About the Open Preservation Foundation

The world’s digital memories are at risk of loss through obsolescence, media decay and the rapid pace of technological change. The Open Preservation Foundation (OPF) is dedicated to supporting open-source digital preservation for everyone. We create tools, provide technical advice, publish guidance and bring the community together to share knowledge and collaborate. The OPF currently stands at the forefront of a global effort to ensure the continued accessibility, integrity, and usability of our digital heritage now and for the future. 

We are a small, member-led organisation with highly engaged partners and technical contributors. Our impact surpasses our size. The OPF tools and resources are free to all and are downloaded many thousands of times each month. We have a wide reach across the digital preservation community with over four thousand individual subscribers to our regular community mailing list. We aim to grow our membership and give more of our users a voice in developing our services.

Our new Executive Director will join a highly dedicated expert team. You will provide strategic leadership to the organisation, engage with our members and the wider community to improve access to open digital preservation for all, and collaborate with a Board of directors with over a century of digital preservation experience between them. You will have the opportunity to learn from our staff, board, members and partners to develop your skills and knowledge of this challenging and important field. You will also benefit from flexible working hours, remote working, travel to conferences and meetings, generous holiday entitlement and a workplace pension scheme.

About you

You will be an experienced, energetic and strategic leader, able to take a hands-on approach to meet the demands of this exciting role. As an enthusiastic team-player, your leadership experience will be coupled with a collaborative and inclusive approach that will empower our dedicated team. With your strong work ethic and sense of integrity, you will be used to working with a high degree of autonomy. You will be highly-organised, financially savvy, and possess superb business acumen with the drive to take forward strategic initiatives.

Your exceptional communication and engagement skills will enable you to proactively build, maintain and influence a wide network of stakeholders including members, partners, and collaborators across world-leading memory institutions. You will have the confidence to reach out to potential new members to grow the Foundation, develop strategic partnerships and identify new income streams to ensure the Foundation’s long-term sustainability.

A good understanding of digital preservation and/or open source software development (or the ability to rapidly get up to speed in these areas) will enable you to seek out innovative opportunities that align with our mission and help shape our future direction.

Job Description

Please see the job description for more details about the role.

How to apply

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and three references to recruitment@openpreservation.org by 8th July 2024. In your cover letter, please address your experience and qualifications as they relate to the responsibilities and requirements in the job description.

The Open Preservation Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you do not meet all of the requirements outlined in the job description, but feel that you have the right experience and qualities to be our new Executive Director, we invite you to submit an application.

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK or EU. We aim to confirm receipt of all applications within 2 working days. Due to the high volume of applications we expect to receive, feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview. Please note that due to holidays in August, interviews will most likely take place in early-September. No agencies/recruiters please.

For questions regarding this vacancy, please contact one of the Directors: Remco van Veenendaal (remco.van.veenendaal@nationaalarchief.nl, +31629451951, he/him) or Sonia Ranade (sonia.ranade@nationalarchives.gov.uk, she/her). For more information about the Open Preservation Foundation, please visit https://staging.openpreservation.org.