Professional Fellow (Arches Project)

Description

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) seeks applicants for a Professional Fellowship for the Arches Project, which supports the open-source Arches Heritage Data Management Platform. Arches integrates a robust suite of modern and innovative software tools, including semantic, geospatial, and web technologies, for a broad range of data management needs of the international cultural heritage community. The Fellowship will provide an opportunity for professional development for an individual with interests in the management and dissemination of cultural heritage data and in shaping the future of the technological tools that support this.  The Professional Fellow will work as an integral part of the Arches Project team, engaging with a diverse and interdisciplinary community of heritage organizations, funders, software developers and service providers, and individual heritage professionals such as planners, archaeologists, architects, conservators, researchers, scientists, and educators. 

The GCI Professional Fellowship program is designed to provide unique formative experiences to professionals working for the advancement of heritage conservation practice at an early phase of their careers. The Professional Fellow, who has no more than five years of experience beyond academic training, will join team members on an established project and gain additional research and work experience alongside experts in the cultural heritage field.  This fellowship is full-time (in-person at Getty) for a period of three years, from 2025 to 2028, after which the fellow will use broadened professional experience for career advancement and to pursue additional opportunities in the field.

Major Job Responsibilities

Arches Project is expanding its global open-source community and continuing software development and enhancements, including the Arches for Science application for the management of heritage science data and lab tasks. The project employs a team with diverse backgrounds, including cultural heritage, data management, and more technical software experience, and the ideal candidate could have strengths in any one of these areas, not necessarily all.  The GCI Professional Fellow (Arches Project) will have the opportunity to work on a range of activities, which, depending on their skills, experience and interests, may include:

• Liaising with and helping support the Arches open-source global community. This may include participating in meetings, conferences, webinar presentations, and helping moderate the Arches online forum.
• Participating in projects with stakeholders in the community by contributing - perspective and knowledge of cultural heritage and/or data management.
• Creating informational content, including presentations, webinars, forum/blog writing, social media copy, publications, and potentially technical documentation.
• Assisting with the facilitation of Arches regional and topical user and working groups.
• Contributing to governance-related activities of the Arches Project.
• Becoming familiar with the capabilities of the Arches platform in order to engage with the cultural heritage community (including via conversations on our community forum, webinars, community meetings, potentially conference talks, or other channels)

The fellow will have opportunities to contribute to dissemination of Arches-related work to the heritage conservation community. Professional development will be encouraged and supported through participation in professional meetings, community events, and interaction with Getty staff and/or external professionals. 

Qualifications

Applicants should have a graduate degree in information sciences, information technologies, science, cultural heritage or related discipline, and 3–5 years of work experience in related fields.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Experience with data management, especially as it relates to cultural heritage and/or science data preferred. 
• Strong general information technology skill set with the ability to learn new software approaches and methods quickly.
• Strong verbal and written English communication skills and ability to communicate complex and technical information to a variety of audiences.
• Demonstrable aptitude for working across disciplines.
• An understanding of cultural heritage practices and values preferred.