Collections Salvage Team Member - Expression of Interest

The Role

Parliament is home to a number of large and important collections.  These are: Architectural Fabric Collection; Historic Furniture and Decorative Art; House of Commons Library; House of Lords Library; Parliamentary Archives; and Parliamentary Art Collection. 

In the case of an incident – anything from a from a minor leak to a major emergency (e.g. fire) – items from these collections may need to be protected in situ or moved to a place of safety, then quickly and professionally assessed for emergency conservation.  This is done by the Collections Salvage Team (CST). 
•    The CST is made up of staff from across both Houses. 
•    The team works under the leadership of a trained member of collections staff
•    No special knowledge or skills are needed; full training is given in regular training courses.

We are currently recruiting for a number of volunteers to support the Parliamentary Collections Teams (Heritage Collections, House of Commons Library, House of Lords Library, Parliamentary Archives) during an incident, if needed. This will be additional duties along with your current role.

The roles available are:

• Welfare Role: help to look after people who are helping with the incident response; this may include sorting refreshments, first aid, and checking people are okay
• Logger Role: responsible for keeping an accurate record of decisions and actions taken
• Photography Role: working with the collections team to record the condition of objects; may also require taking photos of the area affected by the incident
• Collections Role: working with collections staff to help with tasks including recovering, packing, moving, documenting, and stabilising objects.

As a Collections Salvage Team member you will need to:

• Attend a series of short training courses to help you learn about salvage at Parliament
• Attend at least one other training event each year
• You should be prepared to be contacted outside of working hours if necessary, and let us know if you are unavailable due to annual leave or other reasons.

What to look forward to in this role

This is a great opportunity to:

• Increase your knowledge and skills
• Improve your knowledge of Parliament’s collections and buildings
• Help to protect Parliament’s unique heritage
• Work with colleagues from teams across Parliament
• Be part of a fantastic team.

Eligibility

Applications are invited from all staff who have been recruited directly by either the House of Commons, House of Lords, or PDS through fair and open competition. Please ensure that you have confirmation from your line manager that you can submit an application.

Next steps

If you wish to apply, as part of the application process you should submit a covering statement, setting out why you are applying for the post and why you are suitable, referring to Knowledge, Skills and Experience section on the job description, in less than 500 words.  Please also indicate which roles within the salvage team you would be most interested in.

If you require additional information about the post please contact Kate Riddington