Historic Environment Record Assistant

Surrey County Council’s Historic Environment Planning team has begun an ambitious digitisation programme, and we are delighted to be hiring a new Historic Environment Record (HER) Assistant to support this project and assist with delivering our routine HER services. The team is based at Quadrant Court, Woking, but the digitisation programme will accommodate hybrid working as well.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days’ holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years’ service
• Up to 5 days of carer’s leave per year
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Payment of membership fees for relevant professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA)
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave.

About the Team

The Historic Environment Planning service provides planning-related archaeological and historic buildings advice. We aim to deliver the best possible outcome for the protection, enhancement, understanding, and sustainability of Surrey’s heritage assets to allow residents to experience the benefits of their historic environment. The HER team plays a major role in this by maintaining high-quality information about Surrey’s heritage and providing this to colleagues, residents, commercial archaeologists, and researchers.

About the Role 

As a HER Assistant assigned to the HER digitisation programme, you will support the project to transfer our paper documents into digital media and create new and enhanced records and data-management systems. Keys parts of this role will include cataloguing paper documents ready for scanning; preparing boxes of files to be sent to the digitisation company; and reviewing metadata for the new digital files and linking these to the HER database.

After settling into the digitisation project, you will also be required to undertake searches of the HER database and counterpart Geographical Information System (GIS) to collate and provide data for customers. This involves acting as a first point of contact for members of the public, professional archaeologists, and commercial clients by responding to emailed enquiries. There may also be opportunities to add new textual and GIS records to the HER based on published and unpublished research outputs, enhance existing database entries, and contribute to our public outreach activities.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

• Good knowledge of British archaeology plus awareness of public sector archaeology.
• Excellent IT skills, including experience using data management systems and GIS software, and confidence in using Microsoft Office applications.
• Educated to degree level in a relevant subject, or equivalent by experience or further study.
• Ability to work independently, under supervision, and as part of a team, prioritising across a range of activities to deliver outcomes with a methodical approach and good attention to detail.
• Good written communication skills to provide fantastic customer service.

Contact us 

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment. 

For an informal discussion please contact Tony Howe, Historic Environment Planning Team Manager at tony.howe@surreycc.gov.uk, or Shân Mughal, Historic Environment Record Officer, at shan.mughal@surreycc.gov.uk.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 21/07/2024 with interviews planned for the week beginning 05/08/2024.