The National Archives open an external examination-based competition for the recruitment of two documents and archives managers, according to an order by the Head of Government dated August 7, 2026 and published in JORT No. 81 of August 11, 2026.
The schedule is now fixed: the competition will begin on October 19, 2026 and will continue, if necessary, on the following days. The list of registered applications will close on September 18, 2026.
Two positions open for external recruitment
The order sets the number of posts to be filled at two within the corps of documents and archives managers.
The distinction is important: several texts published in the same issue of JORT also concern the National Archives, but relate to internal competitions, promotions, or professional examinations reserved for the relevant agents.
The competition whose start is planned for October 19 is, however, expressly described as an external examination-based competition.
It therefore constitutes a recruitment announcement directly relevant to candidates outside the administration, subject to meeting the statutory requirements.
What degrees are provided for by the statute?
The opening order of August 7 does not reproduce all the diploma requirements. It refers to the special statute of the corps of documents and archives managers, established by Decree No. 99-675 of March 29, 1999 and amended notably in 2003.
For the grade in question, the statute provides access to the external competition for candidates who have successfully completed at least two years of higher education and hold a diploma in the specialty of documents and archives management.
It also provides access to candidates who have completed at least four years of higher education and hold a master’s degree in librarianship, documentation and archival science, as well as to holders of a training diploma approved at the required level.
The statute also provides an age condition, with specific calculation methods and provisions allowing, in certain situations, the participation of holders of higher education diplomas. The August 7 order expressly cites Decree No. 2006-1031 concerning these calculation methods.
An “examination-based” competition
The text published in JORT specifies that this is a external examination-based competition, i.e. an external competition on examinations.
It refers, for the organization modalities, to the Prime Minister’s decree of June 1, 2004 regulating the external recruitment competition for documents and archives managers in public administrations.
The two dates to remember
For those interested, the two deadlines officially set in the decree are:
September 18, 2026: closing of the candidate registration list;
October 19, 2026: start of the external examination-based competition, with possible continuation on the following days.
The decree provides for two posts.
