Exhibition Assistant

Full Time, Fixed Term for 15 months

The British Library offers a diverse and exciting programme of exhibitions, from Harry Potter: A History of Magic and Buddhism to Imaginary Cities and Beethoven. Working as part of a small team in the Exhibitions Office you will play an important role in the everyday management of the Exhibitions office and in supporting the mounting of our exhibitions, working with staff both within the Library (conservators, curators etc) and externally with designers and contractors to ensure the success of the programme. The post offers the opportunity to work in a dynamic environment and with iconic literary and historical manuscripts, maps, photographs, posters, sacred texts, and sound.

You will have practical experience of organising temporary exhibitions within the cultural sector, and a hands-on knowledge of the technical aspects of mounting exhibits and the conservation requirements for the display of books and other objects. Your experience will include undertaking exhibit and picture research, and some experience with AV/multimedia for exhibitions. You will combine excellent organisational skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines with excellent written and oral communications skills including the ability to work effectively and efficiently with a wide range of specialists. You will need to be flexible on working hours and will need to on occasion be able to work outside of normal hours, including weekends.

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 26.6% (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: 04490

Closing date: 22 March 2023

Interview date: 29 March 2023

We are able to provide sponsorship under the UK Skilled Worker visa for this role, as it does meet the eligibility criteria required for this immigration route

Disability Confident

We are a Disability Confident employer, and make a commitment to recruit and support disabled people. We guarantee an interview for disabled candidates who meet the minimum (essential) requirements for a vacancy