Digital Archive Assistant (Trainee)

Background

Based in the Preservation & Access Team, this post is an opportunity for a self-motivated individual with an interest in digital preservation to gain experience maintaining and developing our services in a modern and high-profile archive.

Preservation & Access (P&A) is one of four teams in the Parliamentary Archives, which is based within the House of Lords but jointly funded and a shared service with the House of Commons. The Parliamentary Archives provides innovative and expert information management, preservation, access, and outreach services enabling anyone in the world to use Parliament’s records, both now and in the future. We hold over 13km of physical records dating back to 1497, 4.7TB of born digital records and 22.1TB of digitised records.

This is a particularly exciting and interesting time to join the Parliamentary Archives. The Archives Relocation Programme (ARP) has agreed to relocate our collections and some associated services from our current home in the Palace of Westminster to The National Archives in Kew. The move of our physical collections and associated services is expected to take place by Summer 2025, with digital collections to follow.

Over the next year, the Digital Preservation team will work with Archives colleagues and ARP to ensure that Parliament’s digital collections are safeguarded throughout this move and will help to define Parliament’s requirements around access, preservation and transfer of digital records in the future.

Main objective

The Digital Archives Assistant works with both digital and physical records, with a strong focus on preserving and adding to our significant digital collections. They are a core member of the team and once trained, work independently on a wide range of practical tasks. This role is also a training post, and you will have excellent learning opportunities across the Parliamentary Archives and the ability to direct your own development.

The post is offered on a fixed-term basis from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024, with possibility of extension. Reporting to the Digital Archivist, you will be supervised and mentored by colleagues with the aim of preparing you for a career in digital preservation or the wider archives and information sector. You will be supported in your career development with training and networking opportunities, as well as mentoring for future job or university applications.

This post is not designed for applicants who have completed a postgraduate qualification in archives/information management or similar.

The knowledge, skills and experience required for the post are outlined below. Each element will be assessed in the examples you provide in your application form. Should you be shortlisted these areas will be assessed in more depth at interview and, if appropriate, in a test.

Competencies:

Essential

• Organisation and Prioritisation: Ability to proactively manage one’s own workload, meet deadlines, and maintain a flexible and resilient approach to changing priorities.
• Problem-solving and accuracy: Ability to use initiative whilst working with established best practice and guidelines, with a focus on accuracy and attention to detail.
• Communication skills: Excellent written and oral communication skills, with a proven ability to explain complex and/or technical topics to diverse and non-specialist audiences.
• Digital literacy: High level of digital literacy, with the ability to learn and adapt to new technologies and systems quickly.
• Interest in digital collections: A proven interest in digital collections, and an awareness of how technology impacts the creation, management, and use of archives.
• Team working and Collaboration: Ability to work inclusively and flexibly in a small but busy team to deliver high quality services and develop good working relationships with people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

The qualifications required for the post are:

• No formal qualifications are required for this post.

Next Steps

If you would like to apply for this role, please submit an application form, demonstrating how your skills and experience meet the essential competencies on the job description.

More information on the role, the full list of duties/responsibilities and criteria can be found on the job description.

Why Join?

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including:

• 30 days’ annual leave (increasing to 35 days after first full leave year).
• Civil Service Pension scheme.
• Access to a range of flexible working options, where possible.
• A suite of learning and development opportunities.
• Interest free season ticket loan and bicycle loan.