Archivist / Archive Manager

Archivist / Archive Manager Henry Moore Studios & Gardens

Information for Candidates October 2026

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Archivist / Archive Manager

Full time (35 hours/week)

Salary: £36,000 - £42,000

Plus 12.5% employer’s pension contribution

Perry Green, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire SG10 6EE

The Henry Moore Foundation is a charity founded by the artist in 1977 to encourage public appreciation of the visual arts. We hold the largest collection of artworks by Moore, from monumental bronzes to carvings, and drawings to tapestries, and an archive containing over three-quarters of a million items. The Foundation is head-quartered at Moore’s former home in the tranquil hamlet of Perry Green, mid-way between London and Cambridge. Here, our visitors can experience the studios where Moore created his remarkable works, many of which are displayed onsite, and which also tour in national and international exhibitions.

Reporting to the Senior Curator of Collections & Research, this vital role oversees the preservation and management of the collections of the Henry Moore Archive, and both initiates and supports a wide range of research, engagement activities and publications working with Henry Moore Foundation staff, external researchers and the public.

Supported by the Archive Collections Coordinator and the Digital Image Coordinator, and working closely with colleagues tasked with the conservation, digitisation, dissemination and licensing of the collections, the post-holder is one of the Foundation’s key specialists in Henry Moore.

The post-holder plays a central role in the dissemination of the Foundation’s knowledge, participation in professional networks and to ensure that the Archive is publicly impactful and outward facing. They work closely with colleagues across the organisation to support creatively and proactively income generation from licensing and public programmes.

The successful candidate will hold an arts degree plus ideally a relevant post-graduate qualification in Archive Administration, Archives and Records Management, Information Management or a related discipline, together with practical experience in archive management and cataloguing. They will have strong organisational and communication skills, experience in digital records management and skills in and experience of supervising staff, volunteers or projects, and the ability to contribute to the ongoing development of the archive service.

Further information about The Henry Moore Foundation and our programmes is available at our website: henry-moore.org

Please return your completed form to the HR team at [email removed] by Monday 16 November 2026, 9:00.

Interviews will take place for shortlisted candidates in Perry Green, Hertfordshire on Wednesday 25 November 2026.

1. About the Henry Moore Foundation

The Henry Moore Foundation was established by one of the great sculptors of the twentieth century. Today it is the largest artist-endowed grant-giving foundation in Europe. At The Foundation, we would like as many people as possible to enjoy and appreciate sculpture and in particular the work of Henry Moore. We want to inspire and inform people of all ages and backgrounds, whether they have an interest in the arts, are studying sculpture or visiting with their family for a day out. We want to extend our reach to worldwide audiences through international touring of our collection, and to support the development of sculpture through our grants programme.

The Foundation is overseen by a Board of Trustees, with day-to-day management being delegated to the Senior Management Team. We employ around 100 people across our two sites in East Hertfordshire and Leeds and are privileged to be supported by 50+ volunteers each year.

The team is encouraged to uphold our core values: Generous & Inclusive; Respect & Value;
Visionary & Creative.

2. Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, Perry Green

Perry Green is the small hamlet near Much Hadham in rural East Hertfordshire, where Henry Moore made his home. Moore lived in Hoglands with his family for nearly half a century and created his extraordinary sculptures, prints and drawings in the various studios within the grounds. In 1977 Perry Green became the headquarters of the Henry Moore Foundation.

We welcome 16,000 to 20,000 visitors, plus 2,000 school children to Henry Moore Studios & Gardens each year, where they experience Moore’s home and studios and learn about his monumental bronze sculptures sited in the natural environment as he preferred. Our grounds cover 72 acres of beautiful countryside, from natural meadows and woodland to formal gardens.

Perry Green is home to the Henry Moore collections consisting of over 20,000 objects, including monumental bronzes, wood and stone carvings, maquettes, drawings, graphics, tapestries and textiles, plus the Henry Moore Archive containing over three-quarters of a million items collected throughout the artist’s life and up to the present day. We support research into Henry Moore and organise a busy programme of national and international loans and exhibitions each year, introducing Henry Moore to thousands of people worldwide.

We opened a state of the art archive building designed by Hugh Broughton Architects in 2016. More recently we have worked with DSDHA architects to successfully extended the Sheep Field Barn Gallery to accommodate a refurbished exhibition gallery with new learning and activity spaces. This facility opened to the public in April 2026, being warmly received by press and visitors alike.

3. Henry Moore Institute, Leeds

The Institute is firmly rooted in Leeds, where we work in partnership with Leeds Art Gallery to manage the sculpture collection and archive of Leeds Museums and Galleries, a collaboration that has built one of the strongest public collections of sculpture in Britain. The Institute is a world-recognised centre for the study of sculpture, where we aim to make a significant impact on the future of art history, placing sculpture right at the centre. We achieve this through a programme of exhibitions, engagement and research that consistently re-thinks how we understand sculpture today, continuing Moore’s legacy by making sculpture a necessary and relevant part of contemporary culture.

The archive of sculptors’ papers and artefacts in Leeds is managed by the locally based Archivist.

In 2024 the Institute underwent an ambitious refurbishment project, delivering elevated spaces and offering an enhanced experience for our audiences.

The Institute attracts around 100,000 visitors each year with free admission and offers a busy programme of research and engagement activities.

4. Grants

Our grants programme continues Moore’s legacy by supporting the growth and development of sculpture (historical, modern and contemporary) and through funding research that expands the appreciation of sculpture. The reach and impact of our grants programme, including the annual Artist Awards, is important to the Foundation.

5. Aims of the Foundation

The Foundation has adopted a new set of aims that will inform strategic decision-making and allocation of resources over the next five years 2026-31:

a. Unify our activities across the Foundation to deliver streamlined, integrated programmes.

b. Establish ambitious partnerships that elevate The Foundation’s role as a global authority on sculpture and extend our impact.

c. Place audiences at the heart of all we do – ensuring our work reaches and inspires the greatest number of people through meaningful engagement and access.

d. Empower the study and development of sculpture by connecting world-class research, radical creativity and compelling storytelling.

e. Futureproof a