The Wiener Holocaust Library
Digitisation Officer
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Permanent part-time (60% FTE) role, based in Central London, WC1
Salary: £18,300 per annum (pro rata from £30,500 FTE)
Start date: as soon as possible
Responsible to: Digital Asset Manager
Deadline for Applications: Tuesday, 22 September, 5.30pm
Interview date: Monday, 5 October
The Wiener Holocaust Library
The Wiener Holocaust Library is the world’s oldest Holocaust archive and the home of Britain’s largest collection of published and unpublished works, documents and photographs relating to the Nazi era.
JOB DESCRIPTION
At the end of 2026, The Wiener Holocaust Library will complete its ambitious five-year Digital Transformation Project to revolutionise access to its collections. This involved creating several hundred thousand digital images of our materials, as well as an online platform, Wiener Digital Collections, to host them. Beyond the conclusion of the DTP, the Library will continue to add new materials to the viewer, while also creating digital images for exhibitions, outreach and educational work, and to meet reader digitisation requests. Ahead of a planned extension project and closure period later in 2027, we anticipate increased digitisation demand.
We are therefore seeking an individual with experience of digitising library and/or archival collections to digitise our globally significant collections and support reader services as a member of the Collections Team. The successful candidate will have a proven track record in photography and digitisation, a knowledge of photographing and processing items in a studio situation, and a deep understanding of the equipment, software and systems used for this.
As we are a small organisation, we are looking for someone who is a good team player and willing to be involved in a variety of projects as necessary. This will include supporting our reading room services by covering the Reading Room Enquiry Desk and retrieving materials from the stores.
Due to the nature of the role, it is based on-site at the Library. Usual working hours are 9.30am – 5.30pm.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Capture high-quality digital images of the Library’s materials for upload to Wiener Digital Collections and to fulfil ad hoc reader and staff requests.
- Help assess materials for digitisation, identifying approaches that meet the demands of different materials by minimising damage to them.
- Take responsibility for the Library’s digitisation station, ensuring that the hardware is in good working order and that software is kept up to date.
- Maintain the Library’s Digitisation Guideline document, while providing expert advice so that digitisation is in accordance with best practice.
- Liaise with suppliers to solve problems with and make improvements to the Digitisation Station.
- Implement Library policies such as the digitisation workflow and file naming conventions.
- Support quality assurance of the Library's digitisation and digital assets.
- Process already digitised materials and enhance their metadata.
- Support the Digital Asset Manager in developing and implementing the Library’s Digital Preservation Policy.
- Liaise with the Reader Services Librarian on fulfilling external document delivery requests.
- Liaise with the Research & Engagement Team regarding the contribution of collections in exhibitions, social media platforms, and other outreach efforts.
- Collect statistics as required and provide regular progress reports.
- Carry out regular shifts at the Reading Room Enquiry Desk and retrieve/return materials when on backup duty.
- Support the Digital Asset Manager in putting digital images through the Goobi workflow which uploads items to the Library’s Digital Viewer.
- Any ad hoc tasks as required.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Person Specification
Essential
- Proven experience of digitising historical material, image manipulation and colour management software programmes.
- Computer literate with sound knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Acrobat, as well as a proficiency with MS Office 365 software packages.
- Understanding of the characteristics of digital file formats.
- Understanding of handling requirements of different materials, including paper, photographs, objects and artworks.
- Ability to troubleshoot hardware and software problems independently, as well as liaise with contractors and support when necessary.
- Experience of maintaining digitisation and photographic equipment and of ensuring adherence to digitisation workflows, including quality assurance.
- Ability to manage time and workload effectively while working unsupervised and under pressure.
- Good communication and interpersonal skills, and ability to work as part of a team.
- Ability to work systematically and accurately with a good attention to detail.
- Flexible and pragmatic approach to work and a willingness and ability to undertake manual duties.
- Ability to lift and carry archival/library materials, within health and safety guidelines, and work at a moderate height.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Desirable
- Interest in the subject matter of the Library and its mission.
- Experience with library and/or archival management systems.
- A postgraduate qualification (certificate, diploma, or Masters) in information studies, library studies, or archives and records management.
- Additional language skills of European languages, or Hebrew.
- Experience of applying and/or exploring AI tools.
- Experience using Goobi workflow and viewer.
- Experience using Trello or similar workflow organisation tool.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate their legal right to work in the UK. Please note that The Wiener Holocaust Library cannot apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship for this post under Tier 2 of the UK Border Agency’s Points Based System.
You may be asked to carry out other duties as may arise from time to time including evening work. You will be required to act in accordance with the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to take reasonable care for the health and safety of any person who may be affected by your acts or omissions at work.
Benefits include:
- 25 days of Annual Leave plus additional customary closure days per year, including the first day of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur when these fall on a working day, and working days between Christmas Eve and New Year.
- 8.5% employer pension contribution.
- Free annual eye test.
- Interest-free season ticket loan.
- Opportunities to accrue time off in lieu when working evening events, with meals provided.
- Staff well-being support, including access to subsidised mental health care.
- Training and development opportunities.
- Monthly breakfasts provided at all-staff meetings.
- Library-funded staff away days.
HOW TO APPLY
Please send your CV and a cover letter outlining your relevant experience to: Olivia Oakley, Office Coordinator, ooakley@wienerholocaustlibrary.org
Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
For an informal talk about this position, please contact Christopher Gilley at cgilley@wienerholocaustlibrary.org.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location