As a digital leader with 15 years experience across charities, membership bodies, trade unions and the NHS, I am excited to apply for the role of Digital and Innovation Director at the Science Museum Group, a position that combines my passion for digital and innovation as a strategic enabler with the opportunity to help deliver progress and improvement within an organisation with a vital mission to engage and excite future generations.

For over twelve years I have led digital teams with the remit of transforming the digital experience of the organisation, ensuring that the opportunity presented by digital is maximised in order to meet user needs and business objectives. I have done this through change management and transformation programmes, creating a data driven culture, as well as adopting innovation strategies and tactics to accelerate maturity.

In my most recent role, I have led the creation of a new digital ecosystem to support the introduction of a portfolio of five new brands, introducing multiple new digital platforms and integrated systems, as well as the accompanying digital strategy designed to accelerate digital maturity of the organisation. This encompassed technology, innovation and content, as well as upskilling and nurturing digital skills within teams across the organisation.

At the same time I have been responsible for building a new digital team, making the case for investment and restructure to prepare the organisation for the future and to support an ambitious growth strategy.

My foundational approach is to combine both organisational objectives and user needs. I am proud of nurturing human centred digital cultures that have led to increased digital maturity and delivered results, such as increased reach, engagement and income.

As I hope you can see from my CV, I feel my experience aligns well with the job description. Below I focus on three key areas of my approach I feel are important to this role and would like to expand upon for you here: communication, collaboration and technical insight.

While digital is my area of expertise I first and foremost consider myself a communications professional. Communication is at the heart of everything I do, whether it is explaining technically complicated systems in simple and clear language, talking to users, or helping senior stakeholders and boards navigate big decisions. I pride myself on communicating clearly and effectively. I believe this would be vital in this role too, given the organisation's mission to foster engagement. While I have no museum experience directly I draw from my experience at the Institute of Physics where I created a number of platforms and content strategies designed to engage the public with physics.

As a digital professional, collaboration has been critical to the successful delivery of everything from digital strategies to new content and digital products. Building rapport and taking the time to understand the needs of colleagues and users alike is an essential part of my approach. I would be excited to join the executive team to spearhead this across the organisation and consider how digital can be a strategic enabler of everyone’s work, as well as engaging with existing and new audiences.

I combine a collaborative and comms-focussed approach with strong technical acumen. I’m not afraid to admit to being a geek. I have a deep understanding of the technical side of digital and how it intersects with pragmatic change. I have a deep understanding of the digital landscape and new technologies and this insight allows me to establish an exciting but clear vision for digital that recognises potential leaps forward but also identifies a pragmatic path through delivery. This approach is one that I have found gets buy-in from boards as well as those involved in delivery.

In my current role I have been extremely proud of driving forward our approach to DEI. This approach has been grounded in action and developing measurable action plans. I am proud to have built a diverse digital team and to have nurtured my inclusive leadership style to empower and enable colleagues. Continuing this work in my new role is a non negotiable for me because through engaging seriously with DEI we can build organisations that represent and support the communities we exist to serve and dismantle structural limitations around interest in science and technology.

I am applying for this role because I am excited by the Science Museum Group’s mission and can see a clear opportunity to inject new ideas and innovation into an already exciting offer, and I believe I have the right set of skills and experience to help deliver it. The Science Museum Group should be at the forefront of leveraging the opportunity of digital in what you do. I’d be delighted to be your new Director of Digital and Innovation to work in partnership with the executive team to deliver that future.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my application. I would love the opportunity to discuss this further with you at interview.

Yours sincerely

Mike Burn