Preservation Assistant
The National Archives (UK)
Kew, West London

Full-time/Fixed Term Appointment for a period of 12 months with the
possibility of extension.

Starting Salary: UKP20,545 - UKP27,955 plus generous benefits
package, including pension, childcare vouchers, sports and social
club facilities, onsite gym, subsidised staff restaurant and
opportunities for training and development.

The National Archives is the UK government's official archive,
containing 1,000 years of recorded history from the Domesday Book to
the present. Our experts in conservation and preservation care for a
huge range of documents - from parchments to synthetic materials
that cover a collection of over 10 million records.

The Preservation Assistant will be expected to support The National
Archives' ongoing preservation programmes and to provide technical
guidance to internal and external stakeholders. In particular, the
preservation assistant will support data mining and data collection
about inherently unstable materials (e.g. plastics, colour
photographs, transparent paper) in order to provide essential
evidence to inform priorities and underpin strategic planning of the
Collection Care Department.

You will play a key role in helping to deliver risk mitigation
projects such as emergency response planning and collection
re-housing as well as support pest monitoring and environmental
monitoring. You will also play a key role in the development and
implementation of projects in The National Archives e.g. promoting
the work of Collection Care and acting as an advocate for best
preservation advice and guidance and communicating this to internal
and external audiences.

Reports to: Head of Preservation

Role and Responsibilities

   Support data mining and data collecting to provide evidence for
   Collection Care's strategic and business planning

   Interpret, analyse and report data and relevant literature to
   support the work of Collection Care

   Support the delivery of Collection Care's on-going programme of
   risk mitigation for example, ensuring the Emergency Control Plan
   is routinely up-dated and staff are trained accordingly, the
   pest monitoring programme is delivered and reported

   Support project planning and implement key projects such as
   re-housing The National Archives' collections

   Support the delivery of preservation training for internal and
   external audiences

   Act as Collection Care's representative on select internal
   committees

Person Specification

 Essential:

   Graduate from a recognised conservation programme or equivalent
   experience

   Significant knowledge of preservation principles in the context
   of a major institution

   Proficient IT skills, and ability to manage and analyse complex
   data

   Demonstrable proof of communication skills both written and oral

   Ability to convey specialist knowledge to professional and
   non-professional audiences

   Good advocacy skills, and ability to foster relationships with
   internal and external stakeholders

   Ability to bring an agile and critical approach to problem
   solving and analysis

   Ability to prioritise and take pragmatic decisions in a timely
   fashion

   Good use of initiative, including risk and impact awareness

 Desirable:

   Working towards PACR accreditation (Professional Accreditation
   of Conservator-Restorers)

   The publication of professional/technical papers

Closing Date: Tuesday 26 June 2012 at midnight

Interviews: To be confirmed

To apply: visit

   http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/jobs>