As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is already a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history. But it’s where we go next that makes things really interesting. In our strategic vision: Archives for Everyone, we set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring. That’s where you come in. Because we can’t do this without you. Job Overview Salary: £38,322 - £44,722 per annum Contract Type: Fixed Term Maternity cover for 12 months Band: F / Senior Executive Officer Closing date: Sunday 10th November 2024 at midnight The Digital Scholarship Researcher will work with the Head of Emerging Technologies Research within the Research, Grants and Academic Engagement (RGAE) department, and colleagues across The National Archives (TNA) to develop and deliver excellent research that enables new insights into our expertise and collections. The RGAE department engages in a range of exciting interdisciplinary research, embedding collaboration and digital methods and outputs at its heart, and the Digital Researcher role plays a key part in enabling and conducting this activity. The Digital Researcher will work collaboratively to identify new research areas of interest to TNA and will enable and conduct excellent research that brings new insights into our expertise and collections, and how we disseminate this work. They will work with colleagues across TNA and with external collaborators to advise on the development of strong research funding applications. They will promote research at TNA and develop strategic relationships with the internal and external research community. About you: You have a passion for innovation and cross-disciplinary collaboration. With a good understanding of digital cultural heritage research, you have an enthusiasm for collaboration and actively seek new opportunities for engagement and research that address technology, collections and the communities that together produce and curate them. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who brings digital research experience to deliver innovative research and create new insights into cultural heritage collections, research and engagement activities. This role would suit a researcher with knowledge of digital humanities, digital scholarship, computer science, data science, or research development in a higher education or heritage context would be welcome. It is important to us that our organisation is more diverse, so we encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and identities. We’re especially keen to hear from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates who are currently underrepresented. About us: The National Archives (TNA) is the official archive of the UK government and for England and Wales, making available to the public a vast collection of historical records dating back over 1,000 years. TNA is also an Independent Research Organisation (IRO), meaning we are eligible to lead UKRI-funded research. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research into all aspects of our collections and activities is at the heart of what we do, as we become a digital archive by instinct and design and seek to generate new knowledge with our collections. We work with vast data collections and a range of national and international university, heritage and industry partners on areas including digital research in humanities and social sciences, computer science, archival and information science, and heritage science and conservation. Our RGAE department is charged with conducting, enabling and promoting world-class research, often delivered in collaboration with external partners including experts from academia, heritage organisations, other government departments and industry. Digital research is a growing focus for us, experimenting with emerging technologies to develop tools for the exploration, investigation, remediation, and preservation of our collections and their re-use. We embrace opportunities to innovate with computational approaches in all aspects of our work in line with our Research Vision, our Digital Strategy and our corporate strategy, Archives for Everyone. Our Research Vision centres around a desire to enable computational access to large-scale digital objects such as born-digital collections, maps, and datasets. This is a long-term aim which will encompass emerging technologies, cloud infrastructure, and opening our data through computational interfaces, and we are at the beginning of that journey. This role will focus on data, exploring methods for extracting content from our collections and representing it within cultural heritage data standards, such as IIIF. Within the beautiful surroundings of Kew, a 10-minute walk from Underground and Overground stations. A combination of onsite and home working is available, and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time. TNA boasts a collegial working environment and the excellent Civil Service benefits package. This includes flexible working, an on-site gym, wellbeing resources and an opportunity to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme. Putting people at the forefront of our organisation, we are committed to enabling professional development and training for all our colleagues. You would be joining a friendly and passionate team who welcome new and creative approaches and are dedicated to influencing the future of archives and research. This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department. How to apply: To submit your application please click the 'Apply' button on this page. 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 in the person specification 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. Please note that we cannot anonymise CVs and will not be sharing them with the panel, so please make sure to mention any relevant publications in your personal statement. Job Description Job Purpose The Digital Researcher is part of the Digital Research team in The National Archives (TNA)’s Research, Grants and Academic Engagement Department. A key member of the team, they will work closely with colleagues across TNA and external collaborators to implement our Research Vision and our corporate strategy, Archives for Everyone, advising on and contributing to the development of our digital research capacity and expertise. Experimenting technically and developing a range of projects, methods, and data, they will contribute to leading-edge digital research that increases the understanding and dissemination of TNA’s collections, including work that enables the exploration, investigation, and preservation of our collections and their re-use, including engaging the public with the digital outputs of research. Drawing on digital humanities, computer science and/or data science capabilities, they will experiment with methods and data, develop and deliver tools that enable research, and develop training sessions that increase the digital skills of colleagues across TNA. They will represent the team and our research projects nationally and internationally to academic and broader digital heritage audiences. Role and Responsibilities Our Research Vision centres around a desire to enable computational access to large-scale digital objects such as born-digital collections, maps, and datasets. This is a long-term aim which will encompass emerging technologies, cloud infrastructure, and opening our data through computational interfaces, and we are at the beginning of that journey. This role will focus on data, exploring methods for extracting content from our collections and representing it within cultural heritage data standards, such as IIIF. Work with our collections, primarily our born-digital collections, to explore methods for processing digital objects into data. Work with data, technology and cloud services, and with regard to cultural heritage data standards (such as IIIF), as part of a collaborative research team. Contribute towards the team’s aims and objectives through active engagement with internal and external colleagues in scoping, designing, planning, quality-assuring and delivering project outputs. Understand the importance of technical specifications and supporting documents for research project development and live projects, adhering to technical constraints and implementation standards and best practice, and communicating effectively across disciplines. Contribute towards the team’s offer for digital training to humanities students and non-technical staff, developing training materials and strategically act as a mentor to working groups or student placements that works towards delivering digital training modules. Maintain awareness of new thinking, research and funding relevant to data and digital research in cultural heritage, and write up and disseminate this knowledge effectively and widely across the team and TNA through a range of research activities. Seek opportunities to present, disseminate and explain our work including through co-authoring articles, and presentations at academic conferences. Working Conditions Normal office environment Display Screen Equipment user Person Specification Essential : Postgraduate qualification, or equivalent experience, in digital, computing or data research in cultural heritage or academia. Experience in managing, structuring, and analysing large scale data and the results of computational experiments. Knowledge of using, or willingness to experiment with, Artificial Intelligence in research, focusing on working with text i.e. text mining, Natural Language Processing, Large Language Models. A collaborative approach with experience of multidisciplinary work and excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including documentation of research or data resources, co-authoring research papers or technical reports, and giving presentations or classes on technical subjects. Demonstrated enthusiasm for and proven ability to acquire and assimilate new computational ideas and techniques on the job and apply them successfully. Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to prioritise, work independently and manage own workload, including planning and execution, and to work well as part of an agile and busy team. Desirable : Experience in at least one of the following fields: working with cloud services for research, visualization of large and complex data, cultural heritage data standards such as IIIF, text mining, natural language processing and/or large language models. The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy. Benefits Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe and opportunities for training and development. Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per calendar year (rising to 25 after the first year, and incrementally to 30 days after six years) and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum. Any move to The National Archives from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ ( opens in new window) Reasonable adjustments If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact The National Archives via careersnationalarchives.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs Complete the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks (opens in new window) Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. (opens in new window) The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. (opens in new window) Contact point for applicants: Name: The National Archives Recruitment Team Email: careersnationalarchives.gov.uk Further information If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact The National Archives via email: careersnationalarchives.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints/ (opens in new window)