Digital Archives Officer - National Consultant

Result of ServiceNA Work LocationLuxembourg Expected duration12 months with possibility of extension Duties and ResponsibilitiesThe Digital Archives Officer is based at UNRWA’s Office in Luxembourg, which serves as the Agency’s hub for the preservation, governance, and research use of its digital institutional and historical archives. The position supports RSSD’s custodial responsibility for digitised registration and organisational records. The incumbent works under the supervision of the Deputy Director, RSSD, and in close coordination with relevant Headquarters divisions, field offices, interns, and external academic and archival partners. The role is carried out in accordance with UNRWA policies, standards, and guidance on digital records management and digital archives, access to information, data protection, and institutional accountability. The incumbent supports the organisation, description, digital preservation, and controlled electronic accessibility of UNRWA’s institutional digital archives, with a particular focus on creating comprehensive digital archival inventories, supporting classification and description activities, and facilitating responsible digital access for academic and institutional research. The position plays a key operational role in transforming dispersed digital and digitised historical records into usable, well‑described digital archival collections that support UNRWA’s mandate, accountability, and research engagement. The incumbent will: 1. Archival Inventory, Arrangement and Description • Conduct surveys and create detailed inventories of UNRWA’s digital institutional and historical archives held in the UNRWA Data Centre located in Luxembourg. • Identify and organise digital records and digitised archival content of long‑term historical, legal, or research value in coordination with RSSD management and relevant offices. • Arrange, classify, and describe digital archival collections materials in accordance with recognised archival standards and UNRWA guidance. • Prepare digital archival descriptions, metadata records, finding aids and collection guides to support discovery and research use. • Assist in the orderly ingest and structured transfer of digital records from UNRWA servers and cloud to the new UNRWA Data Centre. 2. Institutional Archives Development • Support the development and maintenance of UNRWA’s institutional digital archives as a coherent, authoritative, and research‑ready digital collection. • Assist in applying appraisal criteria, retention schedules, and disposition decisions within digital records management and archival systems, in coordination with RSSD policies. • Identify gaps, risks, or fragmentation within digital archival holdings and systems and support corrective actions. • Contribute to the drafting and updating of internal guidance and standard operating procedures related to digital archival processing, metadata creation, and description. 3. Research Access and Academic Use • Support the implementation and day‑to‑day application of UNRWA’s digital archives access policy. • Administer and document requests for access to digital archival content from internal staff, researchers, and academic institutions. • Advise researchers on the availability, scope, and restrictions of digital archival collections and assist in identifying relevant digital materials. • Support supervised access to digital archival holdings and platforms for visiting researchers, fellows, and interns. • Maintain records of access requests, decisions, and usage statistics within approved digital tracking and reporting systems. 4. Intern Supervision and Capacity Building • Provide day‑to‑day supervision and practical guidance to interns, fellows, and short‑term personnel engaged in digital archival inventorying, metadata creation, digital description, and digitisation workflows. • Support on‑the‑job training activities related to digital archival standards, description, metadata creation, and ethical use of institutional records. • Promote awareness of institutional memory, archival ethics, and digital best practices across assigned tasks 5. Digitization and Digital Archives Support • Assist in planning and prioritising digitisation initiatives for selected archival collections to enhance digital access and long‑term digital preservation. • Support preparation of content for digitisation, including basic quality control and metadata capture. • Coordinate with IT and digital preservation colleagues to ensure alignment between digital archival repositories, preservation environments, and access platforms. • Assist with basic tasks related to born‑digital archival records within digital systems, where applicable. 6. Other Responsibilities • Participate in digital archival, research, and institutional memory initiatives coordinated through the UNRWA Office in Luxembourg. • Assist in exhibitions, publications, or outreach activities related to UNRWA’s historical record. • Perform other related duties as assigned by the Deputy Director, RSSD. Qualifications/special skillsMaster’s degree in Archival Studies, Digital Archiving, Digital History, Information Management, Library and Information Science, History, or a closely related field is required. Minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience in archives, records management, libraries, documentation centres, or institutional memory functions. Demonstrated experience in the processing, arrangement, description, and preservation of archival material (including digital or digitised archival materials), including institutional or organizational records. Experience supporting research access, including assisting internal or external researchers and applying access or confidentiality rules. Familiarity with digital document management systems, archival metadata concepts, and basic digitization workflows. LanguagesExcellent knowledge of spoken and written English is required. Knowledge of French is highly desirable. Knowledge of other UN working languages is an asset. Additional InformationTotal remuneration is set at 7,500 EUR per month. No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.