Role Summary
Legacy Estates Records Officer (Building Drawing Inventory Officer)
Full-time
On-site, based in Bloomsbury London
Fixed term (12 months)
£41,723 - £45,587 per annum
Application deadline: 12pm (midday) on Monday, 1 June 2026
About the role
The Museum is seeking a Building Drawing Inventory Officer (Legacy Estates Records Officer) to play a key role in cataloging approximately 12,000 hard-copy building drawings and schematics. You will be responsible for creating a comprehensive and reliable inventory of the Museum’s legacy building and services drawings, helping to ensure accurate information is available to support major projects and daytoday operations.
This role involves working with the original documentation, quickly and precisely capturing the information on the document, and making an assessment of its relevance. Documentation includes various types of building and electrical schematics, as well as structural engineering drawings. Being able to accurately read and process these will be vital for you to be successful in this role.
This is a focused, project‑based role supporting the Museum’s Building Information Management (BIM) strategy to improve how building data and records are managed and accessed as part of a major programme of estate renewal and capital investment.
This is an exciting role where you will be able to see how the British Museum’s buildings have evolved and changed, especially its New Wing from its design phase in 1973.
About you
1. Educated to degree level in a relevant subject or equivalent qualification/experience.
2. Able to review, document and structure building related data from numerous sources ensuring accuracy.
3. Experience of document, file or inventory management systems as well as creating and populating searchable data sets.
4. Ideally you will have experience working with archives or records containing building or services information with knowledge of construction environments.
5. Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities and meet agreed deadlines.
6. Have a strategic approach and able to communicate with and guide colleagues working in the Museum’s archives, Estates and Capital Projects department, senior management, and other colleagues as required.
Key areas of responsibility
7. Maintain and improve a clear methodology for inventorying legacy building and services drawings, including milestones and priorities.
8. Work with Museum archivists and stakeholders to catalogue hardcopy drawings, recording agreed metadata such as date, revision, discipline, location and status.
9. Create and maintain a structured register in which each drawing is uniquely identified.
10. Support decisions on retention, disposal and digitisation priorities based on use, relevance and currency of information.
11. Prepare high-quality work packages to support the digitisation of selected drawings.
12. Liaise with stakeholders to confirm future storage and access arrangements for retained hardcopy and digital records.
13. Support the population of the Museum’s Common Data Environment with relevant legacy information.
14. Make building information available to support capital projects and operational teams as required.
The Masterplan
The British Museum is undertaking its biggest transformation since its founding nearly 300 years ago. This physical and intellectual transformation includes large scale building and gallery transformation, new ways of connecting with audiences and different ways of working. As we look towards this exciting future, we remain guided by the words of our founder Hans Sloane - who dreamed of a museum connecting all arts and sciences, which would be accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Benefits
At the British Museum, we believe our people are at the heart of everything we do and have designed a benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary. Our full list of benefits can be found here, but we’ve outlined some highlights below:
15. Free exhibition entry for you and guests, exclusive private views, ICOM and reciprocal museum access.
16. 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays and 2.5 privilege days (and +5 days after 10 years).
17. Peer support and allyship with five diversity networks for community.
18. Learning and development through courses, mentoring and Athena as well as support for professional qualifications.
19. Employee Assistance Programme available 24/7 for counselling, wellbeing support and more.
20. Civil Service Pension Scheme with a secure, inflation‑linked defined benefit.
21. Interest‑free loans including season ticket, rental deposit and bicycle loans.
Our Values
Our values drive everything we do, from how we handle our objects to how we work in our team to fostering a culture where everyone feels heard and empowered:
22. Care Deeply
23. Embrace the Unknown
24. Spark Curiosity
25. Value Many Voices
These are a core part of how we recruit. Throughout the application, interview and selection process, we look for examples of how candidates demonstrate these behaviours in their own work and experiences. We encourage you to familiarise yourself with our values and reflect them in your application.
Additional details
At the British Museum, we are committed to a fair and inclusive recruitment process where every applicant has the opportunity to present their genuine strengths and experience in their own voice.
If you have any additional needs that we should be aware of to support you with your application, please provide details to bmrecruit@britishmuseum.org.
The Museum also adheres to the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) for pre-employment screening of Civil Servants