Processing Archivist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Job Title: Lead Archivist – Music Manuscript Collections

Employment Type: Full-Time with benefits

Customer Agency: Library of Congress – Music Division

Employment Status: Contingent Upon Contract Award

Work Location: On-Site (5 Days per Week)

Place of Performance: Washington, DC

Work Authorization: Must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship for the duration of the contract.

Security Requirement: Candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Library of Congress identification badge and successfully complete all required suitability screening, security awareness, records management, and emergency preparedness training prior to beginning work.

Position Overview

Eigennet LLC is seeking a Lead Archivist – Music Manuscript Collections to support a federal contract opportunity with the Library of Congress Music Division. This position is contingent upon contract award and will serve as the senior archival processing professional responsible for the appraisal, arrangement, preservation, rehousing, description, and metadata creation activities for major twentieth-century music manuscript collections, including the Isaac Stern Papers and, if exercised by the Government, the Jack Gottlieb Papers.

The successful candidate will perform full archival processing in accordance with archival best practices and Library of Congress standards, including DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), EAD (Encoded Archival Description), ArchivesSpace, and Music Division processing guidelines. The Lead Archivist will oversee quality assurance activities, coordinate closely with Library staff, direct support personnel as assigned, and serve as the primary author of collection finding aids.

The ideal candidate will possess strong archival processing experience, hands-on expertise with ArchivesSpace, and demonstrated experience working with manuscript collections, special collections, personal papers, or music-related archival materials in a library, archives, museum, or research institution environment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Conduct collection surveys and assess processing requirements, preservation concerns, and collection organization.
• Analyze and finalize archival processing plans in collaboration with Library of Congress staff.
• Arrange, describe, and rehouse manuscript collections according to archival standards and approved processing plans.
• Create and maintain archival folder structures, series, subseries, and container inventories.
• Identify duplicate materials, preservation concerns, and materials requiring special handling or disposition.
• Perform archival rehousing activities including foldering, labeling, boxing, flattening, and organization of collection materials.
• Process correspondence, subject files, writings, biographical materials, music manuscripts, photographs, audiovisual materials, scrapbooks, and three-dimensional artifacts.
• Review and organize music-related materials, including manuscript scores, printed scores, sketches, parts, and proof copies, in accordance with approved archival processing standards.
• Inventory audiovisual materials and prepare materials for transfer to designated preservation facilities.
• Coordinate with preservation specialists regarding fragile, oversized, or damaged materials requiring specialized housing or treatment.
• Create and maintain collection metadata within ArchivesSpace using bulk archival object import workflows.
• Develop comprehensive archival finding aids, including scope and content notes, biographical histories, arrangement statements, and controlled access terms.
• Apply DACS, EAD, and Library of Congress descriptive standards to archival metadata and finding aid creation.
• Conduct research to support accurate description of individuals, organizations, musical works, and events represented within collections.
• Perform quality assurance reviews of archival processing, metadata, and deliverables.
• Provide daily status updates, quality control reports, and project documentation.
• Lead meetings with government stakeholders and provide technical guidance to assigned archival support staff.
• Ensure compliance with all Library of Congress records handling, preservation, security, and operational requirements.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science (MLIS/MLS), Archival Studies, Library Science, or a closely related discipline. Equivalent combination of education and demonstrated archival processing experience may be considered.
• Minimum six (6) months of professional experience working in an archives, library, manuscript repository, special collections, or similar archival environment performing archival processing activities.
• Demonstrated experience processing manuscript collections, personal papers collections, special collections, or archival materials from appraisal through arrangement and description.
• Hands-on experience using ArchivesSpace for archival description, collection management, and finding aid creation.
• Experience applying DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard) and EAD (Encoded Archival Description) standards.
• Experience creating collection-level and folder-level finding aids for manuscript collections.
• Experience arranging, rehousing, appraising, and describing archival collections.
• Experience handling fragile or special-format materials, including photographs, audiovisual materials, scrapbooks, oversized materials, or related archival formats.
• Strong written communication and documentation skills.
• Ability to work independently in an on-site archival environment.
• Ability to lift and move archival boxes and materials weighing up to 35 pounds.
• Ability to obtain and maintain all required Library of Congress suitability determinations and site credentials.

Preferred Qualifications

• Three (3) or more years of archival processing experience; five (5) or more years strongly preferred.
• Experience working with music manuscript collections, composer papers, music archives, music libraries, performing arts archives, or related special collections.
• Ability to read and interpret standard Western music notation.
• Ability to distinguish between manuscript scores, printed scores, orchestral parts, sketches, editorial proof copies, and related music materials.
• Knowledge of twentieth-century American classical music, music history, and performing arts collections.
• Familiarity with the careers and works of Isaac Stern, Leonard Bernstein, Jack Gottlieb, or related twentieth-century American music figures.
• Experience working with federal agencies, federal contracts, or cultural heritage institutions.
• Prior experience supporting the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Smithsonian Institution, university special collections, or comparable research libraries.
• Working knowledge of Hebrew and/or Yiddish language.
• Experience processing audiovisual collections and preservation transfer workflows.
• Experience with archival bulk import processes, CSV templates, and metadata migration activities.
• Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA) certification, Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) certification, or equivalent archival credential.

Required Skills

• Proficiency with ArchivesSpace and archival collection management systems.
• Strong understanding of archival arrangement, description, appraisal, and preservation principles.
• Knowledge of DACS, EAD, and archival metadata standards.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Microsoft Excel.
• Ability to create detailed finding aids and archival descriptive records.
• Strong research, analytical, and organizational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to maintain accuracy while managing large and complex archival collections.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with government stakeholders and project teams.
• Strong quality assurance, documentation, and project coordination skills.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to sit, stand, bend, and perform repetitive archival processing activities for extended periods.
• Ability to lift, carry, and move archival boxes, records cartons, and collection materials weighing up to 35 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Ability to handle fragile archival materials using appropriate preservation and conservation practices.
• Ability to review physical and electronic records for extended periods.
• Work environment may include exposure to dust, mold, mildew, and aged archival materials.
• Must be able to perform all duties on-site at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.