conservator

Job Title: Conservator
Location: HALS, County Hall, Hertford
Salary Range: £27,741 pa progressing to £34,728 pa
Hours: 37 per week - Full time hours
Contract: Permanent

Job Duties:
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) is seeking a qualified conservator (with paper and parchment specialism) to join our team.

HALS is the county record office and local studies library for the historic county of Hertfordshire. With documents dating from 1060 and collections of local, national, and international significance, it cares and provides access to nearly 1000 years of Hertfordshire history. Following the award of Accreditation by the National Archives in July 2017, we continue to deliver our 10-year Shared Heritage strategy including proposals to move from our current County Hall site to new premises.

The Conservator will undertake practical conservation on our archive collections ranging from the Medieval to the present day and will lead on preservation. This includes environmental monitoring and archive storage and playing an integral role in our business continuity and disaster planning. They will also contribute to our outreach programme through the delivery of talks and training, and support income generation by carrying out work for external customers.

The successful candidate must have a qualification in paper conservation (covering conservation of books and documents) which is recognised by the Archives and Records Association (ARA) and/or the Institute of Conservation (ICON).

They will also

• Have excellent knowledge of the appropriate conservation methods, preservation and collections care for a wide range of physical media including paper, parchment and photographs
• Be able to use good communication and time management skills to work independently and demonstrate sound professional judgement
• Have the expertise and confidence to deal with a range of public and internal customers and stakeholders. This includes providing accurate estimates and professional work for external customers
• Be confident in contributing to HALS’ learning and access programme through the delivery of both interesting and inspiring talks and practical guidance to staff, volunteers and customers. This includes devising and supervising volunteer projects and preparing documents for digitisation and/or exhibition
• Use their professional knowledge and expertise to play an active role in the planning for, and move to, a new building in the future.

The Conservator is a member of our Service Planning Team and will line manage posts as required by the service. The successful candidate will also need to drive our leased vehicle on occasion so a full driving licence is essential.

In return we can offer the chance to develop your skills working with a range of materials, from medieval deeds to modern books, whilst working for an organisation that values its employees and invests in training. HALS has its own internal Career Development Scheme for Archivists and Conservators and offers opportunities for your continued training and professional development while working as HALS Conservator.

Closing date: 24 January 2021
Interview date: 10 or 11 February 2021 (tbc)