Description

Closing Date: 02-Oct-2024

The British Library's International Team is seeking an International Engagement Manager to work with our partners across the world and lead our international Hubs for our Endangered Archives Programme.
Over the past 8 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.
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 500 projects in 90 countries worldwide, in over 100 languages and scripts.
The EAP Regional Network Hubs were established in 2022 as a framework for international training and outreach whereby the British Library works with regional partners across the globe to co-design and deliver online and onsite training opportunities for organisations, researchers, archivists, librarians and anyone interested in protecting archival material at risk. The following universities act as our regional hubs:
EAP Asia Hub: Jadavpur University, India
EAP Africa Hub: National University of Lesotho, Lesotho
EAP MENA Hub: American University in Beirut, Lebanon
EAP Latin-American Hub: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru
EAP Caribbean Hub: University of the West Indies, Mona Library, Jamaica
Together with these Hubs, we have successfully organised over 30 webinars and more than 10 onsite workshops to date, covering topics such as digitisation, collections care, conservation, cataloguing and metadata, digital preservation, audio preservation and sound digitisation. We have reached over 2800 people, and on average, 90% of webinar and workshop participants had never engaged with the British Library before.
You will be working across both the International Office and the Endangered Archives Programme to lead on the EAP Hub partnerships.
You will be the driving force behind a diverse range of skills and knowledge exchanges, delivering a wide range of workshops and webinars across the five Hubs, connecting librarians, archivists and professionals working on the protection of documentary heritage across the world.
Working closely with the Manager of the International Office and the Hubs, you will lead the delivery of skills and knowledge exchanges from start to finish, developing and managing budgets, guiding the British Library colleagues delivering the training, handling applications and reporting about each event, always finding ways to maximise each event’s impact.
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 and cultural heritage, and who can develop and implement impactful international projects.
So, if you want to make a meaningful impact, creating training that resonate with libraries and archives across the world and support the protection of documentary heritage, we want to hear from you!
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. 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. Organisation will come naturally to you and you will be adept at juggling multiple projects, keeping them on track. You will also be comfortable taking the initiative and motivating yourself and your partners to do your most creative and innovative work.
We are particularly keen to hear from people with a good experience of communicating across different cultures and strong understanding of diversity. We are looking for an excellent communicator who recognises the value of collaboration, working well with colleagues at all levels.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, mixed race and other ethnically diverse candidates and disabled candidates. We would like to increase the representation of these groups within The British Library to ensure our workforce is as diverse as the public that we serve. Creating an inclusive workplace is the core of our business and a way to engage the diversity of thought that is essential to achieve our aims.
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 28.97% (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.
The role requires some work outside of standard working hours, as well as occasional travel.