Document Production Advisor

Job summary

About the role:

The National Archives has an exciting opportunity for Document Production Advisors to join our Document Services team to work in Kew.

This position is an ideal job for those who are interested in history, who want to gain experience in the archives sector or are enthusiastic about delivering an exceptional public service in a fast-paced environment, delivered with professional integrity, and to be an ambassador for The National Archives.

What you’ll be doing:

As a Document Production Advisor, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Producing and delivering documents for readers, staff, and government departments, and ensuring their accurate return.
• Organising deliveries and returns of documents held at our offsite storage facility.
• Assisting in the audit process by constructing, printing, allocating and undertaking document searches.
• Providing information to members of the counter team, to enable them to explain to help resolve document ordering queries for members of the public.
• Fielding and responding to customer enquiries by phone, email and Chat.
• Working on various enquiry points, dealing with ticket issuing and document production and general reading room enquiries.

We are specifically looking for team members to undertake the duties above but other duties that this role can do are:

• Invigilating within the Reading Rooms to maintain the security of the environment, protect our records, and manage visitor expectations. This includes offering guidance on proper document handling and enforcing rules when appropriate.

You will need to be physically fit as with the repository role you can walk up to 15,000 steps in a day.

Job description

Full job description attached (see below).

Person specification

Why work for us:

Day in, day out, our teams deliver an amazing service, collectively giving advice and guidance as well as enabling access to over 11 million documents, ensuring the appropriate preservation requirements and the integrity of the documents are maintained for future generations.

We have full time (Tuesday-Saturday) permanent roles available. Working hours would usually be 08:50-17:02, with requirement to work between 10:50-19:02 on a Tuesday and Thursday every 6 weeks.

There are 4 available posts.

This role requires on site presence and is not suitable for home working.
Application Process:

• Personal Statement: We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement, addressing the 3 criteria below.

Selection for group assessment will be based on the ‘essential’ requirements as listed below so please ensure that your statement demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements.

Essential:
• Demonstrable experience of working in a customer facing, demand led team
• Positive attitude and willingness to learn
• Demonstrable ability to be flexible and a high level of self-motivation

• Assessment Day - Successful candidates will be invited to a group assessment, likely to be held on 18th May 2026. The session will last approximately three hours and will include a repository assessment, a group activity designed to look at teamworking skills and a short interview.

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 three years. Please do not apply if you have been resident in the UK for less than three years as your application will be rejected.

Full person specification:

Essential:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Good attention to detail and ability to use own initiative
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Experience of working in a customer facing, demand-led team
• Able to undertake physically demanding duties and the ability to demonstrate respect for Health and Safety
• High level of self-motivation and ability to work unsupervised
• Good coordinating and liaising skills

Desirable:

• Proficient in the use of IT software packages such as MS Word, Excel and Access
  
  

Sponsorship:

We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,100, The National Archives contributes £8,140 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.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.

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;

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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 see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

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 “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page 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 undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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 a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a 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 a 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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : The Talent Acquisition Team
• Email : careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk
• Telephone : 02039855979

Recruitment team

• Email : careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk

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 http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

nationalarchives.gov.uk

Attachments

Job Description - Document Production Advisor Opens in new window (docx, 39kB)