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SalaryNorth West Film Archive Accessibilty Officer (Project Post) (Fixed term 12 months, 0.8fte – 28 hours pw)
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the North West Film Archive Team at Manchester Metropolitan University as NWFA Accessibilty Officer on a fixed-term, 12 month, 0.8 fte basis.
The North West Film Archive is part of Man Met's Library and Cultural Services, as well as the public regional Film Archive for the five counties of Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Cumbria, holding over 60,000 items of film and video reflecting the lives and experiences of people in the North West over the last 127 years. We provide access services to staff, students and researchers within MMU, as well as to commercial users and the general public.
We recognise that disabled people are often under-served in the heritage sector, and we want to address this issue. Accessing moving image heritage presents its own set of difficulties for people who are learning disabled, people with physical or sensory disabilities or those living with dementia or using mental health services, particularly in regard to those with visual impairments.
With support from the BFI Project Fund, we aim to make real progress through working directly with disabled and neuro-divergent people. Our goal is to improve representation, discoverability, and access for disabled and neuro-divergent users and audiences across the region.
We are embarking on a 12 month project, which will include a mixture of partnership working (within MMU and externally), implementation of practical and technical accessibility interventions, and audience facing activities. We are seeking an experienced and committed individual to co-ordinate this work.
The Role:
As the NWFA Accessibility Officer, you will work with the NWFA team to co-ordinate the key strands of the project. This involves community outreach to research the needs and wants of disabled people in relation to moving image heritage, reviewing current indexing practice used to describe the disabled and neuro-divergent experience, and creating accessible versions of key NWFA titles. Other tasks include organising accessibility training for NWFA staff, building partnerships and community engagement, and scheduling and delivering collaborative workshops and accessible film-screenings. The role is designed to help NWFA identify and address current barriers to access for disabled and neuro-divergent people, and become an example of best practice in this field, sharing knowledge across the wider moving image heritage sector.
About You:
We're looking for someone with experience of working with disabled and neuro-divergent groups and individuals – either in the community or heritage sectors.
You should understand the issues surrounding disability and neuro-divergence, inclusion, and representation in the heritage sector, with a proven track record in project co-ordination. If you have worked in an archive or library setting, all the better, but this isn't essential, we're more interested in your commitment to improving our services for everyone in the North West.
So, if you're looking for a new challenge, and want to make a real difference in how the North West Film Archive serves our region, we'd love to hear from you.
How to apply:
Please upload a cover letter and your CV detailing how you meet the essential criteria in the attached Job Description.
If you would like more information about this post, please contact Nick Gladden, North West Film Archive Manager – n.gladden@mmu.ac.uk
Manchester Metropolitan University is committed to supporting the rights, responsibilities, dignity, health and wellbeing of staff and students through our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
We promote applications from all sections of the community, irrespective of background, belief or identity, recognising the benefits that a diverse organisation can bring and particularly encourage applications from groups which are underrepresented in the University workforce. We especially welcome applications from disabled and/or neuro-divergent candidates for this role.
We recognise the benefits and importance of an environment that supports flexible working and are open to conversations about this, as well as any reasonable adjustments required throughout the application process.
