Lead Research Archivist

Lead Research Archivist

The Washington State Archives preserves and provides access to millions of legal and historical records of our state and local governments. To meet the needs of our transferring partners, improve discoverability of records, and increase access to the collection, the Archives is expanding its staff and currently hiring for several positions, including a Lead Research Archivist for its State and Southwest Regional Collections located on the Capitol Campus in Olympia.

The Lead Research Archivist supports government agencies and the public with accessing records, including an increasing number of digital records. This position plays a critical role in overseeing delivery of research services at the Archives' Olympia Branch to connect researchers with records. This position also supports collection management, serves on Archives teams, and collaborates on planning and development of branch policies and procedures.

We welcome applications from qualified candidates who are excited to join us in ensuring archival records are preserved and available for present and future research.

The Office of Secretary of State (OSOS) offers some of the most unique and diverse job opportunities in state government. Its critical responsibilities include: ensuring a fair and accurate elections process; registering corporations and charities; connecting Washingtonians through the power of libraries; and protecting our important government records. Citizens depend on the Archives to research genealogy, state and city history, property transfers, legislative intent, court records, and academic projects.

The Secretary of State also administers vital community programs that inspire giving, document our history, and assist crime survivors in avoiding further abuse. This independent office under the state Constitution operates from facilities statewide.

The OSOS is looking for top-performing employees who embody its core values of integrity, service excellence, visionary leadership, collaboration and teamwork. It is committed to both employee growth and work-life balance. The benefits of working in state government also include potential eligibility for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Lead Research Archivist, Library & Archives Professional 4 Full-time, Permanent This position directs and oversees delivery of research services in Olympia in support of the Washington State Archives' mandate to make the archives of the State of Washington available for reference and scholarship and to insure their proper preservation. Day-to-day duties include workflow planning and delegation, supervision of staff, providing complex archival reference and research services, monitoring access to archival materials, records processing and preservation, and occasional outreach opportunities.

This position reports to the Managing Archivist for the State and Southwest Collections.

Interviews for this position will be conducted on an ongoing basis. It is in the candidate's best interest to apply as soon as possible. The hiring manager reserves the right to fill the position at any time.

Archival Research Services Tasks include:

• Directs and oversees and manages day-to-day research services provided by staff in Olympia, including developing and implementing policies, procedures, guidelines, workflows, research guides and response templates.
• Develops, updates and enforces collections use policies and procedures to ensure the security of archival records, publications, and archives equipment.
• Reviews and interprets complex state and federal law, statutes and rules, to inform whether records are exempt from disclosure and develops or updates policies and procedures to ensure restricted materials are not made available.
• Identifies, researches, specifies, tests, implements and troubleshoots tools and systems for delivering research services and improving access to collections.
• Applies specialized, expert-level knowledge of government records and the Archives collection to identify appropriate records for responding to research requests.
• Independently provides archival reference and research services to the public and government agencies and leads, or advises lower-level staff, on responses to complex requests.
• Consults collection catalogs, finding aids and inventories to locate archival records and advises lower-level staff on records search.
• Oversees the retrieval and refiling of archival materials and ensures records are returned to preservation storage in a timely manner; provides copies or scans of archival documents to researchers and ensures requests are responded to within the required timeframe.
• Manages large or complex reproduction requests, including procuring quotes, coordinating with service providers, processing payments and delivering copies.
• Stays up to date with current trends in the archives and records management profession.

Supervises and Directs Staff Tasks include:

• Hires, trains, supervises, coaches and mentors…