Archive Director Job Description

Sep 13, 2026

Uploaded by Gloria

Archive Director job description for the City of Ashville’s Archives, detailing responsibilities for preserving and managing permanent records across textual, photographic, audio/visual, digital, and multimedia formats. The role includes supervision of an Archive Assistant and volunteers, accessioning, arrangement, description, archival storage standards, and ensuring security. It also covers outreach and public reference services requiring strong family-history knowledge, plus database creation, digitization support, and communication with city and county officials.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

Position Description

Duties

Required Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications

Physical Demands

Specific Tasks

Salary

Application Process

Contact Information

Job Description for Archive Director Ashville is a city of approximately 2300 residents in the north-central part of Alabama. It is also the site of the original St. Clair County Courthouse. The Ashville Archives was founded in 1980 and serves the 86,000 residents of St. Clair County, as a well-known repository of local family and genealogical history. The mission of the Ashville Museum and Archives is to preserve regional historic and genealogical documents, photographs and artifacts, as well as historic records from Ashville and St. Clair County governments, and make these materials accessible to the public, providing historical and genealogical research support. Position Description The Archive Director is employed by the City of Ashville, and reports to the Archive Board for general operations, and serves the City and County in preservation of their records. The Archive Director supervises the Archive Assistant and numerous volunteers. Duties: The Archive Director oversees the accession, arrangement, description, management of the preservation of permanent records in textual, photographic, audio/visual, digital and multimedia formats that are related to the region of St. Clair County, including records owned by governmental departments. The Archives Director also has responsibility for outreach efforts and reference services for the public. These reference services require growing knowledge of the families and history of the Ashville-St.Clair area. Required Qualiﬁcations !College Degree (or equivalent experience) !Excellent organizational skills with accuracy and perseverance !Ability to work both cooperatively and independently, with initiative and good judgment !Knowledge of methods of appraisal, preservation, arrangement, storage standards of manuscripts, documents, books, artifacts, maps, etc. !Demonstrated ability to supervise work of others !Demonstrated appreciation and enthusiasm for history !Knowledge of research tools and methodology !Evidence of effective project planning, project management and completion !Ability to communicate effectively with staff and public !Strong written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills !Ability to learn new technologies quickly and effectively !Working proﬁciency in Word and Excel. Preferred Qualiﬁcations !Experience in records management or library setting !Experience in providing reference or research assistance !Experience in a special collections setting or archives !Experience in planning exhibits for the public Physical Demands Must have vision adequate to see small, faint print on old documents; must be able to tolerate dusty conditions; must be able to lift 40 pound books and boxes Some of the Archive Director’s Speciﬁc Tasks: !Organize archived materials to facilitate access, good preservation practice, and security !Create and maintain searchable computer databases for all materials !Provide reference services and assistance for users of archival materials !Direct staff or volunteers in arranging, cataloguing, exhibiting, maintaining collections of materials !Decision-maker for accession, processing and documentation of new materials Job Description for Archive Director !Preserve records, documents and artifacts, using best archival practices and digital back-up when possible !Coordinate educational and public outreach programs, tours, workshops, and classes. !Manage website outreach to the public. !Work under auspices of the Archive Board; communicate ongoing daily processes, future plans and challenges to the Board for their interaction. !Communicate as needed with City and County ofﬁcials, regarding governmental document preservation and secure storage. !Develop understanding of the history of local families, churches and institutions so as to become a knowledgable source for genealogists and researchers of local Ashville and St. Clair history. Salary Salary and beneﬁt package comm

FAQs

Who does the Archive Director report to and what is the general oversight structure?

The Archive Director is employed by the City of Ashville, reports to the Archive Board for general operations, and serves the City and County in preserving records.

What are the main duties related to archives and records management?

The role oversees accession, arrangement, description, and management of permanent records in multiple formats, including governmental records, and is responsible for preservation, security, and documentation of new materials.

What qualifications and skills are required to apply?

Applicants need a college degree (or equivalent experience), strong organizational skills, knowledge of appraisal and preservation methods, ability to supervise others, history enthusiasm, research methodology knowledge, effective communication skills, and working proficiency in Word and Excel.

Sep 13, 2026

Uploaded by Gloria