Web Officer

Location: London, WC1X 0DL

Salary: £25k, 2 year contract

Closing date: 20 October 2008

This is an exciting opportunity to join a new and highly ambitious organisation. Founded in 2004, The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) cares for the archive and museum collections of Royal Mail. Our Designated Public Record Archive and Museum Collections range from sheets of Penny Blacks, posters and 1930s films, to mobile post offices and telegrams from the Titanic. We are currently working on a major relocation project to find a new home for the museum and archive.

The Web Officer is part of BPMA’s eight person Access & Development team. The team develops and delivers projects and resources which increase access to BPMA’s collections, create learning opportunities, engage new audiences, grow income, and promote awareness of our work amongst the media, public and wider stakeholders.

The website plays a vital role in the BPMA’s work and provides a primary introduction to our collections for new audiences. Current and planned activities include a newly launched ‘wiki’, introduction of podcasting, and the upgrade of our e-commerce facilities. The Web Officer will lead on development and implementation of these and future initiatives.

Main Purpose of the Job

The Web Officer post sits within the BPMA’s Access & Development Team. The Web Officer post sits within BPMA’s Access & Development Team. The focus of the post is to be the primary publisher for the BPMA’s website and to lead on the development and delivery of the website and associated resources.

Position in the Organisation

Reports to:Head of Access & Development

Responsible for: No staff, day-to-day management of, and liaison with, web contractor

The post holder works across the BPMA to ensure that website delivery supports organisational access and profile raising objectives. They do this by working with staff internally to support content creation and liaising externally with our commissioned web developers and IT contractor to enable site delivery and maintenance. The post also supports delivery of the BPMA’s online catalogue through liaison with the Deputy Catalogue Manager and sits on the organisation’s in-house IT panel.

Job description

•  To manage the development of the BPMA website and associated resources.
•  To support the development and implementation of the web strategy.
•  To commission and manage external developers as required.
•  To ensure website delivery supports audience development, profile-raising and key organisational objectives.
•  To support staff across the organisation in web content creation.
•  To undertake ongoing evaluation and reporting on web statistics.
  

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level.

Skills

• Excellent written and oral communication skills essential.
• Excellent interpersonal and team working skills with ability to support others.
• Good project management skills with ability to monitor and report on delivery against objectives.
• Strong stakeholder and contractor management skills – experience of commissioning and managing web developers an advantage.
• Ability to work with technical and non-technical colleagues and suppliers.
• Methodical with a high level of attention to detail.
• Excellent IT skills, including MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) and content management systems essential.
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritising to meet deadlines.
• Flexible, positive attitude and ability to work on own initiative essential..

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of managing website development essential.
• Understanding and experience of website content management and systems essential.
• Understanding / awareness of new media developments including user-generated content and social networking (e.g. podcasts, wikis, Facebook, Flickr) essential.
• Editorial experience.
• Knowledge of website accessibility and usability issues.
• Experience of developing project delivery plans preferred.
• Experience of project monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
• Working knowledge of DTP and associated software, (e.g. In Design, Adobe, photoshop) desirable.
• Understanding / awareness of web delivery in the heritage sector desirable.
  

Working Hours

36 hours per week, plus lunch breaks. Occasional evening and weekend working may be required (e.g. to support A&D team in administering evening lectures or launch events); this will be notified in advance. Time off in lieu will be awarded for out of hours work. Variations of the hours can be made at the discretion of the line manager.

The post holder will be expected to work to office guidelines on handling, health and safety, lone working, etc., as advised, taking responsibility as appropriate. The scope of the role requires the post holder to complete a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

Salary and Pension

£25,000 - £28,000 pa. Dependent on experience and qualifications (appointments are usually made at the bottom of the scale). Two-year contract in the first instance (extension subject to funding). The BPMA offers a pension scheme that you will be eligible to join after 3 months continuous service.

Annual Leave

22.5 days per year, plus statutory holidays. The leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and leave will be awarded on a pro-rata basis for any incomplete years.

Application

Please apply by downloading and completing the application form available here (Word 1997-2003 document - if you require the form in another format, please contact us directly), clearly addressing the points outlined in the person specification criteria, and email or post to:

Deborah Turton
Head of Access & Development
The British Postal Museum & Archive
Freeling House
Phoenix Place
London WC1X 0DL

Email: deborah.turton@postalheritage.org.uk
Tel: 020 7239 2567
Fax: 020 7239 2576

Please note that only those applicants shortlisted for interview will be contacted.