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Dundee Museum of Transport

Leadership gaps happen at the worst times: a director leaves mid-project, a board faces a crisis, or an organisation grows faster than its structure. Interim leadership gives you an experienced chief executive or director for as long as you need one, with the objectivity of an outsider and the authority to get things done. Executive support offers something lighter, a sounding board and extra capacity for a leader who already has the job.

Boy & Grandfather with motorbikes

Interim leadership and executive support

What we do

Interim director and chief executive roles

We step into the top job for a defined period and a defined brief, whether that is steadying an organisation, leading it through a transition, delivering a capital project or preparing the ground for a permanent appointment. We report to the board, run the team and leave the organisation stronger than we found it.

Executive support and mentoring

New directors, first-time chief executives and leaders facing an unfamiliar challenge benefit from someone who has been there. We offer structured support on a retained basis, from fortnightly calls to hands-on help with a board paper, a funder negotiation or a difficult staffing decision.

Board and governance support

We facilitate board away-days and planning sessions, review governance arrangements and help trustees think through succession and recruitment. Where a board needs an independent view of its organisation’s performance, we provide it.

How we work

Interim roles usually begin with a board recognising that the organisation needs to make a significant leap to realise its potential. The brief is agreed carefully at the start: what success looks like, how long it will take, and how the handover will work. We are candid with boards and fair with staff, and we work closely with trustees and the wider network of partners and funders, building relationships and trust that often endure for years after the interim role has ended. Because Xcentuate also provides business planning, fundraising and commercial expertise, an interim can draw on the wider team when the brief needs it.

Experience

Our managing director, Paul Jennings, has personally led nine venues across the UK and the United States with teams of up to 200 staff, and has held responsibility for wider operations in France, Denmark, Germany and Portugal. His roles have included chief executive of Dundee Science Centre, executive director of Dundee Heritage Trust operating Discovery Point and Verdant Works, and President and CEO of a major science museum in the United States. He also founded the destination marketing organisation VisitDundee and has served on the boards of ASVA, Dundee Heritage Trust and Scottish Agritourism.

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Since 2022 we have provided executive director level leadership for Dundee Museum of Transport, and in that role have led the organisation to commissioning its most ambitious project yet, the conservation of the former Maryfield tram depot. Full restoration of the building is due for completion by mid 2027, with the new museum opening in October 2027. We are also providing executive coaching to the director of an accredited museum through the early stages of a major reimagining of the organisation.

Who this is for

  • Boards facing an unplanned leadership vacancy or a long recruitment.

  • Organisations entering a capital project or major transition that needs senior capacity.

  • Directors who want an experienced peer to call on.

Ready to talk it through?
Email paul@xcentuategroup.com
or call +44 (0) 7824 376390

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