CfA: Chief Archivist/Principal Information Scientist - Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives

Call for applications

Position: Faculty

Location: Budapest

Status: Full-time

Unit: Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives

E-mail: advert050@ceu.edu

Application deadline: Open until filled

Starting date: October 1, 2021

Website: https://www.ceu.edu/job/chief-archivistprincipal-information-scientist-0

The Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA) at Central European University (CEU) based primarily in Budapest but with teaching tasks in Vienna, Austria invites applications for the Chief Archivist/Principal Information Scientist position. Blinken OSA (www.osaarchivum.org), one of the most important Cold War and human rights archives in the world, is looking for a highly talented, innovative, socially committed and technologically skilled person with foresight and impeccable integrity.

Blinken OSA wants to make an exciting appointment that allows the Archives to hire someone either with requisite academic degrees in the humanities or information science, or relevant practical experience, in a university, corporate or NGO setting, in digital and information technologies. 

Blinken OSA is part of Central European University (www.ceu.edu), one of the most multinational graduate institutions in Europe, engaged primarily in the humanities and social sciences. Blinken OSA is a complex institution of memory that supports scholarship, is engaged in research, is the initiator of high visibility public programs, and manages the Archives and Evidentiary Practices specialization at the History and Legal Studies Departments at CEU. Blinken OSA is an “archive of last resort”, the archive of (politically) endangered collections.

Blinken OSA hopes to attract an unusual intellectual who is ready to experiment and to take calculated professional and intellectual risks; who is passionate about new archival and library theories, technologies, trends in digital media, digital humanities, and open access; and who is highly knowledgeable about emerging IT solutions.

The ideal candidate either works in the field of information technology, digital humanities but has a deep interest in the philosophy of science, cognitive science, network science or a related field; or works in the humanities or the social science, but possesses wide-ranging knowledge of information technology, computer science and data management and/or digital humanities – and is profoundly concerned about human rights and social in/justice. 

Duties and responsibilities:

The Chief Archivist/Principal Information Scientist supervises the professional staff, works closely together with the management team and reports to the Director of Blinken OSA, and represents the Archives at professional bodies and fora.

The successful candidate will have a senior position in Blinken OSA and will take part in research and teaching at CEU, both in Budapest and Vienna.

The Archives is working on new technologies and methodologies in authenticating documents and historical and forensic evidence. The Chief Archivist/Principal Information Scientist guides and advocates for the ongoing development of physical and digital collections, services, and programs to the Central European University community and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) Network globally. S/he will be one of the intellectual leaders of the institution in charge of developing new intellectual and academic directions. OSA is a free and flexible institution that is able and ready to experiment with bold new solutions and look for untried intellectual and professional directions.

Qualifications:

  • Either graduate degree in information technology or archival/library science, with demonstrated knowledge and interest in social sciences and humanities or graduate degree in social sciences or humanities, with demonstrated knowledge and interest in information technology and archival/library science and/or digital humanities or demonstrated qualities needed for innovation in this highly responsible position.
  • Experience working in a challenging position at an archival or memory institution.
  • Demonstrated skills to effectively supervise and lead the work of an international team of professionals.
  • Proof of innovative leadership in an academic-archival setting.
  • A persuasive and evolving record of intellectual accomplishments.
  • Good interpersonal and management skills.
  • User-oriented approach, as demonstrated by public programming, user education, and other community outreach activities.
  • Proficiency in English; knowledge of another language of OSA’s main collections is an advantage: Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, or Bulgarian.

Compensation:

We offer a competitive salary that is commensurate with experience as well as a dynamic and international academic environment. The initial contract is for two years with the possibility of renewal.

How to apply

Applicants need to submit:

  • CV
  • Cover letter
  • Contact information for two referees

We do not ask for reference letters at the first stage of application; the referees may be contacted for references later by CEU.

Informal inquiries may be addressed to Katalin Gádoros, Head of Administration at gadoros@ceu.edu.

Please send your complete application package to advert050@ceu.edu- including the job code in the subject line: 2021/050.

Employee Referral Program application:

If one of our employees has drawn your attention to this job opportunity, please apply via this email address, and mention our colleague in the cover letter: 

advert050referral@ceu.edu- including job code in the subject line: 2020/050.

About CEU

Central European University (CEU) is a research-intensive university specializing in the social sciences, humanities, law, public policy and management. It is accredited in the United States, Austria and Hungary. CEU's mission is to promote academic excellence, state-of-the-art research, research-based teaching and learning and civic engagement, in order to contribute to the development of open societies. CEU offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs and enrolls more than 1,400 students from over 100 countries. The teaching staff consists of resident faculty from over 50 countries and prominent visiting scholars from around the world. The language of instruction is English.

For more information, please visit https://www.ceu.edu/.

CEU is an equal opportunity employer.

The privacy of your personal information is very important to us. We collect, use, and store your personal information in accordance with the requirements of the applicable data privacy rules, including specifically the General Data Protection Regulation. To learn more about how we manage your personal data during the recruitment process, please see our Privacy Notice at: https://www.ceu.edu/recruitment-privacy-notice (Hungary: Közép-európai Egyetem, Central European University) or https://www.ceu.edu/recruitment-privacy-notice-austria (Austria: Central European University, CEU Central European University Private University).

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