19th Century Social and Political Records Researcher

In the Collections Expertise and Engagement (CEE) department, we engage a variety of audiences with our records in numerous ways, using and developing expert knowledge of our collections.

The 19th Century Social and Political Records Researcher will be part of the team that provides expert knowledge of The National Archives’ records and advises audiences how to access and interpret them, including public readers, academics, and government. The post holder might specialise in records relating to one or more of the following areas: domestic British politics, political movements and public protest, health and illness, or diverse histories during this period.

Working within the Collections Expertise and Engagement department, this is an exciting and challenging opportunity to contribute towards this work, focusing on developing resources and engaging outputs for a variety of audiences in one of the above areas.

The post holder will work innovatively within interdisciplinary, collaborative research, and use the records to surface diverse voices and histories from within the archive for audiences of all kinds. This includes engaging with developments in digital archiving and digital humanities research methods to promote and develop their specialist area.

Your specialist work will include researching, developing and bolstering our work on records relating to the 19th century social and political history of the United Kingdom.

Your knowledge of The National Archives’ collection, and 19th century Britain and Ireland, will be the basis of the wide-ranging research that you will undertake. The outputs of your research will be tailored to various audiences, including public and academic.

A combination of onsite and home working is available, and applicants will be expected to be at our Kew site for at least 60% of their working time.

This is a full-time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job shares will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of The National Archives. A combination of onsite and home working is available; applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.

This is a Fixed Term Appointment for 6 months.

How to apply:

If you are an internal applicant: please do not use the link on this page. Please apply via your employee Workday account.

If you are an external applicant: to submit your application please click the link at the bottom of the advert.

You will be asked to provide details of your work experience and write a personal statement. In your personal statement please explain, using examples, how you meet the essential criteria given below. You may draw on knowledge, skills, abilities, experience gained from paid work, domestic responsibilities, education, leisure interests and voluntary activities. Please note selection for interview will largely be based on the information you provide in this section.

If you have any publications that you feel are relevant to your application, please make sure to include them in your personal statement. You do not need to anonymise your personal statement.

Essential criteria:

- A higher degree (postgraduate degree or equivalent experience) in modern history or a related field
- Demonstrable knowledge of The National Archives’ collection of modern records relating to domestic British politics, political movements and public protest, health and illness, or diverse histories
- Demonstratable experience of communicating research to non-specialist audiences
- Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills, and therefore able to interact well and build effective relationships and networks within the organisation and externally
- Ability to handle a varied and demanding workload, and to manage own priorities within a supportive team environment
- Significant experience of working in an archival context or with archival records

Desirable criteria:

Track record of engaging with digital humanities in research

Museum Website: https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?jcode=1914227