Archival Processing Manager

About Us

At The Huntington, we believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices working together will enable us to support and promote the appreciation of the humanities, the arts, and botanical science. The Huntington is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law.

The Huntington

Founded in 1919, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution open to the public, housing world-class library, art, and botanical collections. Its mission is to support research and promote education in the arts, humanities, and botanical science and to display and interpret its extraordinary resources for diverse audiences.

The Culture

Here we are committed to the highest of standards in all that we do – from preserving and protecting the collections, to exhibitions, educational and scholarly programming, visitor and reader services, and beyond.  Achieving excellence across these pursuits requires a diversity of perspectives, expertise, experience, and methodologies. We are better together.  We believe an explicit commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion directly impacts and improves staff and audience engagement and experience. 

Job Description

About the Role

The Huntington Library seeks an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and collaborative archivist to lead and manage the team dedicated to processing archives, literary and historical manuscripts, printed ephemera, photographs, and visual collections.  The Archival Processing Manager plays a primary role in designing and managing a user-centered, access-driven approach to processing archival collections across a wide range of collecting areas.  The successful candidate will oversee team activities including creating processing plans, setting goals and timelines, evaluating outcomes, and providing quality control for archival description.  Reporting to the Head of Library Technical Services, the Archival Processing Manager works collaboratively to set priorities and determine appropriate levels of description in consultation with curators.  The Archival Processing Manager provides leadership in the creation of policies, procedures and workflows, and standards compliance in archival description and implements successful strategies to support these activities.

S/he/they will demonstrate a background of working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, using a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible approach.

Essential Functions

• Leads and manages a team of ten that includes nine full-time professional archivists and one archival processing assistant dedicated to processing archives, literary and historical manuscripts, printed ephemera, photographs, and visual collections.  Oversees team activities including creating processing plans, setting goals and timelines, evaluating outcomes, and providing quality control for archival description.

• Oversees the contribution of all encoded finding aids to the Online Archive of California.

• Collaborates with curators to set priorities and develop long-range plans to facilitate access and delivery of archival collections, including born-digital.

• Works collaboratively with team leaders in Library Technical Services and others to create and implement policies, procedures, productive workflows and standards compliance to ensure a user-centered, access-driven approach to archival processing.

• Coordinates creation of NACO records for the team and trains staff in RDA-NACO practices.

• Collaborates with team leaders in Technical Services and colleagues across the library to design efficient workflows to contribute metadata for the digital program.

• Designs, coordinates and leads training program for archival processing.

• Assesses emerging technologies and implements and applies tools used in the special collections and archival communities, such as ePADD and BitCurator.

• Monitors current developments, trends and emerging technologies in the field of archives and special collections and engages with the professional community on a local, state or national level.

Other Functions

• May arrange and describe archival collections and create encoded finding aids and MARC records as needed.

• May perform other related duties as assigned.

Candidate Requirements and Experience

Knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA-accredited institution, or a graduate degree in Archival Studies.

• Demonstrated expertise in arranging, describing and processing archival collections and preparing finding aids of varying size and complexity.

• Demonstrated mastery in the use and application of EAD, DACS, DCRM (MSS), MARC, LCSH, RDA and other library and archival descriptive and content standards.

• Demonstrated mastery of XML schemas and the use of XML editors, and facility in the manipulation of metadata across systems and platforms.

• Demonstrated skills in project management in a team environment, including the ability to track and measure progress toward project goals and complete projects within anticipated deadlines.

• Familiarity with basic preservation of archival materials, including proper handling, housing, and storage.

• Ability to lead and inspire in a collaborative, team-based environment.

• Ability to stay abreast of privacy and copyright policies related to special collections and archives.

• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.

Experience:

• Five or more years of professional archival processing experience, including some born-digital, preferably in an academic or research library.

• Experience enhancing and transforming metadata for archival collections, including manipulating data to integrate unstructured and/or legacy information with standardized descriptions and repurposing metadata for reuse.

• Experience working with archival content management systems, such as ArchivesSpace or Archivists’ Toolkit.

• Experience planning, implementing, and leading effective programs and complex projects.

• Three or more years successful supervisory experience.

Working Conditions  

• Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.  Documenting/recording information.

• Pay Range: $90,000- $100,000 annually. Commensurate on experience.

• Medical, Dental, Vision  

• 403(b) retirement plan and matching retirement plan with an outstanding employer match 

• Hybrid remote work schedule available for applicable positions 

• Considerable paid time off, including annual leave, sick leave, and holidays 

• Discounts for staff in The Huntington Store and restaurants 

• Free admission to various museums and cultural institutions 

• Free passes each month to welcome family and friends to visit the grounds 

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