Summary
We are the public body that looks after England’s historic environment. We champion historic places, helping people understand, value and care for them.
Historic England have a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as our Collections Access Manager.
This is a Full Time, Permanent post based in Portsmouth, Fort Cumberland.
Due to the nature of the work involved, the role is office based and not hybrid working.
We offer a wide benefits package including a competitive pension scheme starting at 28% employer contributions, a generous 28 days holiday, corporate discounts, free entry into English Heritage sites across the country and development opportunities to ensure you achieve your goals.
To view our full range of benefits please follow the link here.
What you will be doing
Fort Cumberland Laboratories provides a national facility for the study of the historic environment through time, delivering applied research and advice to Historic England, the English Heritage Trust through a shared service agreement and to the wider sector. It holds unique scientific reference collections, an array of equipment and facilities, and comprises a multi-disciplinary team of heritage scientists who also deliver teaching and supervision of undergraduate/postgraduate students and manage learning placements for external clients.
We require a Collections Access Manager to develop physical and digital access and use of Historic England’s research and reference collections and those of Portsmouth Museums. You will be ensure the accessibility, preservation, and promotion of the collections to maximise their research potential, meet sector needs and ensure their long‑term preservation. This will involve managing the physical and digital collection resources and coordinating the development of outreach initiatives to engage diverse audiences. The role requires strong project management skills and a passion for cultural heritage to foster meaningful connections between collections and their users.
You will play a key role in the delivery of the Heritage Science Collections Hub: South (which is part of the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) programme, funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through the UKRI Infrastructure Fund.
As part of this project, you will review the collections Historic England and Portsmouth Museums hold and their catalogued status, creating an action plan to improve their accessibility under the direction of the Archaeological Archives Principal and in close collaboration with internal and external specialist collection curators. You will also work to improve and expand access to the collections, facilities and expertise enabling their study under the direction of the Head of Fort Cumberland Laboratories.
You will work up to 20% of your time with colleagues at Portsmouth Museums reporting to the Head of Service. You will also work closely with the Heritage Science Technician, based at Fort Cumberland, and with technical staff based in sister collection hubs at the University of Sheffield and University of Aberdeen.
Please note that:
The role requires regular travel, including overnight stays for joint working, attending meetings and training.
The work entails reasonable lifting of heavy/bulky objects within published health and safety guidelines on manual handling.
Who we are looking for
Proven experience in working with collections, collections management, access facilitation, or cultural resource management
An undergraduate degree or equivalent experience in relevant subject (e.g. archaeological science, biological science, museum studies)
Experience of cataloguing systems, metadata standards and collection management systems
Experience with undertaking outreach programmes, public events, and/or exhibitions
Good organisational skills, including scheduling self and others and attention to detail
Works collaboratively and communicates effectively including sharing information effectively within a team
We are an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusion. If you have a disability or neurodiversity, we would be happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the job with you. Having just won the Gold Award from MIND, we also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance.
We are an inclusive employer and believe that flexible working options are for everyone. We want to make sure our working arrangements don’t prevent anyone from joining us because of their personal circumstances. We also want to provide you with the best balance in your home and work life that we can.
Why work for Historic England
We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. Diversity helps us to perform better and attract more people to support our work. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.
We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and candidates with disabilities as they are underrepresented within Historic England at this level.
At Historic England we use a hiring system called Applied. Applied is a behavioural science-backed recruitment platform that reduces bias, improves quality of hire and increases diversity. We do not use CV application for the majority of our hiring processes. You will answer a selection of questions that allow our hiring teams to test your skills and suitability for the role.
To ensure a fair and inclusive recruitment process for everyone the use of AI or automated tools is not permitted.
Provisional interview dates: 07/01/2025 - In person, Fort Cumberland
Please follow the link for a full copy of the Job Description –
https://historicengland.org.uk/media/1bebuedp/collections-access-manager.odt
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About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to
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