Casual Archive Assistant

Lancashire County Council; Preston; On-site; GBP 15,000 - 22,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Local Government Pension Scheme

26 days annual leave (pro rata)

Bank Holidays

Weekend pay enhancements

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

Lancashire Archives and Local History, operated by Lancashire County Council in Preston, is seeking a Casual Archive Assistant to support peak periods, events, and staff absence coverage. You will welcome visitors, assist researchers, and help maintain our extensive collections with care.

The role offers flexible casual hours with pay of £13.45 per hour and opportunities to engage with historic documents while supporting outreach and public services.

Qualifications

• Must deliver a customer-focused service.
• Excellent communication and digital skills.
• Able to work in a team with limited supervision.
• Able to lift and carry.

Responsibilities

• Welcome customers and volunteers to the public searchroom.
• Respond to written, telephone and face-to-face enquiries.
• Use the collections management database to find information.
• Produce archives from strongrooms and return them after use.
• Support outreach activities and other Lancashire Archives teams.

Skills

customer-focused service

communication skills

digital skills

teamwork

manual handling

Job description

Description

£13.45 per hour | Casual Hours | Lancashire Records Office | Preston

Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

At Lancashire Archives and Local History, we are looking for a reliable and adaptable Archive Assistant to join our team on a casual basis. In this role, you may support our daily operations during peak periods, events, or to cover staff absences. This position offers excellent flexibility, making it ideal for anyone balancing studies, freelance work, or other commitments.

Lancashire Archives is an accredited archive service based in Preston, which looks after millions of historic documents – from medieval parchment charters to digital images of everyday life during the COVID pandemic – that together help tell our county's story over the last 900 years.

About The Role

Are you someone who is fascinated by history? Do you enjoy working as part pf a team to help customers? Are you able to handle irreplaceable archives with care?

If so, we have an ideal opportunity for you!

As a Casual Archive Assistant at Lancashire Archives and Local History, you will be part of a team that welcomes customers and volunteers to our public searchroom and supports them during their visit; responds to written, telephone and face to face enquiries from customers about our collections and the service we offer; uses our collections management database to find information about our collections; takes part in outreach activities; supports other Lancashire Archives teams deliver a range of services; produces archives from our strongrooms and returns them after use (we have 8 strongrooms containing a total of 10 miles of shelving); taking care of unique historical material.

As a casual member of the team, you will provide support during times when we are particularly busy and may be focussed on specific tasks. An example is sending quotations to customers who would like to receive a digital copy of a document in our collections.

Our Ideal Candidate Will

• Be able to deliver a customer- focussed service
• Have excellent communication and digital skills
• Be able to work in a team and work with limited supervision
• Be able to lift and carry

Further Information

If you would like an informal discussion about the post or any further information not listed on the advert, please contact Kathryn Newman on 01772 533039 or Alex Miller on 01772 539076.

Why join us?

• A competitive salary and access to the Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions.
• A great holiday entitlement of 26 days annual leave (pro rata), rising with length of service, plus Bank Holidays.
• Weekend pay enhancements.
• Employee Assistance Programme, credit union, counselling, and discounts on phone contracts, gym and lots more!

We reserve the right to close a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.

Local Government Reorganisation

The Government has confirmed that local government across Lancashire will be reorganised, with the current 15 councils being replaced by four new unitary councils covering North, South, East and West Lancashire from April 2028.

If you are successful in your application, you will initially join Lancashire County Council. However, as part of the planned transition, your employment will transfer to one of the new unitary councils from April 2028, subject to the implementation of the reorganisation and relevant employment legislation.

Throughout this period, our focus remains on delivering excellent services to our communities. By joining us now, you'll play an important role in shaping the future of local government and helping to build a strong new organisation that will serve residents for years to come.