NYS Education Department's Office of Cultural Education seeks an Archives Conservation Specalist 1 (deadline 5 November)

I usually don't post non-electronic records jobs, but this one's kind of special: the New York State Education Department's Office of Cultural Education oversees the State Archives, the State Library, the State Museum, and the State Office of Educational Television and Public Broadcasting.

If you're an experienced paper conservator who likes working with amazing collections and cool colleagues and who lives or would like to live in the historic Hudson Valley, the New York State Education Department's Office of Cultural Education would to hear from you:

The State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education (OCE) is seeking to fill an Archives Conservation Specialist (ACS) 1 position.  Under the direction of an ACS 3, the incumbent will perform conservation/preservation activities for paper-based collections in the Office of Cultural Education.   Collections encompass, but are not limited to, archival holdings, manuscripts, prints, drawings, and maps.  Abiding by the American Institute for Conservation Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice, duties will include, but not be limited to, the following: 

• Examine, treat, document, and house high priority paper based collections and prepare the collections for exhibition;
• Participate in collections stewardship activities and teams,  including: environmental monitoring programs, including operation of dataloggers, reporting of data, and collaboration with facilities managers and building engineers to improve conditions; emergency planning and response, including staff training, maintenance of supplies, protection of collections from hazards, immediate response to disasters, and evaluation and treatment of damaged collections; stacks and storage maintenance and housekeeping; preservation assessment of collections and recommending preventive and remedial preservation action and maintaining documentation of preservation needs and actions; planning and supervising rehousing and processing activities for selected paper based   collections; preparation of selected paper based collections for reformatting initiatives;
• Deliver presentations and demonstrations illustrating conservation principles, techniques and results;
• Provide preservation and conservation advice to government customers and the public;
• Provide advice, assistance, and training to staff as needed and participate in disaster response outreach activities;
• Participate in OCE lab management activities, including maintaining inventory of supplies, and maintenance and use of OCE equipment; an
• Supervise Historic Conservation Technician, interns, and support staff, as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: For provisional appointment, candidates must have a Master’s degree in paper conservation, OR a Bachelor’s degree and two years of experience as a conservation technician with duties including one or more of the following: assisting conservator with conservation lab treatments, such as washing, lining and deacidification; independently carrying out conservation lab treatments, such as dry cleaning, mending, or fabrication of custom storage containers; monitoring and recording environmental conditions; overseeing technical components of micrographics or imaging operations; or assisting conservator with preservation training activities.

The starting salary for this position is $41,170 (in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement, this figure is not negotiable). Within approximately seven years, annual performance increases will bring the successful candidate's salary up to a maximum of $52,552. The State of New York offers a comprehensive package of benefits.

As noted above, the deadline for applying for this position is 5 November 2013. For more information and detailed application instructions, consult the position description.