Trainee archive technology technician

Closing date for applications: Monday 28th April at 11.59pm

Salary: £29,526 per annum

Working hours: 41 hours per week (inclusive of a 1 hour lunch break per day)

Location: John Paul Getty Jr. Conservation Centre, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire

Duration: 18 months

Start date: Monday 2nd June 2025

Learn about the use of analogue and digital technologies. Used in the preservation and archiving of Film, Video, and TV, through this paid 18-month entry level role at the British Film Institute’s National Archive.

The BFI National Archive is one of the largest and oldest film archives in the world, containing material from 1895 to the present day. It holds hundreds of thousands of films, videos and digital items representing the nation’s moving image screen heritage. The BFI is on a mission to make itself the world’s most open archive, reframing the public’s relationship with the collections and focusing on the diversity of its audiences.

As a trainee archive technology technician, you will join the BFI National Archive team for an 18-month programme. You will undergo comprehensive hands-on training in the maintenance, servicing, and cleaning of both vintage and contemporary film, video, and audio equipment. Working closely with the experienced archive technology team as well as video and audio conservation specialists, you will develop proficiency with film scanners, inspection tables, winding tables, and analogue video and audio tape machines.

You'll learn to operate, clean, and maintain both vintage and modern film, video and audio equipment. Your training will focus on developing skills in equipment care, calibration, and operation for tasks such as cleaning, scanning, digitising, and preserving film and video assets. You'll work with equipment used to process materials from the national collection as well as projects submitted by commercial clients, gaining hands-on experience in archive technology maintenance and operation.

You will gain in-depth knowledge of various video and audio formats and digitisation methods. Including technologies such as 1-inch and 2-inch open reel, D3 video, ¼ inch and ½ inch audio formats, magnetic film and a range of other film formats. Throughout your training, you will build a thorough understanding of archive technology equipment used in film, video, and audio preservation. Additionally, you will learn essential health and safety protocols for working with electrical and electronic equipment and handling diverse film, video, and audio formats.

Occasional visits to other Conservation, Conferences and/ or Screen Heritage institutions are also part of the 18-month training programme.

What could this lead to?

Successful completion of this traineeship could lead to a wide range of careers across various sectors, including roles such as archive technology technician at the BFI or within one of the many regional or national archives in the UK or abroad. Other potential pathways include positions in electronics, engineering, post-production, research, or education. The BFI’s Screen Culture 2033 vision may also provide further insight into future opportunities.

What you will learn

• Safely clean and maintain vintage film winding and inspection equipment
• Start to understand the ethics of film and video conservation and working with a National Collection
• Interact with the Collections Systems Database, to track equipment and parts, films and video tapes
• Support the operation of modern digital film scanners (for films of various formats)
• Learn about analogue video and audio equipment and formats and their digitisation
• Work with a diverse range of people and teams giving you a broad understanding of film and video conservation
• Learn about operation and maintenance of industrial film processors
• You will be given time to record and reflect on your learning and experience gained.

Knowledge, skills and experience

Essential

• An interest in the technology of film, photography, video, audio, analogue or digital
• An interest in or previous experience in 3D printing
• Curiosity! A desire to ask and find out why is a core skill of the role, combined with the ability to accept that sometimes we can’t know all the answers. You might have good research skills from education or a previous role.
• Excellent manual dexterity with the ability to handle equipment with care
• Experience in electronics, engineering, video and audio technology, arts, crafts, or model making
• A desire to know how equipment works. With an interest in analogue and vintage electronics and machinery
• You must have a keen interest, in equal measure, with old technologies and cutting-edge digital ones
• You must be curious and careful, having a respect and appreciation for old and obsolete equipment, that may test your patience. This may teach you as much about yourself and how you like to work, as it does the equipment you’ll work with
• Good problem-solving skills and an investigative nature
• Good writing skills with a desire to write technical or qualitative information that will be understood in years to come
• Excellent organisation skills demonstrated in previous experience, with experience of Microsoft M365
• Strong communication skills and demonstrable experience of team working, are essential
• Proactive approach to personal development
• Minimum level 2 equivalent for English and Maths.

Desirable

• A basic understanding of video and audio file formats, compression and file conversion
• An aptitude for working with new and changing technologies, for example Non-Linear Editing systems such as Da Vinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro and video capture
• The ability to pay close attention to detail, whilst holding the big picture in mind
• A desire to accurately describe equipment, especially in written form – this could come from experience in education, cataloguing, inventory writing etc.

Unique elements or circumstances in this role include:

• Most of your time will be spent working with the equipment at the Conservation Centre, which means opportunities to work from home are limited
• This is a two-way pilot initiative where the BFI wants to learn from your experiences as much as you learn from it, because they want to develop their knowledge-sharing practices and develop methods to pass these skills, knowledge and experience to a new generation
• BFI encourages reflective practice and knowledge sharing as part of its work. It supports trainees to participate in activities designed to improve collective practice.

To apply

• Log in to your Creative Access account or register today to apply for this opportunity
• Upload your CV and cover letter as one document (applications without a tailored cover letter will not be accepted)
• Please specify at the top of your cover letter if you wish to be considered as a part of the Disability Confident scheme outlined below, as this information will be shared with the BFI
• Once submitted, you can no longer amend your application, so proof-read carefully
• Do not contact the company directly
• Please email any queries about this role to Creative Access at this address: recruit@creativeaccess.org.uk

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries. This includes, but is not limited to, individuals who identify as Black, Asian, or from other ethnically diverse backgrounds, or people of any ethnicity who belong to the following under-represented groups: disabled people, people with the characteristic of gender reassignment, individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, carers and asylum seekers.

The BFI is a Disability Confident employer, meaning they are committed to recruiting, retaining, and developing disabled people. Creative Access will endeavour to longlist and progess to interview all disabled applicants who best meet the minimum criteria for this opportunity.

Creative Access offers programmes of training, networking and support specifically designed for people from these under-represented groups.