Chief Technology Strategist

Description

Harvard Library provides a wide range of services to students, faculty and researchers at Harvard as well as throughout the world. With a collection of more than 19 million volumes, a vast collection of primary source materials, a digital preservation repository containing more than 44 million files, and access to more than 1 million electronic resources, e-journals, and e-books, the Harvard University Library is the largest university library in the world. Over the past 15 years, Harvard has developed a technical infrastructure that incorporates digital content into libraries' collections and services. The Harvard Library is now at a pivotal moment as it moves forward into a new phase of managing and creating large digital collections at scale which both improves on its past achievements and significantly expands its contributions in new arenas, such as data curation and online learning.

Duties & Responsibilities:
The Chief Technology Strategist (CTS) is a new senior staff position which reports directly to the Vice President for the Harvard Library. The CTS will be a member of the Library Leadership Team, and will work closely with the head of Library Technology Services (LTS). LTS is a unit of 30 staff which is part of Harvard University Information Technology, Harvard University's centralized IT organization. The Harvard Library is itself a new entity, encompassing an integrated shared services element of Access Services; Information and Technical Services; and Preservation, Conservation, and Digital Imaging, and uniting through shared vision and policy the 73 libraries of Harvard's 12 schools.

The Chief Technology Strategist will:

• Participate in university-wide planning that aligns IT strategies and infrastructure with the broader vision of library and information services
• Create and articulate an evolving technology strategy to support that vision
• Identify technical solutions to realize the IT strategy
• Track trends in development and use of information technologies, and recommend strategies that will place the Harvard Library at the forefront in its mission to be an integral part of the teaching, learning, and research programs of Harvard University.
• Represent the library in collaborations in the University as well as with colleagues and peer institutions around the world with emphasis on open source, interoperable, and collaborative solutions
• Provide creative leadership in helping libraries and their users adapt and thrive in an era of disruptive change
• Provide advice and consultation to units across the University
• Develop proposals to funding agencies to secure support for library technological innovations

Reflecting President Drew Faust's vision of "One Harvard", in which the rich diversity of its component schools work together to achieve more than the sum of its parts, the Harvard Library is becoming "One Library". Emerging technologies are playing a major role in changing the ways in which scholarship is pursued and transforming teaching and learning. The Chief Technology Strategist will contribute to the development of Harvard Library's services in online learning; data curation; Open Access; digitization of collection; use of social media; new learning spaces which support collaboration, experimentation, and creative expression; and its partnerships with faculty and others in research projects. Harvard Library is a member of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), Hathi Trust, National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) and Digital Preservation Network (DPN) and other organizations in which technological advances are integral to discussion and development.

Basic Qualifications:

• Master's degree in computer science or a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience required
• Ten or more years of system architect experience and/or technical leadership in life-cycle development of large systems
• Experience with complex computer systems including network architectures, systems administration, software applications, and the development and programming of scalable, reliable production systems and large scale information systems
• Knowledge of key trends in digital libraries including ability to successfully evaluate emerging technologies and articulate their relevance to library systems

Additional Qualifications:

• Proven ability to lead complex and cross-organizational projects and effectively communicate, persuade, and document architecture and technical design to a diverse community of stakeholders and audiences
• Sophisticated understanding of how information is organized, accessed, and used to support the academic and research missions of the university
• Demonstrated expertise in existing and emergent digital content and storage management standards and technologies
• Demonstrated ability to function successfully in a matrix environment