Chief Archivist

Position Focus :

The Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) seeks a museum archivist to lead and manage the YCBA’s Archives, a professional repository dedicated to the histories of British art, Paul Mellon, and the Yale Center for British Art.

Reporting to the Deputy Director for Academic Affairs, Education, and Research, the Chief Archivist will be responsible for all aspects of the Archives, including records management, collection development, accessioning, description, preservation, and access to the YCBA’s archival holdings.

The Chief Archivist will manage and execute these activities in accordance with current national archival standards and practices and will refine and implement policies and procedures supporting the collections.

The Chief Archivist will develop a dynamic museum archives fully integrated into all of the museum’s functions. The postholder will work in tandem with the museum’s curatorial departments on acquisitions and cataloging initiatives and in consultation with its Conservation department on preservation-related activities.

The postholder will forge programmatic relationships to further share and promote the YCBA’s archival collections by way of exhibition and publication opportunities, the YCBA’s visiting scholars program, and its educational programs.

The Chief Archivist will work closely with the YCBA’s IT department to implement technology-related initiatives, including those pertaining to records management, born-digital records, and digital preservation, and assist with the Archives’ use of shared archives systems such as ArchivesSpace and Preservica.

The postholder will also coordinate with staff members in the Collections Information Access, Imaging, Marketing and Communications, and Study Room departments to provide access to and promote the YCBA’s archival collections to diverse audiences.

The Chief Archivist will directly supervise staff members, graduate research assistants, interns, and student assistants.

The postholder will be responsible for the department’s annual budget and for establishing priorities and fulfilling goals, as well as pursuing funding opportunities, including grants.

The postholder will manage the storage and transport of archival collections across the YCBA’s buildings and off-site storage locations and will ensure that policies and protocols are in place for their care.

The postholder will provide reference and research services related to the archival collections. The Chief Archivist will employ creative strategies along with rigorous standards to advance the mission of the Archives.

Yale University offers substantial opportunities for collaboration, including working with other special collections units across Yale.

The postholder also will liaise with institutions outside of Yale, including those associated with Paul Mellon.

Essential Duties

1. Assume a variety of responsibilities related to manuscript and archival material in all formats, including selection, appraisal, arrangement and description, preservation, and access and outreach.

2. Work in libraries across university campuses to meet the needs of local, national, and international teaching and research communities.

3. Assist with management of printed collections, as assigned. 4. Assist, if necessary, with disaster recovery efforts. 5.

May perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

1. Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited library school or equivalent accredited degree, with formal training in archival theory and practice.

In selected instances, a post-graduate degree in museum studies or a related discipline in the humanities or social sciences may be substituted for a master’s degree in library science.

2. Experience arranging and describing or providing public services for manuscript and / or archival collections. 3. Experience working collaboratively and independently with varied groups within a complex organization and rapidly changing, team environment.

4. Demonstrated knowledge of archival theory and practice may be substituted for formal training. 5. Demonstrated knowledge of current national data content and structure standards related to the archival control of collection materials.

6. Demonstrated knowledge of archival and library management systems. 7. Demonstrated job or school experience with basic preservation and conservation standards for archival and manuscript collections.

8. Demonstrated excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communications and analytical ability. 9. Demonstrated record of designing projects and bringing them to a conclusion in a timely fashion.

Yale University assigns ranks to librarian positions based on a combination of professional experience and accomplishments (see range assigned to this description as noted in the posting position title).

Librarian ranking information can be found at :

Required Skill / Ability 1 :

Experience arranging, describing, and providing public services for manuscript and / or archival collections. Experience with basic preservation and conservation standards for manuscript and / or archival collections.

Required Skill / Ability 2 :

Demonstrated knowledge of current national data content and structure standards related to the archival control of collection materials.

Demonstrated knowledge of archival and library management systems.

Required Skill / Ability 3 :

Experience working both collaboratively and independently with varied groups within a complex organization and rapidly changing team environment.

Required Skill / Ability 4 :

Demonstrated ability to provide leadership in a special collections repository and ability and achievement in managing staff and budgets.

Required Skill / Ability 5 :

Demonstrated excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communications and analytical ability. Demonstrated record of designing projects and bringing them to a conclusion in a timely fashion.

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills :

Extensive professional experience in a museum archives. Master’s degree in art history.

Drug Screen

Health Screening

Background Check Requirements

All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements.

All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.

COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement

The University maintains policies pertaining to COVID-19. All faculty, staff, students, and trainees are required to comply with these policies, which may be found here :

Posting Disclaimer

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the particular position.

Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring departments.