Project Archivist - National Soils Map Archive

Thanks to National Lottery players. Hutton Unearthed is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to safeguard this unique heritage, making it accessible to all and ensuring that the knowledge and stories behind it are not lost. Background to Project

Hutton Unearthed will create a new national soil maps archive that will support and enhance public education, research collaborations and innovative digital storytelling. By restoring, curating and archiving the invaluable Soil Survey of Scotland collection – land data collected since 1947 – Hutton will create an Open Science resource for future generations whilst ensuring Scotland’s environmental heritage is preserved and made fit for future policy making decisions and land management strategies.

Job

Purpose

The Project Archivist will act as the professional lead for the development, preservation, interpretation, and accessibility of the National Soils Map Archive, a nationally significant collection documenting Scotland's environmental history and land use. Working with a high degree of autonomy and professional judgement, the post holder will lead the archival assessment, cataloguing, preservation, and digitisation strategy for complex and historically important collections.

The post holder will undertake a comprehensive condition and collections survey, developing evidence-based recommendations for prioritisation, conservation, digitisation, metadata standards, and long-term stewardship. They will provide specialist advice on archival practice, digital preservation, collections management, and public engagement, ensuring that the archive becomes a sustainable research resource supporting Open Science, environmental research, policy development, and public understanding.

As the archive's professional specialist, the post holder will oversee archival workflows, supervise project support staff and any volunteers, and establish standards that ensure the collection is managed in accordance with recognised archival, conservation, and information governance best practice.

Key Responsibilities Strategic Archive Leadership

• Lead the professional development and implementation of archival policies, procedures, and standards for the National Soils Map Archive.
• Develop and deliver a collection management framework covering appraisal, arrangement, description, preservation, digitisation, and access.
• Provide expert professional advice on archival and records management issues, preservation priorities, and collection development.

Collections Assessment and Preservation

• Conduct a detailed condition, significance, and risk assessment of the collection and develop a prioritised programme of preservation interventions.
• Define and implement archival preservation and conservation strategies for unique, fragile, and high-value materials.
• Establish and monitor quality assurance standards across all cataloguing, conservation, digitisation, and documentation activities.
• Identify and assess risks relating to collection care, storage environments, handling procedures, and digital preservation.

Cataloguing and Information Management

• Lead the intellectual control and cataloguing of the collection in accordance with recognised archival and metadata standards.
• Design and implement appropriate metadata schemas, authority controls, and cataloguing methodologies to maximise discoverability and research value.
• Manage archival databases and digital asset management systems, ensuring data quality, integrity, and long-term accessibility.
• Develop documentation and workflows that support sustainable archive management beyond the life of the project.

Research and Public Engagement

• Undertake and lead original collections-based…