As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history.
We’ve 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: £30,209 per annum
Contract type: permanent
Band: D(EO) to E(HEO) progression role
Closing date: Thursday 15th October at midnight
Join Our Dynamic Archive Management Team!
Are you ready to take on a pivotal role in our Archive Management team? We are seeking a passionate and driven manager to oversee large-scale document moves and lead a team of up to eight talented individuals. If you have the potential to manage and develop teams, even if you haven't yet had the chance to demonstrate it, we want to hear from you!
Progression Opportunity: This is not just a job; it's a career progression opportunity! After successfully completing a 12-24 month development plan, you will be promoted to the senior position of Archival Storage Manager. The development plan includes comprehensive training and hands-on experience. During this development period, you will build a good understanding of our data, learn to manipulate it in Excel, and present it via Power BI, all while honing your people management skills.
What We’re Looking For: As a custodian of over 1000 years of iconic national documents, we need someone who is highly motivated, can stay calm under pressure, and has a proven track record of meeting deadlines. You should be a team player with excellent interpersonal skills and a methodical approach.
Collaborative Environment: You will work collaboratively with other managers and both internal and external stakeholders in a bustling environment. Your mission will be to deliver data-driven storage solutions that support both day-to-day operations and large-scale document accessions to The National Archives.
Why Join Us? Join us in beautiful Kew, just a 10-minute walk from the Overground and Underground stations. Enjoy a range of benefits including a Civil Service Pension, discounts at local businesses, wellbeing resources, and access to our on-site gym, restaurant, and staff bar.
Work Schedule: This is an onsite role with a standard working pattern of Monday to Friday, plus overtime every third Saturday. Every six weeks, you will be on a late rota, working from 10:50 am to 7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Additionally, you will visit our offsite storage facility twice a year, which may require an overnight stay.
If this sounds like the perfect opportunity for you, apply now and become a part of our dedicated team at The National Archives!
Application Process:
• Interview: Interviews will be held on-site
• 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 below so please ensure that your application demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements. The job description for the higher band (E) post, the Archival Storage Manager, is included for reference. Please note, you should write your personal statement responding to the essential criteria listed in the lower band (D) job description.
If we receive a large number of applications candidates will initially be assessed on the following criteria:
• Strong analytical skills with experience of using routine data to make decisions in consultation with other managers
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 five years. Please do not apply if you have been resident in the UK for less than five years as your application will be rejected.
We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.
Job Description
Archive Management Team Manager (band D)
Job Purpose
The Document Services Department (DSD) is responsible for the storage and production of The National Archives (TNA) collection and is the first point of contact for users and visitors to the archives. The collection currently exceeds 17 million documents and expands each year.
The Archive Management Team is a key strategic contributor to the expansion of The National Archives’ collection; all documents which are accessioned and all those which are moved from Kew to our offsite storage facility in Cheshire go through the team.
In addition to large-scale accessions, such as the Ministry of Defence service personnel records, the Archive Management Team is also closely involved in business-as-usual accessions from government departments (c1.5-2.0km per annum) and document relocations between the repositories at Kew and our offsite storage facility throughout the year.
The post holder would work closely with other managers, flexing resource to ensure that all of the work of the business area is adequately covered and remaining fully up to date on the work of other teams so that they can cover and provide direction as appropriate. The post holder should also be eager to improve and develop the team and processes; with the role offering the chance to work with colleagues across The National Archives, external stakeholders and contractors.
Additionally, the post holder would lead on communicating document moves to internal and external stakeholders and strategically engaging with public and staff user groups, moving the team to a proactive engagement model.
Role and Responsibilities
- Maintaining an audit trail of all document moves; liaising with colleagues, other departments and external contractors as required
- Line management of the team; motivating staff to deliver against agreed objectives and in line with The National Archives performance management framework
- Proactively overseeing the work of the team; anticipating workload and effectively delegating tasks
- Ensuring team members are trained in all aspects of their role, and are confident and capable of taking on delegated tasks
- Supervising contractors on a regular basis; providing clear instructions, oversight of the work being carried out and following up on any outstanding issues
- Accurately updating in-house databases (DORIS/Surveyor) to ensure excellent archival management
- Analysis of routine data in order to find storage solutions and solve problems. Ability to make data-informed decisions within defined guidelines and with minimal supervision. Acting upon the data to physically re-locate documents.
- Communicating with internal and external stakeholders on forthcoming offsite document moves. Proactively providing regular updates and engaging with public and staff user groups. Responding to, or contributing towards responses to, feedback from users.
Working Conditions
- Display Screen Equipment user
- Relocating and reconciling historical document moves. Individual documents may weigh up to 30kg consisting of various physical types and materials (manual handling equipment and training provided).
- May come into contact with distressing material.
Person Specification
Essential criteria:
- The potential for managing and developing a team
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Demonstrable experience of liaising with internal and external stakeholders, including the supervision of contractors
- Strong influencing and negotiation skills with the ability to be flexible
- Proven ability to proactively manage own workload, as well as that of others, to deadline in a demand-led environment
- Strong analytical skills with experience of using routine data to make decisions in consultation with other managers
- High level of attention to detail and the ability to maintain accuracy across sustained periods
Desirable criteria:
- Experience of responsibly handling sensitive information in line with established guidance
- IT literacy, with experience of using MS Office (particularly Excel, Outlook and Teams) and the ability to learn new computer systems
Other Requirements
- Full time (Mon-Fri), plus overtime on one Saturday in three. To include Tuesday/Thursday working on the 10:50-19:02 roster every six weeks.
- Must be prepared to travel to other sites as required.
- Occasional overnight stays may be required.
Archival Storage Manager (band E)
Job Purpose
The Document Services Department (DSD) is responsible for the storage and production of The National Archives (TNA) collection and is the first point of contact for users and visitors to the archives. The collection currently exceeds 17 million documents and expands each year.
The Archive Management Team is a key strategic contributor to the expansion of The National Archives’ collection; all documents which are accessioned and all those which are moved from Kew to our offsite storage facility in Cheshire go through the team.
In addition to large-scale accessions, such as the Ministry of Defence service personnel records, the Archive Management Team is also closely involved in business-as-usual accessions from government departments (c1.5-2.0km per annum) and document relocations between the repositories at Kew and our offsite storage facility throughout the year.
The post holder would work closely with other managers, flexing resource to ensure that all of the work of the business area is adequately covered and remaining fully up to date on the work of other teams so that they can cover and provide direction as appropriate. The post holder will be required to take an active role in improving and develop the team and processes; with the role offering the chance to work with colleagues across The National Archives, external stakeholders and contractors.
Additionally, the post holder would lead on communicating document moves to internal and external stakeholders and strategically engaging with public and staff user groups, moving the team to a proactive engagement model.
Role and Responsibilities
- Maintaining an audit trail of all documents; liaising with and providing information or guidance to colleagues, other departments and external contractors as required
- Line management of the team; recruitment, supervision and development to motivate staff to deliver against agreed objectives and in line with The National Archives performance management framework
- Proactively and independently overseeing the work of the team; anticipating workload and creating project plans with deliverable milestones which align with departmental and organisational strategies
- Developing and enhancing The National Archives’ archival storage processes using data and developing sector practices
- Ensuring team members are trained in all aspects of their role and are confident and capable of taking on delegated tasks. Providing coaching to develop staff within their roles.
- Supervising contractors on a regular basis; providing clear instructions, oversight of the work being carried out and following up on any outstanding issues
- Accurately updating in-house databases (DORIS/Surveyor) to ensure excellent archival management
- Analysis of routine data in order to find storage solutions and solve problems. Ability to make data-informed decisions within defined guidelines without supervision. Acting upon the data to physically re-locate documents.
- Communicating with internal and external stakeholders on forthcoming offsite document moves. Proactively providing regular updates and engaging with public and staff user groups. Responding to, or contributing towards responses to, feedback from users.
- Assist in planning and executing the reorganisation of the archives to align with document usage trends and enhance overall efficiency.
- Responding to suggested document transfer plans; ensuring that they can be executed by allocating appropriate resource and storage space and negotiating when necessary to ensure the safety of the collection
Working Conditions
- Display Screen Equipment user
- Relocating and reconciling historical document moves. Individual documents may weigh up to 30kg consisting of various physical types and materials (manual handling equipment and training provided).
- May come into contact with distressing material.
Person Specification
Essential criteria:
- Demonstrable experience of line managing a team, including coaching and developing staff
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Demonstrable experience of liaising with internal and external stakeholders, including the supervision of contractors, and the ability to gather information or provide guidance for stakeholders at pace
- Strong influencing and negotiation skills with the ability to adjust to changing priorities
- Proven ability to proactively manage their own workload and that of the team, prioritising from a range of competing priorities. Developing project plans, with deliverable milestones, which align with departmental and organisational strategies
- Strong analytical skills with the experience of making data driven decisions in relation to business-as-usual work with minimal supervision from managers
- High level of attention to detail and the ability to maintain accuracy across sustained periods
- Excellent IT skills, including a good level of experience using Excel and Power BI to record and present data.
Desirable criteria:
- Experience of responsibly handling sensitive information in line with established guidance
Other Requirements
- Full time (Mon-Fri), plus overtime on one Saturday in three. To include Tuesday/Thursday working on the 10:50-19:02 roster every six weeks.
- Able to travel to other sites as required.
- Occasional overnight stays may be required.
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 https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ (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 careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk 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:
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: careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints/ (opens in new window)
