Assistant Director, Digital Transgender Archive

Northeastern University•Oakland, CA

14h•Onsite

About The Position

The Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) seeks to hire a full-time Assistant Director to continue a recently established project hub at Northeastern University (NU) in Oakland, California. The DTA, available at www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net, is a freely available online collection of over 14,000 trans-related historical materials contributed by more than 90 collaborators worldwide. The project is based at NU’s Boston campus, where it is part of a robust ecosystem of digital humanities projects including several renowned digital archives. A new DTA hub was also recently established at NU's London campus in Fall 2025. Reporting to the Director of the DTA, Professor K.J. Rawson, the Assistant Director will run a small lab of undergraduate student research assistants at NU Oakland and will work with the DTA’s existing Bay Area collaborators and forge new partnerships to prepare and implement local digitization initiatives. This position will involve conducting on-site and off-site research, assessing copyright and privacy concerns, facilitating digitization and processing, training and supervising students in the lab, maintaining high-quality metadata standards, participating in outreach efforts, and contributing to the leadership of the project. We warmly invite people with various skills and levels of expertise to apply to this position. Candidates who meet some, but not all, of the qualifications listed below are strongly encouraged to apply. We seek colleagues who are committed to building an inclusive working environment. We expect this position to be an ongoing learning experience and are committed to supporting professional development. The College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) combines Northeastern University’s signature approach to experiential learning with liberal arts education, interdisciplinary research, and community engagement, both locally and globally. The College comprises 20 academic units, including two schools, eight departments, and ten interdisciplinary programs, as well as 15 research centers and institutes. Our faculty connects liberal arts education with the challenges of our time, and fosters ethical reasoning and critical thought, with attention to the enduring significance of history, literature, and culture. CSSH promotes inquiry with global perspectives across interdisciplinary clusters of expertise including: Resilience, Sustainability, Health, and Equity; Cultural studies, Governance, and Globalization; and Network Science, Computational Social Science, Digital Humanities, and Data Ethics.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Library Science, advanced degree in an area related to transgender history and archives, or commensurate experience
Demonstrated knowledge of digital archives, including digitization workflows and standards
Demonstrated knowledge of metadata and archival description standards, particularly Dublin Core
Working knowledge of intellectual property, copyright, and privacy issues related to digital collections
Facility with transgender-related topics
Excellent research, writing, and oral communication skills

Nice To Haves

Preferred experience in a supervisory role
Preferred experience with project management

Responsibilities

Run a small lab of undergraduate student research assistants at NU Oakland
Work with the DTA’s existing Bay Area collaborators and forge new partnerships to prepare and implement local digitization initiatives
Conduct on-site and off-site research
Assess copyright and privacy concerns
Facilitate digitization and processing
Train and supervise students in the lab
Maintain high-quality metadata standards
Participate in outreach efforts
Contribute to the leadership of the project