Library and Archive Controller

Job Title: Library and Archive Controller

Salary: £25,200 - £31,800

Location: Cambridge / Office-based (4-5 days per week in the office)

Contract: Permanent/Full Time (35 hours per week)

We are seeking a Library and Archive Controller to join our dynamic Content Services team, where you will play a key role in managing our Hardcopy Collection of Cambridge books and journals.

This diverse role combines administrative and data-driven responsibilities, supporting the maintenance and enhancement of access to both our physical and digital collections. You will collaborate closely with colleagues across the organisation, providing operational support, responding to enquiries, and contributing to research services that inform strategic decisions and projects.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

About the role

As the Library and Archive Controller, you'll be responsible for the day-to-day management and maintenance of the Hardcopy Collection. This role combines operational precision with a focus on service and process improvement.

Key responsibilities include:

• Managing book orders from the warehouse and receiving new books and journal publications
• Shelving items and tracking their location using the designated system
• Acting as the primary contact for requests, handling enquiries, loans, and returns
• Maintaining collection integrity by sourcing missing items and managing surplus stock appropriately
• Ensuring compliance with Hardcopy Collection policies and maintaining supporting documentation and workflows
• Receiving, analysing, and logging journal archive metadata to support digitisation
• Coordinating shipments to and from suppliers for scanning, and arranging returns post-digitisation
• Processing invoices related to journal digitisation and maintaining accurate records

About you

You'll be joining a small, collaborative team within Content Services, where your contributions will play a vital role in maintaining and enhancing access to our Hardcopy Collection. This is a role where you'll work independently and proactively on-site, while also collaborating with colleagues and seeking guidance when needed.

We're looking for someone who is passionate about preserving academic heritage and enabling access to knowledge. You'll be part of a team that values innovation, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

You'll bring:

• Exceptional attention to detail
• Strong prioritisation and organisational skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication
• A solid grasp of Excel functionality
• Initiative and the ability to work unsupervised, while knowing when to collaborate
• A creative and practical approach to problem-solving
• Experience in data entry, stock control, and content retrieval
• Familiarity with databases (experience is advantageous)
• Experience in library or academic library environments (preferred but not essential)

If you would like to know more about this opportunity and what will make you successful, please see the full job description attached to the bottom of this vacancy on our careers site.

Rewards and benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package , featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

We are a hybrid working organisation, and we offer a range of flexible working options from day one. We expect most hybrid-working colleagues to spend 40-60% of their time at their dedicated office or location. We will also consider other work arrangements if you wish to work more flexibly or require adjustments due to a disability.

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We review applications on an ongoing basis, with a closing date for all applications being 30 th October with interviews scheduled to take place on week commencing 10 th November.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

Please note, Cambridge University Press & Assessment is unable to sponsor this role under the Skilled Worker Visa route as it does not meet the minimum skill requirements.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You'll belong to a collaborative team that's exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe - for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it's safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.

Documents

• Job Description - Library and Archive Controller.pdf (197.20 KB)