Content Specialist, Government and Official Information

Location: St Pancras

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time (36 hours)

Grade: B

Salary: £34,608 per annum



About the role

The British Library holds an amazing collection of over 40km of official documents. We have UK Government and Parliamentary papers dating back to the 16th century in print and electronic format, historic and current foreign national government material and collections of documents issued by international organisations like the United Nations.

The Government and Official Information Team is looking for a content expert to manage and promote our historic collections and select and acquire current materials in print and electronic formats. You will catalogue and subject index current electronic UK government documents and can be involved in enhancing and contextualising older records from the colonial period as part of our inclusive description initiative. The role includes responsibility for carrying out collection audits and producing guides for researchers based on them. You will also have opportunities to help create themed collections of archived websites related to current events such as general elections or issues such as climate change using state-of-the art tools.

You will need proven experience of descriptive cataloguing and subject indexing using national and international standards and should be able to demonstrate an interest in history and public affairs. Official publishing and cataloguing standards are constantly evolving so you will need to show that you are adaptable and can embrace change. The Team works closely with colleagues in Acquisitions, Digital Cataloguing, Preservation and Web Archiving at the British Library, and collaborates with official papers specialists in other libraries, so ability to communicate clearly orally and in writing and work effectively in a team is essential.



About us

We are the national library of the UK and we are here for everyone. Our shelves hold over 170 million items – a living collection that gets bigger every day. Although our roots extend back centuries, we aim to collect everything published in the UK today, tomorrow and far into the future. Our trusted experts care for this collection and open it up for everyone to spark new discoveries, ideas and to help people do incredible things.



What we can offer you

A competitive salary.
A fantastic pension scheme with minimum employer contributions of 28.97% (this may be higher dependent on grade).
Flexible working hours, with the ability to take up to 5 days flexi leave in a 3-month period.
25 days holiday.
Full details of employee benefits can be found on our Careers: Benefits page.


Closing date: 02 June 2025

Interview date: 26 June 2025



If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]



We are unable to provide sponsorship under the UK Skilled Worker visa for this role.



We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse candidates and disabled candidates. We would like to increase the representation of these groups within The British Library to ensure our workforce is as diverse as the public that we serve. Creating an inclusive workplace is the core of our business and a way to engage the diversity of thought that is essential to achieve our aims.

Museum Website: https://ce0752li.webitrent.com/ce0752li_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC179GF.open?WVID=5071482BMD