October 28, 2009 – The University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Nelson Mandela Foundation invite applications for the position of director for their joint Archival Platform Project. The appointment will be for a period of two and a half years as from January 2010.
In contemporary South Africa, memory work takes many forms and draws on a wide range of resources, only some of which are conventional archives. Of critical importance to the sectors engaged in memory work are vigorous networking, sharing of ideas and resources, public engagement and development of best practice around the varied forms of archival resources. At the 2007 conference “National System, Public Interest”, co-convened by the National Archives, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the University of the Witwatersrand, the recommendation was made that the archival and related sectors in South Africa needed a platform to promote these processes. The Archival Platform Project seeks to give effect to this recommendation.
The setup phase of the Platform under its first director, Dr Harriet Deacon, is now complete. She is relocating and we are looking for a new director.
The appointee will, in close collaboration with institutional stakeholders: further develop the idea of the Platform; undertake an ongoing audit of potential institutional participants and promote active participation on the Platform; develop an implementation plan; oversee the implementation of the on-line media strategy based on best practice and the needs of the sector; promote sectoral dialogue through means such as workshops and conferences; and raise supplementary funding.
Key requirements include: a postgraduate degree in a cognate field; at least seven years’ experience in the area of memory work, ideally in both state and civil society structures; extensive project management experience; advanced public communications and writing skills; and demonstrable commitment to human rights in South African contexts.
Experience in overseeing ICT platforms would be an advantage.
Enquiries should be directed to Dr Harriet Deacon by e-mail: director@archivalplatform.org.
The annual remuneration is negotiable.
Please send/e-mail: a letter of motivation; a CV (maximum four pages; no certificates); a one-page summary of your CV; and the names, e-mail addresses and telephone details of two contactable referees to Ms Fiki Nhliziyo (Ref: 2106), University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7700, by November 6, 2009. E-mail: Fiki.Nhliziyo@uct.ac.za. Tel: +27 (0)21 650 3003.
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