on a storytelling approach that celebrates the North East region while showcasing our museums in a fun and engaging way.

We are now seeking a freelance consultant or agency to work with us to build confidence and capability within the Communications team so we can create digital content that inspires our audiences to engage with museums.

Our objectives for this work are as follows:

• Upskill the Communications team in digital content creation, with a particular focus on short-form video creation for different digital platforms
• Build the team’s confidence through hands-on, practical learning
• Align content creation with our new brand tone of voice, and our commitment to accessibility and inclusion
• Provide tools, playbooks and feedback that will support ongoing development and content creation
• Deliver training that is relevant, engaging, and tailored to our team’s current level and future ambitions.

Proposals must be submitted by 5pm on Friday 31 October 2025.

We aim to appoint a freelance consultant or agency by 10 November 2025 and to begin working together before Christmas 2025.

What are we aiming to do?

We want to work with a freelance consultant or agency who can help our Communications team:

• Understand what makes effective digital content in today’s fast-moving media environment
• Learn how to plan, write, record and edit for different content formats and platforms (eg, short-form video versus audio, Instagram versus LinkedIn)
• Build skill and confidence through doing, not just theory
• Create content that reflects our new brand and connects with audiences.

Required skills of the freelance consultant or agency

• Experience in digital content creation and digital content training
• Understanding of the arts and culture sector and how to tell stories within it
• Commitment to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion
• Demonstrable success in the digital space and knowledge of what works with audiences
• Experience of coaching/facilitating and the ability to bring energy and clarity to learning.

When and where will we work together?

• We want to begin working together as soon as possible (before Christmas 2025) and to complete the work by 31 March 2026
• The number of days/hours contracted is to be agreed within the scope of the budget
• We would like you to work with the Communications team in-person at our venues as much as possible
• We understand that you might choose to deliver some sessions online and that you will also work remotely when planning, writing, etc
• The following staff will play a key role in supporting the work, facilitating communication and decision making: Jonathan Loach, Communications Lead and Susannah Batey, Digital Producer. 

Download a copy of the full Brief (PDF, 541 KB)

Budget

£10,000.

This work is offered as either a freelance contract or a contract with an agency, for a fixed fee of up to £10,000 including VAT and all expenses. The appointed consultant or agency will be responsible for all tax, national insurance, etc.

We estimate that the available budget equates to between 20–25 days’ work.

Payment of the fee can be made in instalments. However, to meet the conditions of our grant funding, the final instalment must be paid by 30 January 2026.

We have mentioned in the Brief that delivery of the work is likely to continue beyond 30 January but must be complete by 31 March 2026.

The Communications Lead and Digital Producer at North East Museums will work with the successful candidate to agree a delivery timetable for the contract.

Proposals

Based on the Brief we have provided please explain how you propose to undertake the contract and outline your programme for delivering the work. Download a copy of the full Brief (PDF, 541 KB)

Please provide details, including:

• How the contract will be delivered, including your day rate, budget breakdown and timescales
• How you will communicate and collaborate with the Communications Lead and the Digital Producer at North East Museums
• Your relevant experience.

Please submit your proposal, on no more than two sides of A4, by email to the Communications Lead at: communications@northeastmuseums.org.uk

If you would prefer, you can submit a video proposal. All proposals must be received by 5pm on Friday 31 October 2025.

We will evaluate proposals based on the scoring criteria below:

• Strength of proposals to comply with NEM’s Specification (50%)
• Acceptability of pricing proposals (25%)
• Demonstration of commitment, reliability and flexibility (15%)
• Previous sector experience, credibility and references (10%).

We aim to notify the successful candidate by Monday 10 November 2025.

Please note, successful applicants must provide a copy of their valid Public Liability Insurance certificate in a sum of not less than £5 million prior to commencement of the contract.

If you have any questions or would like an informal discussion about this work, please contact the Communications Lead via communications@northeastmuseums.org.uk to arrange a call.