Access Officer

As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is already a special place to work. We\’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history. But it\’s where we go next that makes things really interesting .

In our strategic vision: Archives for Everyone, we set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive – a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won\’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring.

That\’s where you come in. Because we can\’t do this without you.

Job Overview

Salary: £29,258 per annum

Contract type: Permanent

Band: D / Executive Officer

Closing date: Thursday 25th September 2025 at midnight

This role sits within the Public Access and Government Services Directorate, which works at the heart of The National Archives providing expert advice and guidance to government departments and public bodies to drive compliance with the statutory obligations set out under the Public Records Act 1958 (PRA) and Freedom of Information Act 2000; and to enable the growth of capability for the preservation of born-digital government records.

The Access Officer will directly support the relocation of records from the Parliamentary Archives to The National Archives. Records may be sent to The National Archives open or closed, depending on whether they contain information that is still regarded as sensitive. These records are not directly available to the public but may be requested under Information Rights legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Records may also be retained by the originator under certain circumstances.

Reporting to the Access Manager, this role will facilitate the progression of closure and retention schedules; amend existing closures and retentions through our dedicated databases; and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to investigate and resolve access issues.

The Access Officer will manage key inboxes, triaging all communications and ensuring responses to communications are responded to with our service agreement timeframes.

The Access Officer will also assist the Access Team in data analysis and reporting, maintaining key record logs and supporting Access projects.

This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.

A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.

Application Process:

• Interview: Interviews will be held on-site, week commencing 13th October 2025.

• Personal Statement: We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement, not exceeding 1200 words.

Selection for interview will be based on the \’essential\’ requirements in the job description so please ensure that your statement demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please visit the Civil Service Careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.

SC clearance/willingness to obtain SC clearance will be required for this role. This requires candidates to have been resident in the UK for at least the past three years. Please do not apply if you have been resident in the UK for less than three years as your application will be rejected.

Sponsorship:

We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Job Description

Role and Responsibilities

Enable The National Archives in meeting its legislative and public service obligations through:

• Use knowledge of information rights legislation to assist with the correct application of access conditions
• Give advice and guidance on the procedures for retention or provision of closed records in all formats to The National Archives
• Compile and quality assure closure and retention schedules
• Upload and distribute approved schedules to key stakeholders as necessary
• Implement changes to closure periods identified as required by the record originator or Freedom of Information Centre
• Manage new and amended data by updating the System for Access Regulation (SAR) database in a timely and accurate manner
• Ensure all stakeholders are supplied with relevant information about records whose closure or retention period is due to expire
• Facilitate the relocation and accessioning of previously retained material, adding or amending entries on Discovery and updating relevant databases
• Process new closed extracts after the upload of each schedule
• Support the Access Manager and Senior Access Manager with access projects, data analysis and other grade appropriate access tasks

Working Conditions

• Normal office environment
• Display Screen Equipment user
• Moving items up to 10kg in weight
• May come into contact with distressing material

Person Specification

Essential criteria:

• A flexible approach to work with the ability to work to strict deadlines under pressure for successful completion of tasks
• High standard of communication, both written and verbal, with excellent attention to detail and proof-reading skills
• Excellent team working skills – able to work constructively with colleagues within and outside of the Government Services, Strategy and Engagement Department
• Ability to make decisions, using sound judgement, escalating issues as required
• ICT skills including working with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel etc.)

Desirable criteria:

• Knowledge of the FOI Act and related legislation
• Willingness to travel within the UK for visits to external stakeholders

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is

found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service

D&I Strategy .

Benefits

Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe and opportunities for training and development. Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per calendar year (rising to 25 after the first year, and incrementally to 30 days after six years) and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum.

Any move to The National Archives from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at ( opens in new window)

Reasonable adjustments

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact The National Archives via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the \’Reasonable Adjustments\’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you\’re deaf, a Language Service Professional

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks (opens in new window)

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission\’s recruitment principles . (opens in new window)

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative . (opens in new window)

Contact point for applicants:

• Name: The National Archives Recruitment Team
• Email:

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact The National Archives via email: If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at (opens in new window)