Accessions Officer

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Accessions Officer

Jul 24, 2026

As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history.

We’ve 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.

Job Overview

Salary: £28,100 per annum
Contract type:
Permanent
Band: C / Administrative Officer
Closing date:
Sunday 9th August 2026 at midnight

The National Archives collects and secures the Government record both current and future, preserving it for the Nation and making it accessible. Our collection spans almost 1000 years and is one of the largest in the world, containing over 11 million historical records from medieval parchment to modern papers, digital files, datasets, websites, tweets, and computer code.

As an Accessions Officer, you’ll make government records publicly available, at the right time and in the right way and ensure that our collection continues to grow, making government records from the recent past available and accessible to our diverse audience.

Working closely with colleagues from across the organisation, you’ll play a key role in enabling the release of records from major government departments, including the Cabinet Office, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Ministry of Defence, while ensuring that the physical records themselves are preserved for future generations. This is an opportunity to contribute directly to safeguarding the nation’s documentary heritage and supporting public access to historically significant material

About you:

We are seeking individuals with exceptional attention to detail, strong interpersonal skills, and a commitment to delivering a high quality professional service within the public sector. As part of our Accessions Team, you will work alongside experienced colleagues to manage the final stages of the records transfer process once material has been delivered by Public Record Bodies. This work plays a vital role in supporting these organisations to meet their statutory responsibilities under the Public Records Act 1958 and the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, offering the opportunity to contribute directly to the preservation and accessibility of the nation’s public record.

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, from w/c 31st August at the earliest.
• Personal Statement:
  We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement, We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement of up to 750 words, ideally around 250 words per criteria.

Selection for interview will be based on the three ‘essential’ requirements as listed below so please ensure that your application demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements.

• Ability to work flexibly and constructively as part of a busy team delivering against demanding targets.
• Meticulous attention to detail.
• Work to timescales to meet tight targets.

Applicants invited to interview will be assessed against ALL of the essential criteria (see job description below).

SC clearance/willingness to obtain SC clearance will be required for this role. This requires candidates to have been resident in the UK for at least the past three years. Please do not apply if you have been resident in the UK for less than three years as your application will be rejected.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be…