A MUSEUM of modern art has begun the process of advertising for a new director after the previous incumbent announced he was leaving after three years in the role.

Mima, in Middlesbrough, is seeking someone with “the drive to develop one of the UK’s most forward thinking visual arts institutions”.

In October last year director Alistair Hudson was announced as the new director at the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery, in Manchester.

Mr Hudson, who joined mima in October 2014, championed it as a “useful museum” dedicated to the promotion of art as a tool for education and social change and particularly responding to Middlesbrough’s industrial heritage

In 2015 he was one of the jury members called upon to decide the outcome of the prestigious Turner Prize.

Mima became part of Teesside University after it took over day-to-day running of the facility from Middlesbrough Borough Council in 2014.

An ad on the university website describes how the successful candidate will develop mima’s role across regional, national and international networks and partnerships.

It states: “This is an outstanding opportunity for an individual to work at this level bringing passion and determination to drive our continuing success.”

The post is advertised with a “competitive salary” with interviews set to take place in March.