Senior Archaeologist

Who We Are

Founded in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a private, not-for-profit educational, historic, and cultural institution that owns and operates one of the largest and best-known museum complexes in the world. Our mission is “that the future may learn from the past” through preserving and restoring 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia’s colonial capital. We engage, inform, and inspire people to learn about this historic capital, the events that occurred here, and the diverse peoples who helped shape a new nation.  

Today, Colonial Williamsburg is the largest living history museum in the U.S. The Historic Area is the 301-acre restored colonial capital with 89 original buildings and 525 buildings reconstructed to how they appeared in the 18th century through extensive archaeological, architectural, and documentary research. The Historic Area is staffed by highly trained, historically dressed interpreters and expert tradespeople who bring the 18th century to life. The Foundation also owns and operates two world-class museums, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, The Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute, and a renowned research library, the John D Rockefeller Jr Library.

Additionally, Colonial Williamsburg is home to five world class accommodations at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge Autograph Collection, the Griffin Hotel, the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotels and Suites and the unique Colonial Houses in the Historical Area. Visitors may also indulge in food and drink at our many on site restaurants and taverns that blend a historically inspired dining experience with today’s evolved tastes. Each year over 5 million people visit Williamsburg and another 20 million engage with us digitally.

About the Position

The Senior (Sr) Archaeologist designs, plans, and oversees fieldwork, historical research, post-excavation analysis, and report preparation. This position supervises staff archaeologists, project archaeologists, and field technicians at assigned sites. They serve as a departmental lead in areas such as information systems development, specialized research, and working with regulatory agencies.

About the Position – Main Duties:

• Develops and oversees original archaeological research in support of Colonial Williamsburg’s interpretive and educational goals.
• Safeguards archaeological resources on Foundation property, working with Property Management and Architecture & Engineering to mitigate impact on cultural resources before and during construction projects.
• Ensures Foundation compliance with all local, state, and federal historic preservation legislation.
• Develops the scope of work for projects and ensures timely completion of archaeological surveys, assessments, and excavations, including mitigation studies.
• Establishes project timetables, consults with field technicians and other archaeologists in determining the appropriate procedures and techniques to be used, and prepares preliminary plans.
• Develops new analytical, technical, or interpretive frameworks that further the goals of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg and the larger field of archaeology.
• Oversees documentation of archaeological work.
• Hires, develops, trains, supervises, and councils staff for archaeological project teams.
• Acts as the Foundation’s spokesperson on matters related to Archaeology, as assigned.
• Collaborates with outside institutions, particularly the College of William & Mary, through support of the CWF/W&M field school in Historical Archaeology.
• Develops and administers project budgets; tracking up to a million dollars in project-based budgets, grants, and restricted funds; working to ensure project completion within established timetables and budgets. Advises the Director of Architectural Preservation & Research of any potential discrepancies.

• Communicates with regulators, including the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR), consulting parties, and community stakeholders with regard to proposed and ongoing archaeological investigations.
• Directs the analysis of the site and artifact data for archaeological reports, working collaboratively with archaeological curators, conservators, other staff, and outside experts as needed.
• Consults with Foundation historians to ensure that archaeological reports are prepared using appropriate historiographic methods. Maintains awareness of best practices guiding conservation or data recovery of archaeological resources.
• Presents the progress and results of archaeological fieldwork and analysis to professional colleagues through published articles, conference papers, and online formats.
• Engages non-professional audiences through popular publications, public programs, social media, an