Director of Collections Strategy and Discovery

UNC-Chapel Hill•Chapel Hill, NC

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position may be eligible for a hybrid work arrangement that may include a partially remote work location, consistent with System Office policy. UNC Chapel Hill employees are generally required to reside within a reasonable commuting distance of their assigned duty station. Reporting to the Associate University Librarian for Collections Strategies and Services, the Director of Collections Strategy and Discovery provides vision, direction, and leadership for the Library’s general collections from selection to discovery and the infrastructure that supports it. The Director leads two established departments — Resource Acquisitions and Management (RAM) and Resource Description and Management (RDM) — with 26 FTE and will be charged with creating a third department focused on collection analysis and strategy. The Director is part of a deeply engaged team of library professionals committed to the responsible management of resources through thoughtful decision-making, licensing, description and access, and in support of a world-class research library.

Requirements

ALA-accredited master’s degree in library or information science and/or an advanced degree in a related discipline.
Minimum of 5 years progressively responsible leadership experience in an academic or research library, with responsibilities in collection strategies, purchasing, licensing or description.
Broad knowledge of acquisitions and cataloging procedures and principles, including an understanding of the e-resource lifecycle, current issues in licensing and discovery, purchasing models, emerging metadata standards and bibliographic utilities.
Strong understanding of current developments in scholarly publishing, open access models, and the lifecycle of electronic resources.
Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills, including the ability to foster productive communication among team members and lead, motivate, and manage staff through organizational change.
Demonstrated commitment to professional growth and development.

Nice To Haves

Minimum of 3 years demonstrated experience supervising or managing a large or complex team.
Ability to holistically approach workflows, analyze connections and iterate processes.
Familiarity with integrated library systems.
Experience using data visualization or advanced assessment tools (e.g., Tableau, PowerBI, advanced Excel).
Demonstrated experience in regional, national, or global standards development and adoption.
Experience creating welcoming and inclusive work environments.

Responsibilities

Lead the holistic development, implementation, and continuous evaluation of the Library’s collection strategies across formats.
Manage implementation of innovative and creative approaches to discovery and content management in keeping with emerging trends in collection development, purchasing, licensing, open access, and metadata standards.
Overall management of functions and employees in units responsible for purchasing and licensing, collections’ analysis, and metadata, including oversight of hiring, mentoring and professional growth of librarian and professional staff.
Seek out and foster relationships with library vendors and partners.
Coordinate the creation of standards for the collection and analysis of usage data across formats.
Serve on relevant library committees such as the Collections Steering Committee and the Cataloging and Metadata Policy Working Group.
Collaborate with colleagues on the Collections Strategies and Services Leadership Team to lead the Collections Strategies and Services division.
Build strong collaborative relationships with stakeholders across the Library.
Build strong collaborative relationships with partners and stakeholders on the Chapel Hill campus, the UNC System, and the Triangle Research Libraries Network.
Represent the University Library and actively participate in emerging conversations and projects related to acquisitions and resource descriptions in regional national and international consortia and professional associations.