The client is seeking an exceptional Director to lead an archives centre at a pivotal stage of development. The centre preserves a large body of modern personal papers and provides access to a wide range of audiences through in-person and online services, academic and public engagement, and original research and publication. Its collections include born-digital material, and it is actively working to broaden representation to reflect the diversity of modern political and public life.
The incoming Director will guide the centre through a period of ambition and change, including shaping and delivering a transition plan associated with planned development of a purpose-designed archive building within the client’s grounds. The role will involve identifying and implementing innovations enabled by new facilities, and maximizing their impact on research activity, sustainable preservation, and public engagement. The centre holds accredited status with a national archives body.
The Director leads a team of professional archivists, conservators, and specialist staff, with operational and budgetary responsibility for the centre. The role also includes serving as Secretary to multiple charitable trusts connected to the centre’s collections and undertaking significant public-facing responsibilities as an ambassador for the centre and its holdings. The successful candidate will bring senior leadership and operational management experience, strong communication and influencing skills, deep knowledge of archival and heritage work, engagement with modern British history, and the interpersonal range to operate effectively across diverse stakeholders and institutional contexts.