Conservator (Fixed Term) WCC621003

Job Details:

Salary range: £41,580 - £42,861 per annum
Work location: City of Westminster Archives Centre, 10 St Ann's Street, London SW1P 2DE
Hours per week: 18
Contract type: Temporary up to 18 months
Vetting requirements: Standard DBS Check
Closing date: 5 June 2025 
Interview date: 27 June 2025 

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF KAKOLI’S PASSION AND DRIVE

Children’s Services in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where inspirational people like Kakoli are dedicated to encouraging everyone they work with to be the very best they can be.

Ever since she was a child, Kakoli has believed that children are the ones who’ll change the world for the better. Who’ll create the future we all wish for. And she always knew her calling was to get on the front line and help those who might not be as fortunate as herself.

Driven and passionate about making a difference, she first joined Westminster as a Social Work Assistant, and her managers immediately saw she had huge potential, so they encouraged her to apply to study for a degree in social work. She passed with flying colours, and over the next fourteen years worked as a frontline Social Worker, a Senior Social Worker, a Deputy Service Manager and is now one of our Service Managers.

Kakoli’s vision is as clear now as it was all those years ago – to encourage and support children, and help them grow in safe, vibrant communities. Her achievements are many, but she’s most proud of the fact that these days Westminster doesn’t ‘do things for families’ but ‘does things with families’. And she believes this huge but subtle difference to the way we work has allowed thousands of children in Westminster to fulfil their potential and live their dreams.

The Role:

As a Conservator with our Archives and Local Studies service you can make your own powerful contribution to Westminster’s success. Using devolved site budgets and working in conjunction with our Libraries and Archives teams, you’ll focus on providing a high-quality, efficient and cost effective service. Helping to control and monitor the computerised buildings management system, and ensuring that the environmental conditions in our strong rooms are maintained correctly and monitoring records are kept, you’ll also survey our collections and develop long-term conservation and preservation programmes.

Liaising with appropriate companies and setting the standards for the external conservation work we undertake, you’ll work to explore potential funding opportunities, manage the annual budget for all conservation and preservation needs, acquire relevant equipment and material, and ensure this meets our high professional standards. We’ll also expect you to take responsibility for a collections disaster plan, update and review this when necessary,  and ensure that our staff are able to implement it.

You’ll have a wide range of additional tasks – these include carrying out conservation on items in the collections, maintaining detailed records of work undertaken, taking responsibility for the conservation studio and equipment, and keeping abreast of the latest developments in conservation techniques. We’ll also expect you to provide technical support and training to your colleagues, advise on the correct handling of items in the search room, help to prepare items for exhibition and external loan, and give talks on your work to visitors, Council members and professional colleagues.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

With well developed experience of working in an Archives and Local Studies service, you’ll have good knowledge of best practice and current developments in the field of conservation. Capable of implementing policy, setting targets and monitoring performance, you’ll be committed to delivering value that leads to the achievement of business results, while your strong customer focus will see you working confidently with members of the public.

With the skills to analyse financial information, understand the business context, extract key facts and devise remedial actions, we’ll expect you to have a good understanding of budgetary controls, resource allocation procedures and investment appraisal techniques. You should also have good sector, market insight and horizon scanning skills, and understand our priorities in the context of high quality archive conservation and customer service.

We’d prefer you to hold a conservation qualification or have significant relevant practical experience, and your excellent communication and interpersonal skills will see you responding positively to the needs of all your colleagues and stakeholders. You should also be able to work both independently and as a collaborative member of a team of dedicated professionals.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit  https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application , we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.