Vacancy: Curator of Hebrew Collections, British Library

Salary: £32,000 per annum

Location: St Pancras

Job Type: Fixed Term Contract

Closing Date: 12/08/2022

Date Posted: 15/07/2022

Reference: 04160

Full Time, Fixed Term for 3 years

The British Library leads the way in advancing the world’s knowledge. The Hebrew collections at the Library are one of the most important in the world, covering many areas of Hebrew literature, both religious and secular, and with a wide geographical spread in Europe, North Africa, the Middle and Near East, as well as the Americas. We will soon be starting a new project aimed at planning, implementing, managing and monitoring the documentation and cataloguing of the British Library’s Hebrew collections to enable discoverability and accessibility of these collections.

We are looking to recruit a Curator of Hebrew Collections to plan, implement, manage and co-ordinate all project activities. They will also assist with the curation, development, interpretation and promotion of the Library’s Hebrew collections through research, public engagement, contribution to online resources, and the British Library’s public programme.

This is an excellent opportunity to join the British Library and work on the Hebrew collections under the supervision of the Lead Curator of Hebrew Collections. You will have a first degree or equivalent in a discipline of central relevance for the collections, excellent working knowledge of Hebrew, and an interest in and understanding of the history and culture of Judaism, Israel and the Diaspora communities. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are essential, and experience in project management is highly desirable.

As one of the world’s great libraries, our duty is to preserve the nation’s intellectual memory for the future and make it available to all for research, inspiration and enjoyment. At present we have well over 170 million items, in most known languages, with three million new items added every year. We have manuscripts, maps, newspapers, magazines, prints and drawings, music scores, and patents. We make our collections and programmes available to all. We operate the world’s largest document delivery service providing millions of items a year to customers all over the world. What matters to us is that we preserve the national memory and enable knowledge to be created both now and in the future by anyone, anywhere.

Benefits: Our pension scheme is one of the most valuable benefits we offer, as our staff can become members of the Alpha Pension Scheme where the Library contributes a minimum of 20.6% (this may be higher depending on grade). Another significant benefit the Library provides is the provision of a flexible working hours scheme which could allow you to work your hours flexibly over the week and to take up to 5 days flexi leave in a 3 month period. This is on top of 25 days holiday from entry and public and privilege holidays.

Eligibility: We are able to provide sponsorship under the UK Skilled Worker visa for this role, as it does meet the eligibility criteria required for this immigration route.

Interview dates: 14, 16 September