Head of Preventive Conservation (Maternity Cover)

Bodleian Libraries; Oxford; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious university library in Oxford seeks a talented preventive conservator to lead the conservation team for a fixed-term role covering maternity leave. Responsibilities include managing environmental monitoring, emergency response, and training, while the ideal candidate will have a professional qualification in conservation and experience in collections care. This full-time position offers a supportive working environment with excellent benefits including generative training opportunities and a contributory pension scheme.

Benefits

Contributory pension scheme

38 days of annual leave

Comprehensive childcare services

Family leave schemes

Cycle loan scheme

Discounted bus travel

Qualifications

• Practical experience of collections care in library or similar context.
• Experience of managing staff, interns, and volunteers.
• Desirable: PACR accreditation from Icon or progress towards it.

Responsibilities

• Manage the Preventive Conservation team and oversee environmental monitoring.
• Coordinate salvage and emergency planning.
• Deliver preventive conservation training and student placements.

Skills

Preventive conservation

Communication skills

Project management

Data interpretation

Education

Recognised professional qualification in conservation

Tools

Hanwell environmental monitoring equipment

Job description

THIS POST COULD BE CONSIDERED AS A SECONDMENT OPPORTUNITY.

About the role

We are looking for a talented preventive conservator to lead our team! The Conservation and Heritage Science team is based in Weston Library and combines long-term projects, practical treatments and preventive conservation measures to care for unique library collections. In this role, reporting to the Head of Conservation & Heritage Science (C&H), you will manage the Preventive Conservation team and oversee environmental monitoring, emergency response, pest management, collections maintenance, and training and policy development in collaboration with library stakeholders. You will schedule and manage projects, allocate staff resources, manage the team budget in liaison with the Head of C&H, maintain and develop monitoring and IPM programmes, coordinate salvage and emergency planning, and devise and deliver preventive conservation training and student placements. This is a full-time, fixed-term post to cover maternity leave. It’s offered for 12 months / until February 2027, depending on the return of the substantive postholder. Due to the nature of this post, the successful candidate will be required to undertake a satisfactory Basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) due to working directly with collections.

About You

You will hold a recognised professional qualification in conservation with an emphasis on preventive conservation and have practical experience of collections care in a library or similar context, including hands‑on knowledge of Hanwell environmental monitoring equipment and the ability to gather and interpret scientific data for reporting. You will demonstrate highly developed communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure, and experience of managing staff, interns and volunteers while working both collaboratively and independently to high standards. Experience of PACR accreditation from Icon, or active progress towards it, is desirable.

What We Offer

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing, and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including :

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days of annual leave (bank holidays inclusive)
• A comprehensive range of childcare services
• Family leave schemes
• Cycle loan scheme
• Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans

More information is available at Diversity

Our staff and students come from all over the world, and we proudly promote a friendly and inclusive culture. Diversity is positively encouraged, through diverse groups and champions, as well as a number of family‑friendly policies, such as the right to apply for flexible working and support for staff returning from periods of extended absence, for example, shared parental leave. We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are inclusive and accessible. If you require the job description or any other materials in an alternative format, or if you would like to request any adjustments to support you through the application or interview process, please contact the recruitment team at .

How to apply

You will be required to upload your CV and a supporting statement as part of your online application. Your supporting statement should list each of the essential and desirable selection criteria, as listed in the job description, and explain how you meet each one. CVs alone will not be considered. We aim to provide a supportive working environment and are happy to discuss training and professional development opportunities. The Chair of this recruitment panel will be Virginia Llado‑Buisan, T. A. Barron Head of Conservation and Heritage Science, who can be contacted with enquiries relating to the role (). General queries about the recruitment and application process should be directed to the GLAM Recruitment (). Please discuss secondments with your line manager in the first instance, as you must have their agreement that you can be released for a secondment before you submit an application.