At a Glance
- Tasks: Manage and promote archive collections while supervising volunteers and ensuring compliance.
- Company: Join the Canal & River Trust, a leader in heritage preservation.
- Benefits: Enjoy a competitive salary, pension scheme, and increasing holiday entitlement.
- Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace with excellent career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on preserving history and engaging the public.
- Qualifications: Experience in archival practices and strong communication skills required.
The predicted salary is between 33677 - 33677 £ per year.
About the Role: Archivist at the Canal & River Trust Waterways Archive. Full‑time (37 hours per week) with occasional weekends. Location: National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port. Work mainly on‑site Tuesday to Thursday, with flexibility.
Apply professional archival expertise and judgment to acquisition, appraisal, cataloguing, preservation, access, and promotion of archive collections, while supervising volunteers, ensuring legal and conservation compliance, delivering engaging public outputs, and embedding the Trust’s values, including diversity and inclusion, in all aspects of work.
Key Responsibilities:
- Use archival expertise, skills, knowledge and judgment to determine which records should be accessioned.
- Appraise material in the archive, deciding which documents should be retained for their enduring evidential or historical value and which should be disposed of, and on what basis.
- Decide on the structure, content and keywords of finding aids and catalogues, in line with ISAD(G).
- Supervise the day‑to‑day administration, management and work of volunteers, providing training, answering questions and making decisions on specialist care of historic material.
- Decide if a copy of a record can be supplied, assessing each case for personal data, robustness, copyright, use type and licensing possibilities.
- Develop engaging exhibitions that communicate key themes and enhance visitor experience.
- Monitor and assess environmental conditions within archive storage areas, applying conservation knowledge to track temperature, relative humidity, and pest activity, and implementing preventive conservation measures.
- Promote the archive and its unique heritage in engaging ways to both internal and external audiences, in person and remotely.
- Display the Trust's values and behaviours at all times.
- Ensure diversity and inclusion are integrated into all aspects of Trust life and promote inclusion by challenging practices that counter the Trust’s policies and values.
Skills & Qualifications:
- Technical: Thorough knowledge and understanding of archival principles and theory, and ability to apply them daily.
- Experience arranging and processing accessioning, including negotiating with donors and formalising legal deposit agreements.
- Knowledge of archive appraisal strategies, including analytical decision‑making for disposal and documented destruction.
- Experience applying provenance and original order principles to create hierarchical catalogues in line with ISAD(G).
- Experience using archive/collections management systems to create, edit, and manage catalogue metadata and authority records (person, name, place).
- Knowledge of copyright and data protection legislation, with ability to make accountable decisions on copying and risk assessment.
- Understanding of digitisation and digital preservation issues.
- Experience working in the heritage sector.
- Working knowledge of British history.
- General: Experience training and supervising volunteers.
- Excellent planning and organisational skills, including prioritisation and delegation.
- Strong research skills and creativity for contributing to or leading promotional activity (e.g. social media, exhibitions, events).
- Excellent interpersonal skills for engaging with volunteers, colleagues, depositors, and enquirers.
- Excellent communication skills, including explaining archive concepts to non‑specialists.
- Methodical and logical approach with strong attention to detail.
- Ability to make confident independent decisions.
- Ability to apply professional judgment and make accountable decisions.
- Ability to prioritise workload effectively.
What We Offer:
- Annual base salary of £33,677.
- Competitive pension scheme.
- Increasing holiday entitlement.
- Range of employee benefits.
Equality & Diversity: We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce where everyone can thrive. We welcome applicants from all sectors of the community. Reasonable adjustments are available for applicants requiring them. We offer a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role. All hiring decisions are made by our hiring managers, although AI may be used to analyse applications to support the process.
Archivist in Ellesmere Port employer: Canal & River Trust
The Canal & River Trust is an exceptional employer, offering a vibrant work culture at the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port, where you can immerse yourself in the rich heritage of our waterways. With a commitment to diversity and inclusion, we provide ample opportunities for professional growth, competitive benefits, and a supportive environment that values your contributions while engaging with the community through meaningful public outputs.
