Senior Digital Archivist

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Digital Archivist at UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement, based in our Northbrook, IL office.

The Senior Digital Archivist will plan and manage the digital archives program, including the acquisition, processing, cataloging and storage of born-digital records, and the creation of metadata descriptions for UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement, and UL Solutions (the UL enterprise). This role is responsible for developing, initiating, and executing a plan for ingesting, preserving, organizing, and providing access to the digital materials created by the UL enterprise.

Underwriters Laboratories

At UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement (UL), we wake up every day with a common purpose: to make the world a safer, more secure and sustainable place. Science is in our DNA; we are endlessly curious and passionate about seeking and speaking the truth. We take delight in knowing that our work makes a meaningful contribution to society, and we are proud that our culture is centered on integrity, collaboration, inclusion and excellence. UL stands at the forefront of technological advancement, and we are continually challenged to find new ways to foster innovation and positive change. Satisfying? Yes. Exciting? Absolutely!

As the Senior Digital Archivist, you will play a key role in the rapid growth of UL as you:

• Analyze, develop, and propose appropriate strategies, risk criteria, and industry standards for the digital archives program to preserve historical and born-digital archival records.
• Acquire, arrange, process, and preserve digital archival materials.
• Perform assessments and provide recommendations for software tools and systems suitable for long-term digital preservation.
• Safeguard intellectual property and digital assets in coordination and collaboration with legal and IT.
• Create indexes, meta tags, and descriptions for archival materials.
• Digitize archival material as needed.
• Identify processes and create process documents for digitizing all types of digital media.
• Research and respond to reference questions from internal and external stakeholders.
• Collaborate on special projects with colleagues from across the enterprise.
• Perform other duties as directed.

While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional competencies and personal attributes:

• Demonstrated knowledge of archival theory and practice, including experience processing archival records.
• Experience processing digital archival collections including development of descriptive metadata.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, project management, and time management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to communicate clearly to others about our organizations' history.
• High degree of curiosity to learn about the organizations' mission and history.
• Ability to advocate for the archives and lead tours to educate and inform others about our organization.
• Maintain a high level of awareness of national trends and standards in archival management and collection preservation.
• This job requires the ability to sit at a workstation for long periods of time, bend, lift up to 40 lbs., and have the ability to climb a rolling ladder in order to place items on high shelves.

 Professional education and experience requirements for the role include:

• Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) or Master of Art degree in history or related field required.
• Minimum 2 years of professional experience in processing digital collections.
• Experience using Lucidea or other archival cataloging software, metadata description.
• Experience with Microsoft 365 products, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, SharePoint, and Yammer preferred.
• Project management skills, preferred.
• Digital Archives Specialist Certificate from the Society of American Archivists preferred.

UL has COVID-19 protocols and policies in place to ensure the safety of our employees, customers and clients. Effective November 1, 2021, the company mandates that employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment (except where prohibited by law), subject to reasonable accommodation as required by law.

• Mission: For UL, corporate and social responsibility isn’t new. Making the world a safer, more secure and sustainable place has been our business model for the last 128 years and is deeply ingrained in everything we do.
• People: Ask any UL employee what they love most about working here, and you’ll almost always hear, “the people.” Going beyond what is possible is the standard at UL. We’re able to deliver the best because we employ the best.
• Interesting work: Every day is different for us here as we eagerly anticipate the next innovation that our customers’ create. We’re inspired to take on the challenge that will transform how people live, work and play. And as a global company, in many roles, you will get international experience working with colleagues around the world.
• Grow & achieve: We learn, work and grow together with targeted development, reward and recognition programs as well as our very own UL University that offers extensive training programs for employees at all stages, including a technical training track for applicable roles.
• Total Rewards: All employees at UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagementare eligible for bonus compensation. We offer comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. a generous 401k matching structure of up to 5% of eligible pay. Additionally, we invest an additional 4% into your retirement saving fund after your first year of continuous employment. Depending on your role, you can work with your manager on flexible working arrangements. We also provide employees with paid time off including vacation, holiday, sick and volunteer time off.

UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement are nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing safety science research through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. We conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data, convene experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide safe commercialization of evolving technologies. We foster communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. Our organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security, and sustainability, ultimately enhancing societal well-being.

Our wholly owned subsidiary, UL Solutions, advances our shared public safety mission. We fund our work through grants, the licensing of standards documents and the business activities of UL Solutions, which conducts testing, verification and certification, and provides training and advisory services, along with data-driven reporting and decision-making tools for customers around the world.

To learn more, visit our websites UL.org and ULSE.org.