Join our team
At the English Folk Dance and Song Society we offer a diverse range of employment across the organisation, including within the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library and at Cecil Sharp House.
We are committed to managing a fair and equitable recruitment and selection process. We welcome applications from everyone who matches each role’s required skills and interests.
We do not accept speculative enquiries about employment.
Unless otherwise indicated, our posts are based at Cecil Sharp House in London.
Archivist
Permanent, part-time (3 days per week)
Are you enthusiastic about folk music and dance? Are you a qualified archivist with practical experience of cataloguing, archival software, and caring for a multi-format collection? We are looking for a self-motivated, organised team-player, with excellent attention to detail to join the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) as our Archivist.
The role sits within EFDSS’ Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, England’s national collection for folk music and dance, incorporating song, instrumental music, and social and display dance, alongside folk customs, traditional drama, social history and folklore. The Archivist works alongside the Library and Archives Director and two librarians, and is responsible for the cataloguing, organisation and preservation of the archives.
Our collections include the papers of many key figures in folk, from Cecil Sharp, George Butterworth, and Lucy Broadwood to the present day, and include notebooks, diaries, photographs, sound recordings, film, and artefacts. Much is digitised and available online through our catalogues: https://archives.vwml.org/collections.
You will have a sound knowledge of professional standards and best practice, strong IT skills, and excellent oral and written communication skills. An ability to prioritise, juggle multiple tasks, and work to deadlines is important, as is an adaptable approach. You must be able to work well with others as well as showing personal initiative and taking responsibility within your areas of expertise.
If you believe you have what it takes, please click here for more information.
Salary: £19,924.20 pro rata (£33,207 FT)
Please email a completed application form to [email protected] together with the Equal Opportunities Monitoring form. The latter form is for monitoring the effectiveness of our recruitment in attracting a wide demographic of candidates and will not form part of your application. Please use ‘Archivist’ in the subject line.
The closing date for completed applications is 10am, Monday 17 March and interviews will be held at Cecil Sharp House in week commencing 24 March 2025.
We are committed to building a culturally diverse workforce and actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds.
Archivist Job Description
Archivist Application Form
Positive Action for a Diverse Workforce
At the English Folk Dance and Song Society we strive to be an Equal Opportunities employer and to ensure that no person is unfairly discriminated against in our recruitment and selection policies and procedures. We are committed to diversifying our workforce to better represent society and we follow guidance on positive action in recruitment from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Equality Act 2010.
We particularly welcome applicants from minoritised ethnicities, and those who are disabled, as these are under-represented in our organisation and the wider folk music workforce.
All disabled applicants who fulfil the Person Specification and Qualities criteria will be called for an interview. Please make clear in your application if you consider yourself disabled. (You may find it helpful to refer to the definition at gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010.)
Please see Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion to learn more about our commitments and actions to diversifying our work and staff.
