Vacancy Details

Description

Full Time, Fixed Term until March 2024

The British Library's International Team is seeking an International Engagement Manager to work with our partners across the world and lead on setting up international hubs for our Endangered Archives Programme.

You will be working across both the International Office and the Endangered Archives Programme with a focus on skills and knowledge exchange projects, our International Library Leaders Programme and the Endangered Archives Programme Hubs.

Crucial to this role will be your ability to connect with people, to think on your feet and to work with a variety of people both internally at the British Library and with international partners. We are looking for a proactive, highly organised and personable candidate, with great project management and diplomatic skills.

Over the past 7 years, the British Library’s International Office has worked with partners around the world to advance knowledge and mutual understanding in a spirit of mutually beneficial reciprocity. This work includes multiple collaborations, projects and relationships and we are looking for an individual with a positive and proactive approach to manage relationships held by the British Library’s International Office, including those of partners and other library and cultural organisations in the UK and worldwide.

The Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) facilitates the digitisation of archives around the world that are in danger of destruction, neglect or physical deterioration. Thanks to generous funding from Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, we have provided grants to more than 400 projects in 90 countries worldwide, in over 100 languages and scripts. In 2021, the British Library launched a new project to establish EAP Regional Network Hubs around the world. You will be leading on establishing partnerships with institutions in various geographic regions and working with them to deliver a series of training sessions and workshops for the region.

Launched in 2019, the International Library Leaders Programme (ILLP) is a week-long intensive professional development programme at the British Library for library and archive professionals from across the world. You will be actively working on delivering the programme with the rest of the International team.

You will report to the Manager of the International Office and will be part of a small team of people who are passionate about international relationships, cultural heritage and can develop and implement impactful international projects.

We are particularly keen to hear from people with a good experience of communicating across different cultures and strong understanding of diversity.

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 20.6% (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.

For further information and to apply, please visit www.bl.uk/careers quoting vacancy ref:04176

Closing date: 16 August 2022

Interview date: 09 and 13 September 2022

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