DC Thomson
Archive Assistant
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Job Title: Archive Assistant
Location: Supporting both Dundee & Aberdeen sites (Office based 5 days a week)
Physical demands: Regular manual handling of loads up to 12.5 kg at shoulder height and intermittent work at height from ladders, requiring balance, upper body strength, and safe working practices.
DC Thomson media and publishing company is recruiting for an Archive Assistant in our Dundee, UK office. Our archive team plays a key role in connecting people with our rich collections, working with both internal and external stakeholders to provide access and support for diverse audiences.
This is an opportunity to gain exposure to archive collections, records, metadata, digitisation outputs, routine research enquiries, collection care activity, and archive user support. The work completed by the Archive Assistant will be instrumental in facilitating archive material being easier to find, use, evidence, and repurpose in ways that strengthen brand value, audience relevance, and commercial opportunity.
The Archive Assistant protects, organises, and unlocks the commercial, editorial, and cultural value of DC Thomson's archive collections. The role supports the accurate management, digitisation, discoverability, and safe handling of archive assets so that the business can use its heritage effectively across content, brand, licensing, product, research, and audience engagement opportunities.
Key Responsibilities
- Collection Control and Discoverability: Accountable for accurate accessioning, listing, cataloguing, and metadata entry for allocated archive materials, improving the reliability, searchability, and business usability of archive records.
- Digitisation and Data Quality: Accountable for producing and maintaining high-quality digital scans and associated metadata, enabling archive content to be reused efficiently across research, editorial, brand, commercial, and audience-facing opportunities.
- Access, Retrieval, and User Service: Accountable for timely retrieval, production, re-filing, and routine enquiry support, ensuring users receive accurate, policy-compliant, and commercially aware archive support.
- Collection Care and Operational Resilience: Accountable for safe handling, packaging, labelling, boxing, shelf management, and store housekeeping, reducing risk to archive assets and maintaining collections in usable condition.
- Research, Insight, and Commercial Enablement: Accountable for supporting basic research and evidence gathering that helps teams identify relevant archive material, strengthen storytelling, inform product or brand decisions, and create value from heritage assets.
- Continuous Improvement, Automation, and Best Practice: Accountable for using archive systems, data, and approved tools consistently, identifying opportunities to improve workflows, reduce duplication, automate repeatable tasks where appropriate, and share practical best practice across teams.
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Requirements
Skills:
- Analytical Classification: Applies domain guidance, standards, and judgement to classify archive material, assign metadata, and create records that support analysis, retrieval, and reuse.
- Methods and Tools: Uses agreed archive systems, digitisation tools, templates, and procedures consistently, helping improve workflow quality and adoption across routine archive activity.
- Business Intelligence: Supports the production and maintenance of reliable collection, usage, and enquiry information that helps managers understand demand, priorities, and value.
- Information and Data Compliance: Applies information governance, rights, retention, and access requirements to archive work, escalating risks where use, disclosure, or reuse may require approval.
- Artificial Intelligence and Data Ethics: Uses approved AI, automation, or data tools responsibly where introduced, protecting accuracy, provenance, privacy, rights, and transparency in archive workflows.
- Stakeholder Relationship Management: Maintains effective working relationships with internal users and external contacts, clarifying needs, managing expectations, and providing reliable routine support.
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Experience:
- Experience in archives, records, libraries, museums, heritage collections, or similar information resources
- Experience handling historical material and artifacts
- Strong attention to detail
- Safe manual handling capability
- Confidence using Microsoft Office, databases, image editing software, and digitisation workflows.
Behaviours that will help this role succeed:
- Being More Curious: Asks good questions about collection context, user need, and potential reuse; looks beyond the immediate task to understand why archive material matters to the business and audience.
- Experiment with Purpose: Tests practical improvements to cataloguing, digitisation, templates, data capture, or automation in a controlled way, focusing on quality, efficiency, and repeatable benefit.
- Owning the Outcomes: Takes responsibility for accuracy, follow-through, and safe handling; flags risks early; and ensures commitments to users and colleagues are delivered to the required standard.
- Being More Collaborative: Works openly with archive colleagues and portfolio teams, sharing knowledge, documenting decisions, and helping others access and use archive material appropriately.
- Being More Collaborative: Builds trust through consistent service, clear communication, and respect for different priorities across the matrix, while maintaining archive standards and governance.
To apply for this role, please follow our online application process and submit a CV and cover letter.
Closing date for applications: 27th August at 12:00 noon
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