New Job Opportunities at Blinken OSA

Job Advert: Principal Information Scientist Wanted

Chief Archivist/Principal Information Scientist 

Starting date: As soon as possible 

Application deadline: Open-ended, review to begin June 1, 2019 

Full or part time: Full time 

Location: Budapest 

The Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA) at Central European University (CEU) invites applications for the Chief Archivist/Principal Information Scientist position. Blinken OSA, 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, 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 is in charge of the Evidentiary and Documentary Practices specialization at the History and Legal Studies Departments at CEU.  

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, 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 sciences, but possesses wide-ranging knowledge of information technology or computer science and data management.   

Duties and responsibilities: 

The Chief Archivist/Principal Information Scientist supervises the professional staff, works closely together with 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. 

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  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 2 years with the possibility of renewal. 

How to apply

Applicants need to submit

•CV 

•Cover letter 

•Contact information for two referees 

Informal inquiries may be addressed to gadoros@ceu.edu. 

Please send your complete application package to: 

advert018@ceu.edu   - including job code in subject line: 2019/018 

 

Digital Archivist position

The Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA) at Central European University (CEU) invites applications for a part-time (20 hours/week) Digital Archivist – Audio-Visual Collections position. The initial contract is for four months, with a possibility of extension for seven more months in 2020.

The successful candidate will work in a team that is responsible for the long-term preservation, management and access to the video, photo and sound collections at OSA. The main duties involve digitization of video and audio materials. The Digital Archivist has excellent technical skills with a special focus on ffmpeg-based open source solutions. The work requires high-level troubleshooting skills; proven experience and practice in identifying, locating and managing software for video and sound editing (professional level); database management skills (user level); and digital asset management skills (user level).

Duties and responsibilities:

Digitization of OSA’s video and audio collections on analog media (VHS, S-VHS, Beta SP and MC)

Editing digitized audio and video materials using ffmpeg

Creating and preserving content-related metadata

Active involvement in the implementation of OSA’s archival management system (AMS)

Close cooperation with the IT staff in relation to the technical processes and equipment in the digitization workflow

Performing other duties assigned by the immediate supervisor

Qualifications:

Higher educational degree in a relevant field;

Advanced knowledge of video editing software;

Knowledge of ffmpeg to work with AV contents;

Ability to work independently, manage several tasks at once and to act on own initiative;

Ability to manage four analog video work stations parallel;

Advanced computer skills, including Office applications, database management and skills working with digital audio, video and photo;

Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, meticulous attention to detail;

Language skills: excellent command of English; very good Hungarian

Compensation

We offer a competitive salary that is commensurate with experience as well as a dynamic and international academic environment.

HOW TO APPLY 

Applicants need to submit:

CV

Cover letter

Contact information of three references

Please send your complete application package to: advert047@ceu.edu - including job code in the subject line: 2019/047

Application deadline

Open until filled

Starting date

September 1, 2019

 

 

Slavic Archives Specialist position

Position: 

Staff

Status: 

Full-time

Unit: 

Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives

E-mail: 

advert050@ceu.edu

Application deadline

Open until filled

The Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA) at Central European University (CEU) invites applications for a Slavic Archives Specialist position. The initial contract is for a one year with the possibility of renewal.

The successful candidate will work together with the Acting Chief Archivist on managing, providing access to, developing and promoting Blinken OSA's Slavic language (primarily Russian, Polish and Czech/Slovak) archives and samizdat collections. The Specialist conducts research in these collections and uses them for educational purposes. The successful candidate will perform cataloging work, data normalization and physical and intellectual processing tasks on these collections, following Blinken OSA's Archival Management Workflow. The Specialist also assists in the overall mission and projects of the Archives.

Duties and responsibilities:

Work closely with the Director and Acting Chief Archivist to ensure the professional operation of and open and free public access to the Archives

Arrange, describe, preserve and manage daily use of Slavic archival and samizdat collections in accordance with current international standards and best practices

Assist the Acting Chief Archivist and senior archival staff in collection development and management, including planning, prioritizing and reviewing processing procedures

Prepare Slavic archival and samizdat collections for and participate in designing curated collections, digitization and digital humanities projects

Ensure the general and targeted promotion of processed Slavic archival and samizdat collections on Blinken OSA's online and social media platforms

Provide reference staff with collection-specific information

Develop a plan for using Blinken OSA's Slavic archival and samizdat collections in research and teaching

Participate in Blinken OSA's research projects and teaching activities, as well as in organizing/curating exhibitions, conferences and workshops

Liaise with Blinken OSA's domestic and international professional partners holding similar Slavic collections

Occasionally, supervise interns and other temporary staff working on collection-specific Blinken OSA projects

Any other duties as may be occasionally required

Qualifications, skills and experiences:

Master's degree, preferably in Humanities or Social Science with relevant experience in information management or Archival, Library or Information Science

Background or demonstrated interest in the recent history of and human rights in Central Eastern Europe and the former USSR

Basic familiarity with archival theory and practice, including processing archives collections using current international standards

Basic familiarity with data structure standards and technical requirements relevant to the physical and intellectual control of archival collections

Ability to think creatively and critically, take initiative, manage several tasks at once, solve problems and work both independently and collaboratively

Project management skills: the ability to plan a project and work with other colleagues to ensure the successful completion of the project

Oral and written communication skills: the ability to articulate professional archival issues to a variety of audiences and to produce quality written and oral reports and presentations

Computer skills: including basic experience with open source archival catalogs and integrated library systems, archival management software and digital repository systems

Interpersonal skills: the ability to collaborate effectively with CEU faculty, staff and students, as well as other constituencies of Blinken OSA

Language skills: English, Russian, Polish, and/or Czech/Slovak (knowledge of other East Slavic languages is an advantage)

Advantage:

Relevant professional experience in special collections or archives

Familiarity with tools and systems for digital preservation

Familiarity with legal and ethical issues affecting privacy in, restrictions on and access to records

Familiarity with and interest in information and data science relevant to cultural institutions having public access as their mission.

Compensation

We offer a competitive salary that is commensurate with experience as well as a dynamic and international academic environment.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants need to submit:

CV

Cover letter

Contact information of three references

Please send your complete application package to:
advert050@ceu.edu - including job code in subject line: 2019/050

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 General Data Protection Regulation. To learn more about how we manage your personal data during the recruitment process, please see our Privacy Notice.   

About CEU 

Central European University (CEU) is a graduate, research-intensive university specializing in the social sciences, humanities, law, public policy and management. It is accredited in the United States 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 in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and other emerging democracies throughout the world. CEU offers both master’s and doctoral programs, and enrolls more than 1,400 students from over 100 countries. The teaching staff consists of more than 180 resident faculty, from over 50 countries, and a large number of prominent visiting scholars from around the world. The language of instruction is English. 

For more information, please visit www.ceu.edu.