Job Description

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: 39,567 per annum


Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment until 31st December 2028


Band: F / Senior Executive Officer


Closing date: Monday 3rd November 2025 at midnight




A Century of Struggle: Pauperism and the New Poor Law in Wales 1834 - 1930 is a collaborative research project led by The National Archives in collaboration with Aberystwyth University and Nottingham Trent University. The project aims to provide, for the first time, a detailed picture of the totality of the New Poor Law in Wales. It is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (award reference: UKRI1432).




The post holders will be responsible for executing a programme of work on poverty and the poor law in Wales from 1834 to 1930 as agreed with the funder, The Arts and Humanities Research Council.




There are two full time equivalent posts: one will be focused mainly on the archives held in various north and mid-Wales Archive Services and the National Library of Wales, and a second will be mainly focused on the collections held at The National Archives in Kew, London, and in South Wales Archive Services (although there will be some overlap). Posts will be fixed contracts for three years each.




Principal duties: will include collecting (digital imaging) and/or sampling sources and a substantial element of transcription of handwritten, typed or printed primary source material. Post holders will capture the views and life stories of Welsh paupers, the wider poor and their advocates; and the same of the parochial, union, and central poor law authorities, as well as statistical and operational data. They will undertake analysis of materials collected including coding/geocoding, linguistic/corpus analysis, qualitative, and quantitative analysis as required. They will also have substantial volunteer liaison and management experience of working with volunteer editors (and their development) in the production of historical New Poor Law data sets. They will take on a full range of public engagement activities including public presentations (solo and in collaboration with the research principal and co-investigators), and social/other media engagement. Post holders will be responsible for academic engagement activities including proposing and delivering conference research papers. They will also contribute to the episodic reporting of outcomes to the Arts and Humanities Research Council. They will author or co-author articles and other outputs named in the original grant application at the discretion and direction of the Project Lead including the co-authoring with the research principal and co-investigators, the major historical project book named in the grant as agreed with the Arts and Humanities Research Council.




A combination of onsite and home working is available, and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for necessary meetings/work.




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.







Application Process:




Interview: Interviews will be held on-site in November. Candidates will be asked to prepare for a topical discussion as part of the interview assessment.


Personal Statement: We ask all applicants to upload a CV and a personal statement, not exceeding 1200 words, addressing each of the essential criteria.


Selection for interview will be based on the 'essential' requirements in the job description so please ensure that your statement demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements.




Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please visit the Civil Service Careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.




Please note: anonymised recruitment is standard for roles across the Civil Service. However, due to the nature of this role and the information required in the selection process, please disregard any requests to anonymise your application.




We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Role and Responsibilities

Principal Duties

Archival research on pauperism and the New Poor Law in Wales from 1834 to 1930. This will include collecting and/or sampling sources and a substantial element of transcription of handwritten, typed or printed primary source material. Research (archival and online) to capture the views and life stories of Welsh paupers, the wider poor and their advocates; and the same of the parochial, union, and central poor law authorities. Analysis of materials collected as part of duties 1-2, including coding/geocoding, linguistic/corpus analysis, qualitative, and quantitative analysis as relevant to the source base and objectives of the grant. Public engagement activities including public presentations (solo and in collaboration with the research principal and co-investigators), and social/other media engagement. Academic engagement activities including proposing and delivering conference research papers. Contributing to the episodic reporting of outcomes to the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Authoring or co-authoring of the articles or other outputs named in the original grant application at the discretion and direction of the Project Lead. Co-authoring with the research principal and co-investigators, the project book as agreed with the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Attending project meetings and contributing to grant administration. Organising conferences, seminars and other events as outlined in the original grant application. Liaison with external stakeholders including archive managers, volunteers' supervisors, project volunteers, partner archives and teachers. Monitoring dataset returns and intervening sensitively and persuasively to departures from required data protocols.

Additional Note:

the post-holder may be required to undertake any other duties which may reasonably be required as within the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the post as defined.

Working Conditions

Archival reading room environment. Display Screen Equipment user. Moving items up to 10kg in weight. May come into contact with distressing material. Will be working as part of a team and in public domains

Person Specification

Essential criteria

Educated to PhD or equivalent (in experience/publications) in a relevant discipline. Demonstrable detailed knowledge of the relevant poor law related archival collections at both The National Archives and local/county archives and the ability to deal with the complex palaeography these original 19th and early 20th century archival documents present. Significant experience of authoring written outputs including writing books (either as a solo or co-author), writing peer reviewed articles, and writing/compiling research resources. Demonstrable experience of creating historical datasets from a varied archival series, coding/geocoding the same and presenting the data in paper and in online environments. Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills, and therefore able to interact well and build effective relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders. Demonstrable ability and experience to engage and persuade stakeholders (e.g. archive managers, volunteer managers, and volunteers). Demonstrate excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage your own time (either when working independently and within a team) to handle a varied and demanding workloads, prioritise different task demands and meet challenging deadlines. Significant experience advising, managing, or working with volunteers to create research data sets, including quality assessment of compiled data, identifying deviations from required protocols, and providing sensitive, feedback to volunteers.

Desirable criteria

The ability to read Welsh documents would be an advantage
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 10 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 careers@nationalarchives.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: careers@nationalarchives.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: careers@nationalarchives.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)