Content Requirements Specialist

About Ancestry:
When you join Ancestry, you join a human-centered company where every person’s story is important. Ancestry®, the global leader in family history, empowers journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives. With our unparalleled collection of more than 40 billion records, over 3 million subscribers and over 23 million people in our growing DNA network, customers can discover their family story and gain a new level of understanding about their lives. Over the past 40 years, we’ve built trusted relationships with millions of people who have chosen us as the platform for discovering, preserving and sharing the most important information about themselves and their families.
We are committed to our location flexible work approach, allowing you to choose to work in the nearest office, from your home, or a hybrid of both (subject to location restrictions and roles that are required to be in the office- see the full list of eligible US locations HERE). We will continue to hire and promote beyond the boundaries of our office locations, to enable broadened possibilities for employee diversity.
Together, we work every day to foster a work environment that's inclusive as well as diverse, and where our people can be themselves. Every idea and perspective is valued so that our products and services reflect the global and diverse clients we serve. 
Ancestry encourages applications from minorities, women, the disabled, protected veterans and all other qualified applicants. Passionate about dedicating your work to enriching people’s lives? Join the curious.

We are looking for a passionate Content Requirements Specialist to join our Content Project Requirements team. The Content Project Requirements team oversees historical records and understands how they are used in research, contributing to the definition of how that content is indexed and presented on the site and coordinating with other teams involved in the production process. Their primary responsibility is writing keying instructions and creating image samples for the indexing process.

Reporting to our Content Project Requirements Supervisor, you will focus on analyzing historical records to be processed for online publication and documenting the project requirements for indexing. You will also manage collection description data. We are seeking a candidate with strong analytical and communication skills, an understanding of historical records, show great care for detail, can work well on a team, and are self-motivated and innovative.

What you will do...

• Analyze historical record collections to understand their content, structure, and the best methods for making data searchable online

• Translate documents in various languages (e.g., German, Nordic languages, Finnish, Latin, French, Old-English, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Romanian, Hawaiian, Spanish), often using translation tools

• Coordinate and lead meetings across cross-functional teams

• Collaborate with content project managers and the content publishing team to define and document project requirements, including writing keying instructions and creating image samples

• Research relevant sources, including online resources, for each new project

• Present completed work to department stakeholders and address any questions

• Create technical files for use by offshore keying and audit partners, and for internal teams to use in their data input

• Use metadata, authority dictionaries, and digital content to assist in extracting searchable data from images

• Monitor the progress of projects in the indexing production process and respond to questions as needed

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of production processes and standards

Who you are...

• We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences, even if you don’t meet every requirement below.

• Background: Experience analyzing historical documents, historical handwriting, and historical geography and context

• Skills: Strong written and oral communication, organization, and teamwork skills; ability to manage multiple priorities

• Technical Proficiency: Proficient in Excel (experience with complex spreadsheets), and familiarity with databases or data structures; SQL experience is helpful but not required

• Additional Tools: Experience with SharePoint (familiarity is helpful)

• Languages: Familiarity with at least one foreign language, with an emphasis on reading proficiency

• Education/Experience: College degree or equivalent work experience

• Passion: Interest or experience in family history research is a plus

Helping people discover their story is at the heart of ours. Ancestry is the largest provider of family history and personal DNA testing, harnessing a powerful combination of information, science and technology to help people discover their family history and stories that were never possible before. Ancestry’s suite of products includes: AncestryDNA, AncestryProGenealogists, Fold3, Newspapers.com, Find a Grave, Archives.com, and Rootsweb. We offer excellent benefits and a competitive compensation package. For additional information, regarding our benefits and career information, please visit our website at http://ancestry.com/careers

As a signatory of the ParityPledge in Support of Women and the ParityPledge in Support of People of Color, Ancestry values pay transparency and pay equity. We are pleased to share the hourly rate for this position: $21 - $24 with eligibility for bonus, equity and benefits. The actual salary will vary by geographic region and job experience. We will share detailed compensation data for a specific location during the recruiting process. Read more about our benefits HERE.

*Note: Disclosure as required by sb19-085(8-5-20) and sb1162(1-1-23)

Additional Information:

Ancestry is an Equal Opportunity Employer that makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, military or veteran status, citizenship, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. In addition, Ancestry will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

All job offers are contingent on a background check screen that complies with applicable law.  For San Francisco office candidates, pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Ancestry will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.  

Ancestry is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Ancestry via-email, the Internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of Ancestry. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Ancestry as a result of the referral or through other means.