Director, Research Data Service and open-rank Professor

Description

Responsibilities:  The Director of the Research Data Service provides leadership and direction for the newly-established campus-wide Research Data Service (RDS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  The RDS is a campus-wide service headquartered in the University Library that provides support to researchers to manage, preserve, and make their data accessible to the research community. The RDS provides support for campus researchers, colleges, research centers and groups, in partnership with the University of Illinois Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR), CITES (Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services), NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications), Office of the Provost, and GSLIS (Graduate School of Library and Information Science).

The Director is responsible for leadership, management, and planning for the programmatic, administrative, and operational activities of the RDS for the University.   Reporting to the Associate University Librarian for Research and Technology, the Director works closely with campus committees and groups that provide advice and oversight for RDS programs and services. The Director leads an implementation and operational group of faculty and staff, and consults regularly with faculty and staff across the campus stakeholder units, as well as the Library, on the development of the RDS.  The initial emphasis of the position will be to: plan and identify program objectives and scope; formulate program goals, policies, and processes; identify staffing, operational, and resource needs; and implement the operational elements of the RDS.

Duties include:

Lead and manage the efforts of staff supporting the Research Data Service program, and the associated data management activities in the University Library, CITES, NCSA, and allied units;
Consult regularly with campus stakeholders, including a campus-level oversight committee and a steering group that may be established to guide service and policy development for the RDS;
Coordinate and support the RDS-related activities of Library faculty and staff who contribute to research data management, curation, preservation and access.  This includes subject specialists, data services librarians and functional liaisons (archivists, curators, preservation professionals, metadata professionals, and IT professionals) and related Scholarly Commons programs.  Works closely with the Library eResearch Implementation Committee on the development of user-focused research data programs and services for the campus.
Develop effective partnerships with units that contribute services;
Ensure consistent levels of research data management services through cross-program coordination on campus. .
Identify strategies for understanding the evolving research data curation and service needs of the University’s researchers;
Evolve and modify the program scope, services, and best practices of the RDS so as to be consistent with the goals and mission of the Library and campus;
Coordinate with, other campus units, such as CITES, OVCR, NCSA, GSLIS.
Seek partnerships with other organizations, within and beyond the University, including Internet2, CIC (Committee for Institutional Cooperation), Digital Library Federation, Research Data Alliance, disciplinary repositories, and national data management organizations and initiatives;
Play a national role in data management and services initiatives;
Contribute to the growing body of research literature in various aspects of data services and related endeavors.

Environment: The University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign is one of the preeminent research libraries in the world. With more than 13 million volumes and significant digital resources, it ranks second in size among academic research libraries in the United States and first among public university libraries in the world. As the intellectual heart of the campus, the Library is committed to maintaining the strongest possible collections and services and engaging in research and development activities in pursuit of the University’s mission of teaching, scholarship, and public service. The Library currently employs approximately 90 faculty and 300 academic professionals, staff, and graduate assistants. For more detailed information, please visit