About the role
The National Archives collects and secures the future of the public record, preserving it for the nation and making it as accessible and available as possible. Our collection is one of the largest in the world, containing over 11 million historical records from mediæval parchment to modern papers, digital documents, datasets and tweets. The records we collect are increasingly created, managed and transferred to us digitally.
The Digital Archivist team manage the lifecycle of these digital records from receipt, ingest, preservation, and access.
They analyse and prepare digital records and metadata for our digital archive, which requires keeping abreast of the evolving challenges of preserving increasingly complex born-digital materials and handling the high-volume output from large-scale digitisation projects.
The team undertake research activities, engaging externally to learn from others, and contribute to the development of archival practice in key areas such as digital preservation and the presentation and contextualisation of digital records.
They work in close collaboration with our in-house product management and software development teams to build and improve our suite of innovative digital preservation tools. This includes DROID and PRONOM, and our archivists regularly undertake file-format research activities to grow the capabilities of these products.
This is a hands-on role, facilitating the lifecycle of our digital records, but you will also line-manage our team of Digital Archivists, providing guidance and direction, and motivating the team to deliver to our objectives. You will play a major role in our work to establish a new cloud-based digital repository.
About you
You are seeking to develop a career in a world leading institution using your skills and experience to meet the challenges presented by digital records. You are enthusiastic, organised and an excellent communicator who is keen to join the Digital Archiving team and lead our archivists in the challenges of preserving modern digital records.
You enjoy the challenge of finding solutions to complex problems and will frequently look for opportunities to do things better. You love to learn and to share knowledge with others.