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Job details

Job reference: R00001064

Location: London, St Pancras 

Contract: Permanent 

Hours: Full time (36 hours)  

Grade: B

Salary: £34,608 per annum   

About the role 

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Curator of Tibetan Collections to join a team of specialist curators in the Asian and African Collections Department at the British Library.    

The British Library holds a culturally and historically significant collection of printed books and manuscripts in Tibetan. The collections include some of the earliest surviving manuscripts in Old Tibetan, rare and unique works that are part of the Tibetan Buddhist canon and official letters and documents, for example from the Dalai and Panchen Lamas. 

The role involves working with manuscripts and printed material in the major languages covered in the Tibetan collections: Tibetan both Classical and Modern (including Amdo and Khams variants). Additionally, the role has responsibility for material in Old Tibetan and for languages that are part of the Sino-Tibetan or Trans-Himalayan language family.  

The successful post-holder will be responsible for developing, managing and making accessible the Tibetan collections at the British Library. They will also be responsible for exploring innovative ways of presenting, interpreting and promoting the collections through engagement activities with diverse communities, academic and general audiences, as well as through contributions to online resources, documentation, digitisation projects, research, cultural programmes and media. 

The Curator of Tibetan Collections will also make a personal contribution to Tibetan studies based on individual specialist knowledge of the Tibetan collections. The post-holder will have a good working knowledge of both Classical and Modern Tibetan and a degree level qualification in a discipline of central relevance for the Tibetan collections.   

About us 

We are the national library of the UK and we are here for everyone.  Our shelves hold over 170 million items – a living collection that gets bigger every day. Although our roots extend back centuries, we aim to collect everything published in the UK today, tomorrow and far into the future. Our trusted experts care for this collection and open it up for everyone to spark new discoveries, ideas and to help people do incredible things. 

What we can offer you 

• A competitive salary. 
• A fantastic pension scheme with minimum employer contributions of 28.97% (this may be higher dependent on grade). 
• Flexible working hours, with the ability to take up to 5 days flexi leave in a 3-month period. 
• 25 days holiday. 
• Full details of employee benefits can be found on our Careers: Benefits page. 

Things you need to know

• We are unable to provide sponsorship under the UK Skilled Worker visa for this role.
• Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check (DBS check).
• Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn.
• We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse candidates and disabled candidates. Creating an inclusive workplace is the core of our business and a way to engage the diversity of thought that is essential to achieve our aims.

Closing date: 04 January 2026

If you have any questions, please contact BL-recruitment@bl.uk please contact afrah@arabicartsfestival.co.uk – Chair of Board