Archives and Local Studies Senior Officer in Aylesbury

This is an exciting time to join Buckinghamshire Archives, as it prepares to relocate from Aylesbury to High Wycombe in early 2027. The role is responsible for the day-to-day planning and delivery of an ambitious and outward-looking Archives and Local Studies Service. If you are well organised, a good people manager and have a professional qualification in Archive Administration or a Local Studies related area, this could be a great job for you!

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.

Buckinghamshire Archives is a county-wide service that is home to over 800 years of Buckinghamshire’s documented history. Its records cover all aspects of life in the county and has something of interest for everyone. Its collections include the internationally important Paralympic sports archives, as well as archives for Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire.

The Service has a foundation of excellent standards for customer care and collections management and focuses its delivery on the four E's: engage, excite, educate and empower.

As a fixed worker, you’ll spend most of your time in the same location, which will likely be a fixed office or location where your role is performed. Typically, you’ll be based in the same location as the rest of your team, because you provide a particular service from that fixed location or need access to information there.

The Archive Service is already busy planning for the relocation of the archives, and the post holder will play a key role in progressing and implementing those plans. The role has direct line management responsibilities: Community Engagement Officer, Customer Access Supervisor and any project staff. The post is responsible for delivering the various policies, procedures and standards set by the County Archivist, which support the professional and customer delivery aspects of the service. The post directs and leads the effective day-to-day delivery of the Archives and Local Studies Service, ensuring that excellent customer service is at the core of planning and delivery. The post is the service lead on health and safety matters.

You will ideally have:

• Proven substantial experience in delivering an excellent customer focussed service.
• Proven and well-developed skills in leading and motivating both teams and individuals to achieve success.
• Good planning and organisational skills, with proven ability to prioritise and co-ordinate workloads and ensure standards, outcomes and deadlines are achieved.

Please see the attached job summary for further information on this role and person specification. If you think this role could be for you, please read the job summary for more information. If you then have any questions, or would like an informal discussion, please email Daniel Williams, County and Diocesan Archivist, to discuss: [email protected]

Interview date: 25 February

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare: All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions. For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023).

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy. By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation. From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments. We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

Our Communities directorate works across the county to deliver a number of the key customer-facing services that our residents, businesses and visitors rely on every day. This directorate includes a wide range of services, including:

• collecting and disposing of waste and recycling
• maintaining our roads and Rights of Way network and parking
• ensuring the delivery of school transport, and supporting sustainable travel including public bus services and School Crossing Patrollers
• managing Country Parks
• leisure facilities, museums, theatres and libraries, as well as developing our Cultural Strategy
• Licensing, Environmental Health and Trading Standards
• Cemeteries and Crematoria

The customer is central to how we develop and deliver all of these services, which help promote our rich and vibrant culture and special environment. We are looking for enthusiastic, ambitious and committed individuals to join our team and help us to continue to make Buckinghamshire a great place to live, work and visit. This is an exciting time for us as we bring together the services previously run by five separate councils before Buckinghamshire Council was created. Whilst making major changes to contracts affecting residents across Bucks, we continue to focus on delivering great customer service. You will join us on our journey of continuous improvement - whether that’s through developing strategies and ways of working or delivering services on the ground, every person in Communities is a valued member of the team.

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.