Archaeological Archives and Data Manager

Historic England; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension (defined benefit)

28 days holiday

Corporate discounts

Free entry to English Heritage sites

Development opportunities

Job summary

Historic England in Portsmouth is seeking an Archaeological Archives and Data Manager to oversee end-to-end management of archaeological archives at Fort Cumberland, ensuring standards compliance, storage, access and environmental monitoring.

You will lead research data management for excavation and lab teams, ensuring digital data is prepared, secure, accessible and reusable in line with legal and organisational requirements.

Qualifications

• Academic or professional qualification, or equivalent experience, in archaeology, digital archaeology, data management, museum studies or archaeological collections management or closely related subject.
• Substantial experience with archaeological archives and understanding of post-excavation procedures and standards.
• Experience in collections management, documentation, storage systems and environments.
• Strong knowledge of digital archives, word processing, data management and analytical tools.
• Experience maintaining/developing information systems, databases or digital workflows for archaeology.
• Experience working in a team and managing team members.

Responsibilities

• End-to-end management of archaeological archives, including compilation, standards compliance, storage, access and environmental monitoring at Fort Cumberland.
• Lead research data management for excavation and laboratory teams, ensuring digital data is properly prepared, secure, accessible, reusable and aligned with legal and organisational requirements.

Skills

Archaeology

Data management

Digital archives

Information systems

Team management

Documentation/storage

Education

Academic or professional qualification in archaeology, digital archaeology, data management, museum studies or archaeological collections management or related subject

Tools

Database management

Storage environments

Job description

We are the public body that looks after England’s historic environment. We champion historic places, helping people understand, value and care for them.

Historic England have a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as our Archaeological Archives and Data Manager.

This is a full time, permanent contract.

The role is based onsite in Portsmouth (Fort Cumberland). There is opportunity for some hybrid working, but role is predominantly onsite.

We offer a wide benefits package including:

• competitive defined benefit pension scheme to which we make 28.97% employer contributions
• generous 28 days holiday
• corporate discounts
• free entry into English Heritage sites across the country
• development opportunities to ensure you achieve your goals

What you will be doing

The Archaeological Archives and Data Manager provides end-to-end management of archaeological archives, including compilation, standards compliance, storage, access and environmental monitoring at Fort Cumberland.

You will lead research data management for excavation and laboratory teams, ensuring digital data is properly prepared, secure, accessible, reusable and aligned with legal and organisational requirements.

Who we are looking for

• An academic and/or professional qualification, or equivalent experience, in archaeology, digital archaeology, data management, museum studies or archaeological collections management or a closely related subject.
• Substantial experience of working with archaeological archives, with a demonstrable understanding of archaeological post-excavation procedures including associated standards.
• Experience in collections management, including documentation, storage systems and storage environments.
• Substantial knowledge and experience in the use and management of digital archives, including in depth experience of word processing, data management and analytical programmes.
• Experience of maintaining, improving or developing information systems, databases or digital workflows used for archaeology, archive, or collections.
• Experience of working in a team and managing team members.

Please note your application will be scored and assessed against the above criteria.

Historic England is a Disability Confident Leader and normally offers guaranteed interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role, where it is practical and appropriate to do so. We want all candidates to shine in the recruitment process, so please tell us what we can do to help you show us your very best self. For more information, please visit our Everyone is Welcome page, or contact us at [e-mail] if you have any recruitment queries.

We are an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusion. If you have a disability or neurodiversity, we would be happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the job with you. Having won the Gold Award from MIND for workplace wellbeing in seven consecutive years, we also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

We are an inclusive employer and believe that flexible working options are for everyone. We want to make sure our working arrangements don’t prevent anyone from joining us because of their personal circumstances. We also want to provide you with the best balance in your home and work life that we can.

We are open to considering options including job sharing, part-time working, compressed hours working and different working locations, including hybrid working. Please visit our jobs pages or contact us to find out more.

Why work for Historic England

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. Diversity helps us to perform better and attract more people to support our work. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and candidates with disabilities as they are underrepresented within Historic England at this level.

Historic England wants all of our candidates to shine in the recruitment process. Please tell us what we can do to make sure you can show us your very best self. You can contact us by email at [e-mail] if you have any recruitment queries.

At Historic England we use a hiring system called Applied. Applied is a behavioural science-backed recruitment platform that reduces bias, improves quality of hire and increases diversity. We do not use CV application for the majority of our hiring processes. You will answer a selection of questions that allow our hiring teams to test your skills and suitability for the role.

At Historic England, we value the expertise and individuality each candidate brings and want to hear about this in your own words. If you require the use or AI tools or other resources to support your application, we ask that all information is factually accurate, original, and reflects your own experience. To best represent yourself, we encourage you to write in your own words and use AI-generated content only as inspiration—not as direct input.

Provisional virtual interview dates: 26th October 2026.