Head of Preventive Conservation (Maternity Cover)

Location: Weston Library, Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BG

About the role

We are looking for a talented preventive conservator to lead our team!

The Conservation and Heritage Science team is based in Weston Library and combines long-term projects, practical treatments and preventive conservation measures to care for unique library collections.

In this role, reporting to the Head of Conservation & Heritage Science (C&HS), you will manage the Preventive Conservation team and oversee environmental monitoring, emergency response, pest management, collections maintenance, and training and policy development in collaboration with library stakeholders.

You will schedule and manage projects, allocate staff resources, manage the team budget in liaison with the Head of C&HS, maintain and develop monitoring and IPM programmes, coordinate salvage and emergency planning, and devise and deliver preventive conservation training and student placements.

This is a full-time, fixed-term post to cover maternity leave. It’s offered for 12 months/until February 2027, depending on the return of the substantive postholder.

Due to the nature of this post, the successful candidate will be required to undertake a satisfactory Basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) due to working directly with collections.

About You

You will hold a recognised professional qualification in conservation with an emphasis on preventive conservation and have practical experience of collections care in a library or similar context, including hands-on knowledge of Hanwell environmental monitoring equipment and the ability to gather and interpret scientific data for reporting.

You will demonstrate highly developed communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure, and experience of managing staff, interns and volunteers while working both collaboratively and independently to high standards.

Experience of PACR accreditation from Icon, or active progress towards it, is desirable.

What We Offer

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing, and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days of annual leave (bank holidays inclusive)
• A comprehensive range of childcare services
• Family leave schemes
• Cycle loan scheme
• Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans

More information is available at https://hr.admin.ox.ac.uk/staff-benefits

How to apply

You will be required to upload your CV and a supporting statement as part of your online application (via the 'Apply' button above). Your supporting statement should list each of the essential and desirable selection criteria, as listed in the job description, and explain how you meet each one. CVs alone will not be considered. 

Only applications received online by 12.00 midday (GMT) on Friday 5 December 2025 can be considered. Interviews are expected to take place on Wednesday 17 December 2025.

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