Careers

Based in Yorkshire (UK), British Online Archives (BOA) is a leading academic publisher and innovative online archive. Our skilled team curate and digitise fascinating collections of primary sources that illuminate key historical concepts, events, and trends. We work closely with archives, heritage institutions, and libraries across the UK, as well as with students, educators, and researchers. The wide range of unique primary source collections and accompanying resources that we produce cater to those working within various scholarly disciplines, including history, politics, and sociology.

If you are interested in joining our innovative team, please explore our current employment opportunities.

Head of Global Sales

Location: Remote, with some work required in our Wakefield office
Salary: Competitive salary + commission + benefits
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent
Placed On: 26 October
Closes: 23 November
Interview round one: Week beginning 30 November
Final interviews: Week beginning 7 December

 We are seeking an enterprising Head of Global Sales to drive our international growth and revenue. Reporting to the Managing Director, you will develop and execute long-term sales strategies; build and manage sustainable sales pipelines; mentor our academic liaison, marketing department, and regional sales teams; identify new market opportunities; and optimise sales operations.

Hosting over six million records, carefully sourced from private and public archives, such as The National Archives (UK) and British Library, BOA’s specially curated primary source collections cover over 500 years of world history. They boast extensive documentation from across the globe, providing invaluable source material for students and researchers working within a wide range of scholarly disciplines, including history, politics, sociology, and international relations. Our unique digital holdings offer insights into global historical events and trends, typically through a British lens. They serve to broaden our understanding of history, and help us to make sense of contemporary social, cultural, economic, and political landscapes.

This post is available on a full-time basis and will be primarily remote. However, the successful candidate will need to attend our office in Wakefield when required.

Key responsibilities:

• Displaying a hands-on approach to innovation, develop and implement long-term global sales strategies in alignment with the aims of our executive board and broader business goals.
• Identify new markets, monitor competitor activities, as well as key educational and market trends (local and global).
• Engage with existing and new customers, detailing the nature, significance, and value of our primary source collections, as well as delivering outstanding post-sales support.
• Oversee our global sales pipeline and sales negotiations. Manage and optimise our HubSpot CRM system to ensure that pipeline information is accurate.
• Manage client accounts, displaying excellent communication and organisational skills, as well as identifying opportunities to progress relationships.
• Direct our regional sales representatives, driving a high-performance culture across diverse geographies.
• Liaise with and direct our Account Manager and Academic Liaison Manager.
• Engage with our content, editorial, and marketing teams to produce high-quality products and associated promotional campaigns that generate meaningful impact.
• Represent the company at sector conferences, user meetings, and partner events, building positive relationships that lead to sustainable sales pipelines.
• Uphold the company’s core values and ethos.
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Essential requirements:                           

• Undergraduate degree in humanities or equivalent work experience.
• 5+ years of proven experience in sales. Our preferred candidate will display acute commercial awareness and possess a track record of delivering sustainable revenue in a relevant commercial environment.
• Knowledge of the Higher Education landscape, particularly the university sector.   Ideally, our preferred candidate will have experience of working with academic libraries or closely related institutional markets, demonstrating familiarity with key personnel, procurement models, budget cycles, and decision‑making processes.
• 3+ years of management experience. We are seeking an individual who has demonstrable experience of managing complex, consultative sales cycles involving multiple stakeholders, such as academics, librarians, as well as procurement and consortia representatives.
• Frequent domestic travel and occasional international travel are essential in this role.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, organisational, negotiation, and presentation skills.
• Commercial awareness for a growing SME.
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Desirables:

• In-depth knowledge of the academic publishing market and its key personnel.
• Experience of selling digital products.
• Proven experience of managing international teams.
• Evident interest in the study of history and genuine passion for the primary source collections that we curate.
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Benefits:

• Competitive salary.
• Performance-driven bonuses on sales.
• Hybrid/remote working pattern.
• 25 days of holiday.

In order to apply for this role, please submit the following:

• Your CV and a supporting statement of no more than 500 words explaining, with relevant examples, how you meet the job criteria to careers@britishonlinearchives.com.
• A brief (no more than one page) sales vision. In this, we would like you to outline challenges in the current marketplace, what you believe are BOA’s strengths and weaknesses, and how you would utilise and address these in order to optimise sales.
• Answers to the following questions: what has prompted you to start looking for a new opportunity? What is your current salary? This position is primarily remote, but requires attending our office in Wakefield at least once a month. Does this arrangement work for you?

We reserve the right to close this advert early due to the volume of applications that we receive. We therefore encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment. We will respond to all applications during the week beginning 23 November. 

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Assistant Curator (short-term contract)

Location: Remote, with some work required in relevant archives
Salary: £25,000 FTE, pro rata to a 3 or 4 day week
Hours: 21 - 28 per week
Contract Type: Short-term, 6 months from January 2027
Placed On: 26 October
Closes: 9 November
Interviews: Week beginning 30 November

British Online Archives is a digital publisher of primary source collections, drawn from archives across the UK and beyond. Access to these collections is principally licensed to university libraries, for use by academics, researchers, and students. The Content team, within which this Assistant Curator role will sit, is responsible for developing new collections. This involves identifying relevant archival partners, scoping material to be included, and preparing the material for publication.

We are looking to hire an Assistant Curator on a six-month contract, to lead on the development of a new collection. This is a brilliant opportunity for a current PhD student, or recent doctoral graduate, to learn more about digital publishing, bring important primary source material to a wider audience, and apply their academic expertise in a commercial setting.

Key duties in this role will include:

• research for the development of a new primary source collection, in line with the Assistant Curator’s interests
• on-site scoping of primary source material at archives/repositories for the proposed collection
• developing written material to accompany and market the collection
• research and scoping tasks on other curation projects, as required

This is a part-time post, with working hours to range between 21hrs to 28hrs/week. The exact working pattern will be negotiated on appointment.

Person specification

This role would suit a Humanities researcher with an interest in archives and primary source material. Our ideal candidate would be either a PhD student currently enrolled in their doctoral studies, or a post-doctoral Early Career Researcher (ECR). Applicants who are currently working towards their PhD may wish to undertake this temporary post as a placement.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

• creative and lateral thinking in the curation process
• appropriate knowledge of the research landscape
• excellent communication skills, both orally and in writing
• the ability to manage workload, across multiple tasks
• confidence working independently and as part of a team
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To apply, please send the following materials in PDF format to careers@britishonlinearchives by 9th November 2026:

• a CV (maximum two pages)
• a short covering letter setting out your suitability for this role
• a proposal (maximum one page) summarising the collection you would develop if appointed and the primary source materials you would ideally include 

We would particularly welcome collection proposals which broaden and diversify BOA’s current offering, adding new strengths and perspectives.