Scottish Literary Archives Cataloguer (Corson Endowment)

The University of Edinburgh; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 40,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading UK university is seeking a part-time Scottish Literary Archives Cataloguer to work on valuable Scottish Literary Collections. This role requires a professional postgraduate archival qualification and knowledge of 20th-century Scottish literature. The successful candidate will have experience in archival cataloguing and proficiency in IT packages and software like ArchivesSpace. The position is based on-site, offering a competitive salary and a positive working environment.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Generous holiday entitlement

Comprehensive Staff Benefits

Qualifications

• A professional postgraduate archival qualification is required.
• Experience of archival cataloguing is essential.
• Excellent knowledge in Scottish literature and authors, mainly from the 20th century.

Responsibilities

• Join the team as Scottish Literary Archives Cataloguer.
• Work on extensive Scottish Literary Collections.
• Collaborate with the Cataloguing Archivist & Heritage Collections Metadata Lead.

Skills

Archival cataloguing

Knowledge of Scottish literature

IT packages proficiency

Teamwork

Independent working

Education

Professional postgraduate archival qualification

Tools

ArchivesSpace

Job description

Grade UE06: £34,610 - £39,906 per annum, pro-rata

ISG / Library and University Collections / Heritage Collections

Part-time: 21 hours per week

Open-ended (permanent)

The Opportunity:

The Heritage Collections department is pleased to advertise an opportunity to join our team as the Scottish Literary Archives Cataloguer (Corson Endowment), to work on our extensive Scottish Literary Collections, which include papers of prominent Scottish authors and publishers such as Hamish Henderson, George MacKay Brown, Marion Lochhead, and Hugh MacDiarmid, and many more. The successful candidate will be a part of the Research Collections Discovery & Project Management team, under the supervision of the Cataloguing Archivist & Heritage Collections Metadata Lead.

This post is open-ended and part-time (21 hours per week, or 0.6 FTE), and will be based entirely on-site. Working pattern to be agreed with the successful candidate.

The salary for this post is £34,610 to £39,906 per annum (pro rata).

Your skills and attributes for success:

• A professional postgraduate archival qualification.
• Experience of archival cataloguing.
• Excellent knowledge in Scottish literature and Scottish authors, particularly relating to the 20th century.
• Clear experience and skill in using IT packages, and cataloguing software such as ArchivesSpace.
• Ability to work independently or as part of a team.

Copy of the full job description: available on request.

Application Information

Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:

• CV
• Cover letter

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

• A competitive salary.
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits.

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages.

The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. International applicants will therefore be unable to apply for and secure a Skilled Worker visa. They will only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 24 October 2025.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.

We intend to hold interviews on the week of 17th November.