Overview
Founded in 1972, the British Library is the National Library of the UK and one of the world’s greatest libraries and cultural institutions.
We are proud to act as stewards and convenors, not just of historic and unique treasures, but of a living collection of more than 170 million items and 2.96 petabytes, growing by 8 km and hundreds of terabytes every year.
As custodians of the UK’s collection of published, written, and digital content, our holdings include two of the four surviving copies of Magna Carta, the Diamond Sūtra, the earliest surviving dated piece of printing, Jane Austen’s glasses and the UK Web Archive. As a Legal Deposit Library, we have a statutory responsibility to collect copies of everything published in the UK and Ireland.
Working locally, nationally and globally, we support research, inspiration and enjoyment, with multi-disciplinary staff working across every conceivable format and most known languages to implement our Knowledge Matters strategic vision, guided by our six core public purposes: Custodianship, Research, Business, Culture, Learning and International.
The Role
The Board is seeking to appoint an outstanding new Chief Executive to join us in 2026.
At a time of continuous disruption and evolution in the global information system, and abundant opportunity and risk in new technology, the Chief Executive will oversee delivery of our core, statutory functions as the National Library and ensure our continued relevance by adapting to current and future research needs and user expectations.
They will oversee large scale capital development, lead digital transformation as we continue building our core infrastructure to improve cyber resilience and use their strong leadership skills and experience to lead a thriving workforce, developing an inclusive organisational culture for the staff working across our two sites in London and Yorkshire.
In addition to significant operational and strategic oversight, the Chief Executive will continue to foster and build the Library’s relationships with diverse stakeholders including academic and other libraries across the global knowledge ecosystem, government, donors, sector bodies, and with other cultural institutions in the UK and internationally.
This is without doubt one of the most exciting Chief Executive opportunities in the public realm, blending complex digital and library service transformation, significant capital development, overseeing a step-change in our commercial and philanthropic relationships, with the opportunity to lead, motivate and inspire staff and build relationships with peer institutions.
The Chief Executive is responsible for the effective leadership and management of the British Library, within the strategic framework agreed by the British Library Board, and for meeting the statutory objectives under the British Library Act 1972 and functional standards set by the Government commensurate with our status as an Executive Arm’s Length Body of DCMS.
We welcome applications from experienced senior leaders who understand our unique role and value and who can lead a workforce by bringing the passion and commitment to take forward our next chapter, sustaining our role as a leader, convenor and innovator in the information ecosystem, and as a welcoming and empowering place for everyone.
For further information about the role, the package and planned recruitment timelines, or to arrange an informal conversation, please contact Michael Ford, Talent and Resourcing Manager (Michael.T.Ford@bl.uk).
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