diff --git a/archivesspace-client.gemspec b/archivesspace-client.gemspec
index 7d6bf66..0275720 100644
--- a/archivesspace-client.gemspec
+++ b/archivesspace-client.gemspec
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_development_dependency "webmock", "~> 3.24"
 
   spec.add_dependency "dry-cli", "< 2.0"
-  spec.add_dependency "httparty", "~> 0.14"
+  spec.add_dependency "httparty", "~> 0.16"
   spec.add_dependency "json", "~> 2.0"
   spec.add_dependency "jbuilder", "~> 2.12"
 end
diff --git a/examples/upload_ead.rb b/examples/upload_ead.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac7bbcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/upload_ead.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+$LOAD_PATH.unshift File.expand_path("../lib", __dir__)
+require "archivesspace/client"
+
+# usage: ruby examples/upload_ead.rb path/to/ead.xml
+path = ARGV.fetch(0) { abort "usage: ruby #{$PROGRAM_NAME} path/to/ead.xml" }
+
+# official sandbox, config boilerplate
+config = ArchivesSpace::Configuration.new(
+  {
+    base_uri: "https://test.archivesspace.org/staff/api",
+    username: "admin",
+    password: "admin",
+    page_size: 50,
+    throttle: 0,
+    verify_ssl: false
+  }
+)
+
+client = ArchivesSpace::Client.new(config).login
+
+job = {
+  jsonmodel_type: "job",
+  job: {
+    jsonmodel_type: "import_job",
+    import_type: "ead_xml",
+    filenames: [File.basename(path)]
+  }
+}
+
+client.repository 2 do
+  response = File.open(path) do |file|
+    client.post_multipart("jobs_with_files", {job: job.to_json, files: [file]})
+  end
+  abort "upload failed (#{response.status_code}): #{response.body}" unless
+    response.status_code == 200
+
+  job_id = response.parsed["id"]
+  puts "created import job #{job_id}"
+
+  # poll until the import finishes, but not for more than ~60s
+  status = nil
+  30.times do
+    status = client.get("jobs/#{job_id}").parsed["status"]
+    puts "status: #{status}"
+    break if %w[completed failed canceled].include?(status)
+
+    sleep 2
+  end
+
+  puts client.get("jobs/#{job_id}/log").body
+end
diff --git a/lib/archivesspace/client/client.rb b/lib/archivesspace/client/client.rb
index 97c6928..e14a106 100644
--- a/lib/archivesspace/client/client.rb
+++ b/lib/archivesspace/client/client.rb
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ def post(path, payload, params = {})
       request "POST", path, {body: payload.to_json, query: params}
     end
 
+    # Allow passing a file object (multipart = true)
+    def post_multipart(path, payload, params = {})
+      body = payload.transform_values { |v| v.is_a?(Hash) ? v.to_json : v }
+      request "POST", path, {body: body, query: params, multipart: true}
+    end
+
     def put(path, payload, params = {})
       request "PUT", path, {body: payload.to_json, query: params}
     end
@@ -76,7 +82,7 @@ def use_global_repository
     def request(method, path, options = {})
       sleep config.throttle
       options = options.dup
-      options[:headers] = {TOKEN => token} if token
+      options[:headers] = options.fetch(:headers, {}).merge(TOKEN => token) if token
       Request.new(context, config, method, path, options).execute
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/archivesspace/client/request.rb b/lib/archivesspace/client/request.rb
index 2ef1405..779c784 100644
--- a/lib/archivesspace/client/request.rb
+++ b/lib/archivesspace/client/request.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ def initialize(context, config, method = "GET", path = "", options = {})
       @options = options.dup
 
       @options[:headers] = DEFAULT_HEADERS.merge(@options.fetch(:headers, {}))
+      @options[:headers].delete("Content-Type") if @options[:multipart]
       @options[:headers]["User-Agent"] = "#{Client::NAME}/#{Client::VERSION}"
 
       @options[:verify] = config.verify_ssl
diff --git a/spec/archivesspace/client_spec.rb b/spec/archivesspace/client_spec.rb
index 1ea0e44..93dffcf 100644
--- a/spec/archivesspace/client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/archivesspace/client_spec.rb
@@ -209,6 +209,24 @@
       client.get("resources", opts)
       expect(opts).to eq(caller_opts)
     end
+
+    it "posts a file (as multipart form data) with session token" do
+      client.token = "abc123"
+      stub = stub_request(:post, "#{DEFAULT_BASE_URI}/repositories/2/jobs_with_files")
+        .with { |req|
+          req.headers["Content-Type"].start_with?("multipart/form-data; boundary=") &&
+            req.headers["X-Archivesspace-Session"] == "abc123" &&
+            req.body.include?('name="files[]"; filename="client_spec.rb"') &&
+            req.body.include?('name="job"')
+        }
+        .to_return(status: 200, body: "{}", headers: {"Content-Type" => "application/json"})
+      File.open(__FILE__) do |file|
+        client.repository(2) do
+          client.post_multipart("jobs_with_files", {job: {jsonmodel_type: "job"}, files: [file]})
+        end
+      end
+      expect(stub).to have_been_requested
+    end
   end
 
   describe "URL construction" do