Interpretation Developer

As the living, growing home of our national story, the company is already a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history. But it’s where we go next that makes things really interesting .

In our strategic vision:
* Archives for Everyone,
* we set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution:
Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring.

That’s where you come in. Because we can’t do this without you.

Salary: £33,784 per annum

Contract type:
Fixed Term Appointment for 12 months

Band: E / Higher Executive Officer

Closing date:
Wednesday 1st July at midnight

We are the official archive for the UK government, and for England and Wales. From the Domesday book to cabinet ministers’ tweets, the company catalogue, conserve and safe-guard our public records for everybody.

But, we are not just about the records. We are also about the people in them. The events they document, the stories they capture. As Interpretation Developer it is your job to tell these stories, to make meaningful connections between our audiences and our collection.

You will do this by developing and delivering high quality interpretation projects, working collaboratively with a variety of designers and specialists crafting visitor experiences across traditional and innovative formats.

Our goal is to change the way people think about Archives.

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.

Interview:
Interviews will be held on-site in July 2026. Candidates invited to interview will be asked to prepare a presentation.

Personal Statement:
We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement of about 750 words, addressing the following 3 criteria:

• Experience of working within exhibitions or interpretation in a cultural, commercial or visitor attraction setting and an understanding of the changes occurring within these;
• Experience of working with a variety of audiences needs crafting engagement experiences that exceed their expectations;
• Experience of planning, coordinating and delivering high-profile initiatives for diverse audiences within the cultural heritage sector;

Selection for interview will be based on these essential requirements so please ensure that your application demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements.

The full list of essential criteria will be assessed at interview stage.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please visit the Civil Service Careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.

Sponsorship:
We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

• To work with the Exhibition & Interpretation Manager developing and delivering innovative visitor experiences across our audience segments
• To be an audience champion and passionate storyteller; developing our public offer to be welcoming, entertaining, at times challenging and always engaging.
• To work creatively with our collection and expert teams (internal and external) to discover and unlock stories that extend our audience reach and deepen their engagement with us.
• To underpin these stories with sound Interpretative planning keeping a good grasp on the project controls (such as budget, deadlines, risk) reporting back…