About the job

Job summary

The National Archives is looking for an experienced project manager and/or grant manager to oversee the successful delivery of a number of strategic grant-funded projects. This will initially include the management of the three-year Digitising the National Farm Survey project (£2.13m), funded by the Lund Trust, with the postholder expected to take on the management of additional funded projects as they are awarded thereafter.

The National Farm Survey is among the top 1.5% of most-requested record series at The National Archives, but has thus far only been available in physical copy, in London. The project seeks to digitise the National Farm Survey in full, making it searchable through The National Archives’ catalogue, Discovery.

The postholder will be responsible for managing the successful delivery of the project, working with subject matter experts and technical specialists to coordinate the digitisation, transcription, cataloguing and publishing workstreams, managing the project’s finances, and being the lead liaison point for external stakeholders including the project’s funder, through to the project’s intended completion in March 2027. We anticipate that the initial phases of the project will comprise the majority of the postholder’s responsibilities in the first six months, with further additional strategic projects joining our portfolio in 2024-25.

The postholder will also be responsible for the day-to-day financial management and administration of The National Archives’ inbound funding portfolio. They will produce internal and external financial reports, make decisions, and liaise with funders, internal project teams and The National Archives’ Finance department, in supporting the compliant and efficient management and delivery of our growing grant portfolio.

This role will sit within The National Archives’ Research, Grants and Academic Engagement department, which holds responsibility for the following:

- Grant Development
- Grant Process and Project Delivery
- Archives Sector Funding
- Digital, Data and Emerging Technologies Research
- Collections and Archives Research
- Research Impact, Culture and Engagement

Job description

Full job description attached (see below).

Person specification

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. 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.

How to apply:

If you are an internal applicant: please do not use the link on this page. Please apply via your employee Workday account.

If you are an external applicant: to submit your application please click the 'Apply at advertiser's site' 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 given 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.

Essential Criteria:

• Experience of managing complex projects, with a working knowledge of project delivery methodologies and frameworks.
• Experience of planning, scheduling, budget management, resource management, risk and issue management, and quality management, in a project or programme environment.
• Strong financial literacy and skills.
• Experience of grant management and/or working with external funding partners, as applicable to large budgets of over a million pounds.
• Experience of managing a mixed-discipline project team, including external delivery partners, creating a shared purpose and vision to enable project success.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex, technical, or financial information.
• Ability to develop effective working relationships with a wide variety of people, and operate as part of a team.
• Strong time management, with ability to prioritise tasks and manage conflicting demands within a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of, or demonstrable interest in, working in or with cultural heritage.
• Experience of working on similar projects within the cultural heritage sector.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £36,515, The National Archives contributes £9,859 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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 “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page 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 undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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 a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a 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 a 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.