Preventive Conservation Manager

Location: St Pancras
Hours: Permanent – Full time
Grade: B
Salary: £33,600 per annum

We are seeking an experienced conservator to join our team of Preventive Conservation Managers to help plan and deliver preventive conservation activities across the British Library. Based in London, you will contribute to our wider Conservation department by leading and managing a programme of preventive conservation activities designed to reduce risks to collections in storage, transit, display, and use.

Working closely with colleagues and stakeholders, you will help embed a culture of best practice in collection care across the British Library. You will also line manage and supervise staff involved in preventive conservation activities.

Key responsibilities include:
• Programme Management: Planning and managing a yearly programme of preventive conservation activities, setting priorities, allocating resources, and ensuring compliance with professional conservation standards and ethical guidelines.
• Staff Supervision and Coaching: Supervising and coaching staff working on preventive conservation activities, offering technical expertise and support to resolve complex conservation challenges.
• Disaster Preparedness: Leading activities to protect collections in storage, display, and use in the event of a disaster.
• Environmental and pest monitoring: Overseeing the environmental monitoring programme, including planning, data analysis, reporting, and troubleshooting.
• Exhibition Support: Contributing to the library’s exhibition programme.
• Quarantine and New Acquisitions: Managing quarantine processes and new-acquisition protocols, providing guidance, training, and support.
• Consultancy and Training: Offering preventive conservation advice and training to colleagues and stakeholders, including collection care awareness coaching and training.

You hold a degree in Conservation or have equivalent experience and skills, with knowledge of preventive conservation, materials science, and collection management practices within a cultural heritage context. You have experience in assessing risks to collections in storage, transit, and use, and are adept at identifying and mitigating these risks.

With recent experience in environmental monitoring and risk assessment (including dust, pests, and other risk factors), you are well-organized and skilled at synthesizing and presenting data to diverse stakeholders. You enjoy collaboration and can build effective working relationships both internally and externally.

As one of the world’s great libraries, our duty is to preserve the nation’s intellectual memory for the future and make it available to all for research, inspiration and enjoyment. At present, we have well over 170 million items, in most known languages, with three million new items added every year. We have manuscripts, maps, newspapers, magazines, prints and drawings, music scores, and patents. We make our collections and programmes available to all. We operate the world’s largest document delivery service providing millions of items a year to customers all over the world. What matters to us is that we preserve the national memory and enable knowledge to be created both now and in the future by anyone, anywhere.

In return, we offer a competitive salary and a number of excellent benefits. Our pension scheme is one of the most valuable benefits we offer, as our staff can become members of the Alpha Pension Scheme where the Library contributes a minimum of 28.97% (this may be higher dependant on grade. Another significant benefit the Library provides is the provision of a flexible working hours scheme which could allow you to work your hours flexibly over the week and to take up to 5 days flexi leave in a 3 month period. This is on top of 25 days holiday from entry and public and privilege holidays.

Closing date: 3 December 2024
Interview date: 17 December 2024

We are unable to provide sponsorship under the UK Skilled Worker visa for this role, as it does not meet the eligibility criteria required for this immigration route.

Museum Website: https://ce0752li.webitrent.com/ce0752li_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC179GF.open?WVID=5071482BMD