Digital Archivist at British Deaf Association; BDA

London or Manchester

Fixed Term

The Digital Archivist will lead the development, management, and safeguarding of the BDA’s digital heritage collections. This includes the digitisation, cataloguing, preservation, and access of Deaf heritage materials such as BSL films, photographs, documents, oral histories, artefacts, and community records.

The role is central to ensuring Deaf heritage is preserved by Deaf people, for Deaf people, and made accessible in British Sign Language as well as written English, in line with best practice in digital preservation and inclusive archiving.

Digital Archiving & Preservation

Provide a digital archivist lead for the Heritage Lottery Fund ‘Deaf Heritage Sorted’ project.

Lead the digitisation, cataloguing, and long-term preservation of Deaf heritage collections, including audiovisual BSL content, photographs, manuscripts, and born-digital materials.

Implement and maintain digital preservation standards, workflows, and metadata frameworks appropriate to mixed‑media and sign language collections.

Ensure collections meet recognised archival, museum, and heritage standards while reflecting Deaf cultural values and lived experience.

Collection Management & Documentation

Develop and manage digital asset registers, catalogues, and collection management systems.

Create and maintain metadata in both English and BSL, ensuring accessibility and cultural accuracy.

Support accessioning, rights management, licensing, and ethical use of archival materials.

Deaf‑Led & Community‑Centred Practice

Assist the Heritage Manager to work collaboratively with Deaf communities, historians, artists, and organisations to identify, document, and preserve heritage materials.

Support community‑led collecting, co‑curation, and participatory archiving approaches.

Ensure that Deaf people are meaningfully involved in decisions about how their heritage is preserved, described, and shared.

Access, Engagement & Learning

Support the development of accessible digital platforms, exhibitions, and online resources for Deaf and hearing audiences.

Contribute to public engagement, education, and research use of collections, including support for exhibitions, events, and learning programmes.

Work with communications and policy teams to ensure Deaf heritage content is shared responsibly and widely.

Governance, Ethics & Compliance

Ensure compliance with data protection, copyright, safeguarding, and ethical standards.

Contribute to policies on digital preservation, access, collections development, and risk management.

Support funding applications, reporting, and evaluation relating to heritage and digital projects.

This list is not to be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive, as there may be other duties and requirements associated with the post, which BDA may call upon the post-holder to perform from time to time.