Fieldwork Graduate Trainee Programme

Fieldwork Graduate Trainee Programme (6 months) - Oxford and Cambridge

Salary: £26,450 rising to £27,101 after 12 weeks

Oxford Archaeology is one of the largest independent archaeological practices in Europe. We have offices in Cambridge, Lancaster and Oxford and are a registered heritage charity. We are at the forefront of training the next generation of archaeologists, offering a full-time paid training programme for enthusiastic graduate archaeologists to gain commercial fieldwork experience.

Our Cambridge office has a busy and exciting programme of fieldwork across southern England and the East Midlands. The programme includes excavating large Iron Age and Roman settlements in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, large evaluations in Cambridgeshire and Essex and excavations of prehistoric to medieval remains in Suffolk.

Our Oxford office has a busy programme of work both locally and on away based projects, including excavations of Roman and Iron Age Settlements, a large Mesolithic flint excavation and several projects within the City of Oxford.

By the end of the Graduate Trainee Pathway, our trainees are fully equipped with the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to become a Fieldwork Archaeologist. For more information on the training programme see here.

What is the Fieldwork Graduate Trainee Pathway?

You will be trained in all aspects of a field archaeologist role, from excavation techniques to recording features and finds, all under the supervision of an experienced mentor.

You will be predominantly working on open area excavations where you will be excavating and recording archaeological remains from all periods. The programme could take you anywhere in the country; we are currently running sites across a wide geographical area, including a project on the east coast. For sites further away from home, 7-day accommodation can be made available.

Who is OA’s Fieldwork Graduate Trainee (GT) Pathway for?

Our programme is ideal for Graduates with a degree in archaeology, or a related discipline, and presupposes little in the way of archaeological fieldwork skills. You will learn all of this on site under the watchful eye of your experienced mentors. It also helps if you have a full clean driving licence and are based near or can relocate within a daily commutable distance of one of our offices.

How long is OA’s GT Pathway? What will I be paid and what length of contract will I have?

Our comprehensive Fieldwork Graduate Trainee Pathway lasts for 6 months and is split into two 12-week modules. You will be offered an initial 12-week contract starting on an annual salary of £26,450. Your progress will be regularly reviewed with scored milestones every six weeks to ensure you are on track for the next stage of the programme. When, after 12 weeks, you earn the scores required to pass onto the second half of the programme, you will be rewarded with a pay rise to £27,101.

What will I learn on OA’s GT Pathway?

There are nine core Learning Goals in the programme:

• Health and safety, including manual handling
• Recognition and understanding of context
• Safe use of hand excavation tools
• OA recording systems (including our Digital Recording System and Webmap)
• Producing accurate drawings
• Basic survey methods
• Site photography

What happens when I finish the GT Pathway?

Trainees who successfully complete the programme will be offered a full-time permanent contract as a Fieldwork Archaeologist, although this is subject to the availability of work. You will also have attained the necessary experience to obtain PCIfA accreditation with CIfA.

Employee benefits:

• Competitive, constantly benchmarked salary of £26,450, rising to £27,101.
• A company pension scheme with 6% employer contributions. Employees with 10 years of employment or in project management roles gaining access to Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), which is one of the few remaining defined benefit schemes in the UK.
• 21 days annual holiday allowance. Note that the allowance will be 50% of this as the training programme is 6 months long. There will be additional leave for any bank holidays that coincide with your period on the scheme, and OA operates an office shutdown…