Assistant Editor, Documents on Irish Foreign Policy – Royal Irish Academy

Department: Documents on Irish Foreign Policy
Contract type: Specific Purpose, to cover career break
Duration: Until 31 July 2028
Reports to: Executive Editor, DIFP

Overview

Applications are invited for the position of Assistant Editor, Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) at the Royal Irish Academy. The Academy is a predominantly publicly funded institution established to promote learning in the sciences and humanities across the island of Ireland. The Academy’s latest strategic plan (2024–28) is available here: https://www.ria.ie/strategic-plan.

DIFP was established in 1997 as a partnership research programme between the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), the National Archives (NA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). DIFP, which is funded by DFAT, publishes documents from Irish government department files and, where required, the private papers of key figures that are considered important or useful for an understanding of the development and execution of Irish foreign policy.

DIFP contributes to a deeper understanding of Ireland’s foreign policy and encourages, at home and abroad, public interest in and research on Irish foreign policy as an important area of modern Irish history. DIFP occupies a central place in the research infrastructure for modern Irish history. Its staff play an active role in Ireland and internationally as public historians. Fourteen volumes have been published since 1998, charting the development of Irish foreign policy from 1919 to 1973. The publication of these volumes is DIFP’s core task.

Key purpose of role

This vacancy has arisen as a consequence of a member of DIFP staff taking a three-year career break. The appointee will be required to deal with a broad range of research, editorial, publishing and communications tasks. They will be involved in core tasks with the DIFP team and will be required to organise research programme subtasks under the supervision of the Executive Editor. They will work in conjunction with all DIFP staff and will report to the Executive Editor in all matters relevant to the post to ensure effective and efficient delivery of DIFP goals.

Key accountabilities

• Work either on their own or with the other DIFP Assistant Editors on strategic and day-to-day tasks as part of the DIFP research and publication programme, as directed by the Executive Editor of DIFP
• Read files and review documents, generally from the 1970s and 1980s, as part of the document selection process for DIFP volumes; this task may involve work in a variety of archives and will require a high level of competency in decision making and in working individually and as part of a wider team
• Work alongside and with the other members of the editorial team to ensure the timely production and publication of DIFP volumes. Publication and production duties include the checking of selected documents against proofs, preparing drafts of footnote texts and biographical notes and assembling lists of documents selected. Duties also involve liaison with copyeditors, typesetters, printers and other service providers that contribute to the publication of DIFP
• Work with other DIFP team members in publishing DIFP volumes online; this will include proofreading text, checking the functionality of online infrastructure and working with IT specialists, as required
• Participate in DIFP special projects as required. This may involve working individually on delegated tasks under the direction of the Executive Editor or as part of a team
• Participate in outreach as part of the public history engagement of the work of the DIFP research programme. This may involve occasional working at weekends and outside office hours
• Attend DIFP and RIA meetings, prepare and disseminate draft minutes, execute decisions and ensure agreed actions are followed up in a timely manner
• Contribute to organisation-level initiatives and to collaborative work within the Academy, as required
• Represent DIFP nationally and internationally, as required
• Discharge other duties deemed appropriate by the Executive Editor, within the scope of the role

Note: To qualify candidates must be eligible by the date of any job offer. This job description is a guide to broad areas of responsibility and accountability and should not be regarded as a comprehensive listing. The job description may be subject to review in the view of new structures and / or the changing needs of the Academy.

Person specification

The post will be filled by a trained historian with a doctorate and proven publishing and editorial experience in modern Irish history or a cognate area. The successful candidate should have a good understanding of the digital research environment, online publishing and digital humanities. They should also have expertise in the advocacy of public history.

Essential criteria:

• A doctorate in modern Irish history or a cognate area
• A minimum of two years’ working experience in a similar role
• Proven archival research experience
• Experience in the preparation and publication of historical source materials
• The ability to manage, assist and deliver on a suite of research projects from inception to completion
• The ability to work under pressure to deadlines and use their initiative individually and as part of a team
• A proven publication record
• Dissertation-level fluency and precision in written English
• The ability to be an advocate for DIFP, to represent the Royal Irish Academy in public and to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to develop and maintain good working relationships within and outside the organisation
• Excellent MS Office skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Demonstrable social networking experience
• A high level of accuracy and attention to detail in both scholarly and administrative roles

Desirable criteria:

• Proven research experience in Irish diplomatic and/or international history
• Experience of working with historical photographs and other visual source materials
• Experience of working with large research projects in the cultural heritage, humanities or social science domains
• Experience in drafting briefing materials
• Demonstrable experience of proofreading skills
• The ability to be resourceful, enthusiastic and to perform well under pressure
• Experience of working within a scholarly environment
• Working knowledge of the Irish language

Further information

Salary: Salary is on the AES Scale €53,640 – 71,282. Candidates should note that entry will be at the minimum of the scale and the rate of remuneration may be adjusted from time to time in line with government pay policy. If you are currently a serving civil or public servant, your entry point to the PayScale may be higher based on your current salary.

Hours of work: The normal hours of work are 35 hours per week.

Overtime is not paid in respect of excess attendance which, should it arise, is discharged by time off in lieu at times agreed in advance with the Executive Director.

This role is suitable for blended working.

Leave: The annual leave entitlement is 25 days per annum, pro-rata for shorter periods. Entitlement to leave for public holidays is in accordance with the terms of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. There may be a requirement to take up to four days annual leave where the Academy is closed at Christmas.

Employee benefits: Examples of some of our current employee benefits include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Family friendly policies
• Blended working policy
• Availability of an optical benefit scheme
• Availability of a cycle to work scheme
• A range of learning and developmental opportunities
• Sick leave scheme
• Paid maternity, adoptive and paternity Leave
• Automatically entered into a pension scheme
• Employee assistance programme

Medical: Staff shall, if required, and at the expense of the Academy, submit to a medical examination by a registered medical practitioner nominated by the Academy and shall authorise such medical practitioner to disclose and to discuss with the Academy the results of the examination and the matters which arise from it so that the Academy can ascertain any matters that they consider might impair a staff member from properly discharging his/her duties.

Pension: Details of the appropriate pension scheme will be provided upon determination of appointee’s status.

Permanent pension contribution: This appointment is subject to the Additional Superannuation Contribution (ASC) effective from 1 January 2019.

Application process

Completed applications consisting of one electronic copy (with all documents contained in one Word document) must be submitted to recruitment@ria.ie in the order as set out below:

• A brief cover letter demonstrating how you meet the qualifications/experience for the position (max. 700 words)
• A curriculum vitae summarising your qualifications and relevant experience (max. 4 pages)
• In addition, you should include, as a separate document (in MS Word or PDF format), any one piece of peer-reviewed published research work, not exceeding 10,000 words (including footnotes).

Applicants will be shortlisted based on information provided in their application.

Please note: failure to fulfil the application requisites will deem the application invalid.

Closing date: 3pm, 30.06.2025. Late applications will not be considered.

It is anticipated that interviews will be held week commencing 07.07.2025.

Please note, this interview will include competency-based interview questions.

Candidates should note that panels may be formed from which future positions may be filled.

The Royal Irish Academy will not be responsible for refunding any expenses incurred by Candidates.

The Royal Irish Academy is an equal opportunities employer.