A historian job description explains the research, analysis, writing, and public or organizational work expected of a historian in a particular role. Use the blank template below to define the position, then tailor its duties and qualifications to the employer’s collections, subject area, audience, and priorities.
What a Historian Does
Historians investigate the past by examining evidence and interpreting how people, institutions, and events changed over time. Their work can involve original research, but the job is not limited to reading books or writing academic articles. Depending on the employer, a historian might prepare a historical report, advise on interpretation of a site, create educational material, conduct oral-history interviews, or explain the background of an organization’s records.
There is no single standard historian job description. A university role may emphasize teaching and scholarly publication; a museum role may focus on collections, exhibitions, and visitors; and a public-sector or consulting role may center on research reports, historic resources, or policy and project needs. A useful description states what this particular historian will produce and whom the work will serve.
Core Responsibilities
Responsibilities should describe observable work rather than broad aspirations such as “preserve history.” Select duties that genuinely belong to the position, and distinguish regular responsibilities from occasional projects. Common examples include:
- Identify research questions and develop a plan using appropriate primary and secondary sources.
- Locate, review, compare, and cite documents, photographs, maps, recordings, objects, and other relevant evidence.
- Assess the provenance, context, reliability, and limitations of sources; note gaps or conflicting accounts.
- Write clear, evidence-based histories, reports, interpretive text, articles, presentations, or educational resources for the intended audience.
- Conduct or support oral-history interviews, following the organization’s consent, recording, and documentation procedures.
- Explain findings to colleagues, students, visitors, clients, or community partners through talks, tours, workshops, or briefings.
- Collaborate with archivists, curators, educators, librarians, community members, and subject specialists where appropriate.
- Track project schedules, research notes, citations, permissions, and deliverables in accordance with workplace procedures.
Some positions also include teaching, supervising interns, managing a research budget, contributing to grant proposals, or advising on the care and interpretation of historical resources. Include these only when they are part of the job, and specify the expected level of responsibility.
Skills and Qualifications
Requirements vary by subject, employer, and level of responsibility. Many professional historian positions ask for a degree in history or a related field, but the required level can range from a bachelor’s degree with relevant experience to advanced graduate study. A position involving university teaching or specialized scholarly research may require a doctorate; that should not be treated as a universal requirement for historians in other settings. Employers may also value equivalent experience, language skills, regional knowledge, or expertise with a particular period or topic.
Separate essential qualifications from preferred ones. This helps applicants understand what they must bring on day one and what they could develop after appointment. Useful capabilities to consider include:
- Research design, source evaluation, historical analysis, and accurate citation.
- Strong writing and editing, including the ability to adapt tone and detail for different audiences.
- Clear oral communication, listening, and presentation skills.
- Careful organization of notes, references, research files, and concurrent assignments.
- Familiarity with relevant archives, collections, databases, languages, or research methods, if the job needs them.
- Sound judgment when evidence is incomplete, contested, sensitive, or open to more than one interpretation.
- Ability to work independently and contribute constructively to a team.
Instead of asking for an indefinite number of years of experience, describe the work the successful applicant should already be able to do. For example, “experience producing a documented research report” is more informative than “experienced historian.”
Where Historians Work
Historian roles appear in a range of settings, and the employer’s purpose should shape the description. In a museum or historic site, the historian may research objects, buildings, people, or events and turn findings into labels, tours, and programs. In a university, the role may combine research with teaching, advising, and publication. A government department or other public institution may need histories that explain the development of a program, place, or policy.
Businesses, cultural organizations, and research projects may hire historians to document institutional history or investigate a defined topic. Nonprofit and community organizations may seek research that supports exhibitions, educational work, or local heritage projects. These are examples, not a complete list: job titles and duties differ, and the word “historian” alone does not identify the work setting or level of authority.
How the Work Usually Proceeds
A clear job description can show how research moves from a question to a usable result. The exact process differs, but a historian commonly begins by agreeing on the scope, audience, timeline, and deliverable with a supervisor or project partner. A focused question helps prevent a project from becoming an unbounded survey of a subject.
- Scope the work: Clarify the research question, time period, geography, audience, format, deadline, and any constraints.
- Plan the research: Identify likely repositories, source types, relevant expertise, and a realistic sequence of work.
- Gather and assess evidence: Review sources systematically, record citations, and consider who created each source, why, and under what circumstances.
- Interpret and draft: Build a supported account, distinguish established evidence from uncertainty, and make the reasoning understandable to the intended reader.
- Review and deliver: Check facts and references, seek appropriate subject or community review, revise, and provide the agreed product in the required format.
Not every role owns every stage. A researcher may supply findings to an editor or curator; a project historian may coordinate contributors; and a teacher may use research primarily to develop instruction. The description should make those boundaries clear.
Research Ethics and Responsible Interpretation
Historical evidence is created by people in particular circumstances, and the surviving record is often incomplete. A responsible historian explains what the evidence can support without presenting inference as certainty. When accounts disagree, the job may require weighing their context and reliability, documenting the disagreement, and describing why a conclusion is provisional.
Descriptions should also reflect the care needed when research concerns living people, traumatic events, marginalized communities, or culturally sensitive materials. Depending on the project, responsible practice can include consulting relevant communities, using respectful and precise language, protecting confidential information, and following the employer’s procedures for interviews, access, and permissions. Do not imply that a historian can speak for a community simply because they have researched its history.
These expectations are best written as practical duties, such as “document source limitations” or “consult designated partners on interpretive material,” rather than vague claims that the employee will produce a completely neutral account. Historical interpretation requires judgment; transparency about evidence and method makes that judgment easier to evaluate.
Historian Job Description Template
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Job title | |
| Organization or department | |
| Reports to | |
| Position purpose | |
| Primary subject, period, or place | |
| Main audience or project partners | |
| Core responsibilities | |
| Expected research products | |
| Required education or equivalent experience | |
| Essential skills and knowledge | |
| Preferred qualifications | |
| Work arrangement and schedule | |
| Travel or public-facing duties | |
| Project period or review date | |
| How to apply or express interest |
Fictional Sample Description
Sample — fictional details: The Harborview Local History Center seeks a part-time historian to research the history of the fictional town of Harborview for a community exhibition. Reporting to the exhibition coordinator, the historian will review local newspapers, public records, photographs, and donated materials; maintain citations and research notes; draft approximately 1,200 words of interpretive text; and present preliminary findings at one community review meeting. Applicants should have a degree in history or relevant equivalent experience, demonstrated research and writing ability, and familiarity with local or regional history. Experience working with community collections is preferred. The historian will identify gaps and conflicting accounts in the evidence and flag material requiring further review.
This sample is deliberately specific about audience, sources, output, and collaboration. In a real posting, replace the fictional organization, subject, and deliverable with accurate details, and confirm that the stated workload and qualifications match the position.
How to Customize the Description
Before publishing a description, decide what problem the role is meant to solve. A curator seeking research for a single exhibition needs a different position from a department building a long-term institutional history. Write the purpose in one or two sentences, then connect each duty to a real project or ongoing responsibility.
Check the description against these practical questions:
- What historical subject, period, place, or collection will the person work on?
- What are the expected outputs: reports, publications, lessons, exhibits, interviews, or presentations?
- Who reviews the work, and who will use or encounter it?
- Which research methods, languages, or collection knowledge are genuinely essential?
- Does the role teach, supervise, travel, manage projects, or work directly with the public?
- What is the appointment type, schedule, location, and expected project duration?
- Are responsibilities and qualifications written in accessible, specific language?
Be candid about constraints. If the historian will work with limited source access, a short deadline, or a narrowly defined project, say so where appropriate. Avoid implying that the position has authority over archives, collections, or community materials if those decisions belong to another role or partner.
Common Drafting Problems
A frequent mistake is combining several professions into one description without explaining how the duties fit together. Historians may work alongside archivists, curators, educators, and records specialists, but those roles are not interchangeable. An archivist’s work can include arranging, describing, and providing access to records; a curator may be responsible for collections or exhibitions; and a historian’s central contribution is historical research and interpretation. Some jobs legitimately combine these functions, but the posting should name the combined duties and make the priorities clear.
Another problem is using abstract requirements such as “passion for history,” “excellent communication,” or “must be an expert.” Such phrases do little to help applicants judge fit. State the actual task: for example, writing concise public-facing interpretation, evaluating conflicting evidence, or presenting research to a non-specialist audience. Avoid inflated qualification lists that are unrelated to the work, and do not require an advanced degree merely because it seems conventional if the job does not need one.
Finally, do not promise certainty where the evidence may remain inconclusive. A good historian can produce a careful account and explain its limits; no job description can guarantee that every question will have a definitive answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a historian job description include?
Include the role’s purpose, subject or project, reporting relationship, principal duties, expected outputs, essential qualifications, work arrangement, and application details. Tailor the content to the employer rather than relying on a generic list of historian tasks.
What qualifications are needed to be a historian?
Requirements depend on the job. Some positions ask for an undergraduate degree and relevant research experience, while specialized research or academic posts may require graduate study. Employers may also look for subject expertise, language ability, writing skills, or experience with particular sources.
Is a historian the same as an archivist?
No. Historians research and interpret the past, while archivists commonly organize, describe, preserve, and facilitate access to records. Their work can overlap, and some positions combine responsibilities, but the job description should state which duties apply.
What does a historian produce at work?
Depending on the setting, a historian may produce research reports, scholarly writing, exhibition text, educational resources, oral-history documentation, presentations, or an institutional history. The description should identify the outputs expected for that particular role.
How do I make a historian job description more specific?
Name the topic or collection, audience, research methods, deliverables, timeline, and collaborators. Replace broad qualities with concrete tasks, and separate qualifications that are essential from those that are preferred.