Senior Archive Library Assistant

Job Title: Senior Archive and Local Studies Assistant
Starting Salary: £27,694 opportunity to progress to £31,022 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Hours: 1 x 29.6 Hours Monday - Thursday & 1 X 18.5 hours Tuesday - Thursday

Location: Hertford, Fixed base - majority of working hours will be onsite. Occasional travel.

Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Resources

About the team

As an accredited service, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies preserves and promotes resources for the study of Hertfordshire past and present.

Our vision is to deliver high‑quality heritage services that inspire discovery and lifelong learning, offering opportunities for people of all ages to explore, understand and enjoy the histories that shape Hertfordshire. We aim to reflect the county’s diverse people, communities and places, strengthening a shared sense of place and supporting creative health and wellbeing and provide access to authentic, trusted information and original records.

As we move forward with plans for our refreshed ‘Shared Heritage Strategy’ including preparing for a move to a purpose-built archive, we will exploit technology to improve services; progress digital online resources and work in partnership to increase opportunities for access and learning

About the role

This role is primarily customer facing, providing high-quality customer service and involves responding to enquiries both in person and remotely, ensuring customer care standards are met. dealing with the more complex enquiries.

You will be responsible for supervising the reading rooms, supporting staff, customers and volunteers providing high quality customer-care.

You will be responsible for supervising staff and volunteers to deliver projects as directed

You are the Duty Manager, compiling staff rotas and have experience of working with archives.

You will accession archive deposits, and add information to the archive collection management system (CALM), as delegated by archivists.

You will support the Learning and Access Officer with social media and promotional events, including group visits, family history advice sessions. This may include occasional out of hours activity and weekend working.

You will assist in document retrieval from the archive stores.

You will use ICT to provide services to customers and carry out collections work including assisting with digital projects and promotion and contribute to income generation through delivery of chargeable services

About you

Essential:

• Approachable and confident person, able to supervise a busy reading room and demonstrate excellent customer care. You will have good negotiation skills and the ability to manage difficult customers.
• Experience of working with archives, and a good working knowledge of relevant legislation and collections care. You will be able to use a range of printed, manuscript and online sources to carry out local and family history research. You will be able to sort in alphabetical and numerical order.
• Able to communicate effectively in person, by telephone and in writing to answer complex enquiries and promote the service, with the ability to converse fluently with members of the public and provide information in accurate spoken English.
• Confident in the use of ICT with an excellent working knowledge including Microsoft Office software, software for image capture and manipulation, and be able to use archive collections management software to input archive accessions and catalogue data.
• Good knowledge of the principles of collection care.
• Remain calm under pressure and be able to prioritise your workload to meet deadlines. An important part of the role is being able to use your initiative and work effectively without direct supervision.
• Flexible and able to assist and deliver learning and community outreach activities to both adults and children as required to promote the service
• Need to work regular weekends and evenings, and occasional events that take place out of hours
• Lift and carry awkward and heavy items. Specialist equipment such as trolleys will be provided eg trolleys
• Can drive a leased vehicle to retrieve documents from the out stores and elsewhere.

Desirable:

• Experience of customer service
• Interest in and knowledge of local and family history sources
• Experience of cash handling
• Knowledge of Archive collection Management Systems eg CALM
• Knowledge of Photoshop

This role is varied and involves working with fascinating collections from 1060 to the present. You will support and supervise customers, staff and volunteers accessing our unique collections and be responsible for supervising the archive reading room and local studies library. You will be involved at an exciting and challenging time, preparing the collection to be re-located safely and securely whilst continuing to promote the service to Hertfordshire residents.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is Level 7. Please locate the job profile here:

Job profiles - Community services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Llinos Thomas 0300 123 4049 Tuesday to Thursday for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: Tuesday 9th and 10th June 2026

Benefits of working for us
How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.