Director of Online Strategy, University of California, Davis, University Library

Description

The University of California, Davis, Library is recruiting a Director of Online Strategy whose primary responsibility is to lead the overall strategy and operations related to the library's mission of advancing the UC Davis community's success and impact by providing access to knowledge and the scholarly record. This newly created position will be a key member of the Library's executive leadership team, and intimately involved in the transformation of the Library to meet teaching and research needs in a 21st Century digital and networked environment.

Under the leadership of the University Librarian, a nationally recognized expert in digital knowledge management, the UC Davis Library is leading the transformation of research libraries through the innovative use of technology. The Director of Online Strategy will be at the forefront of these efforts as the senior manager in charge of guiding how the Library interacts with its clientele online. The Director is in charge of the strategy, development, operation and assessment of online efforts to deliver our collections, services and expertise. The position will have a highly visible role in UC Davis and University of California-wide technology initiatives, and as a key representative of the Library to regional, national and international research organizations.

We are looking for someone who shares our belief that scholarly information and cultural heritage materials should be easy to find, easy to share, and a pleasure to use. We need a senior technologist to help us define what it means to be a successful research library in the online environment of the 21st Century. The incumbent should have a passion and track record for improving the online experience of digital content and online services, and understand and appreciate the research and educational needs of faculty and students.

Background

Academic Research Libraries, along with their parent universities and the entire publishing industry, are undergoing dramatic and rapid transformation in the Digital Age while they continue to support their centuries-old mission of acquiring, organizing, insuring access to and stewarding the scholarly record. All aspects of the library are affected, from research and teaching practices, to publishing and analytics, to the long-term preservation of a digital scholarly record. The Library is particularly interested in an improved academic user experience, by working expansively in the area of digital information management and online delivery of digital research and teaching resources. The immediate focus will be on studying, designing, and implementing innovative information services. These services require access to digital collections (both digitized from print and acquired or licensed in digital formats) but also changes to policy, technology, and standards that support use of those collections in new contexts.

Libraries serve multiple audiences, including students and faculty, researchers, patients, and the public-at-large. What should their experience be to best support their education and research goals? How can we get the best use of the complex and valuable research resources we acquire for them — making them easier to find, access, and incorporate into new research results and teaching materials? Gaining understanding of library user behavior in pursuit of research, teaching, and learning activities will be essential for achieving these goals.

While the top priority will be developing a vision for our online library and a strategy to implement that vision, the position will also have responsibility for managing staff, budgets, and projects that are part of that strategic plan. Excellent understanding of technology relevant to libraries and universities, and of the staff skills to support those technologies, is expected.

The successful candidate should have expertise in the areas of user experience design, definition of digital information services, information standards and policy, information creation, access and use. The candidate should possess the ability to design solutions that optimize the user experience by leveraging domain-specific services (e.g. Library and University information services), emerging technologies (e.g. traditional and mobile tools, emerging information standards) and everyday information services (e.g. social media, automation and information management tools). This position is responsible for researching and designing engaging information environments as well as advocating for and managing selected projects and information systems as needed to realize the services identified for implementation.

UC Davis and University Library

UC Davis is a global community of individuals united to better humanity and our natural world while seeking solutions to some of our most pressing challenges. Located near the California state capital of Sacramento, UC Davis has more than 34,000 students, the full-time equivalent of 4,100 faculty and other academics, and 17,400 staff. The campus has an annual research budget of over $750 million, a comprehensive health system and about two dozen specialized research centers. Recognized as one of the top 10 public universities in the U.S. and the No. 1 university in the world for agricultural research, UC Davis offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges — Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools — Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. The UC Davis University Library is among the top 100 research libraries in North America, and belongs to the Association of Research Libraries, the Digital Library Federation, and other organizations that position it to collaborate with other top organizations.

Application information

This is a career appointment with a salary range of $96,929 up to $174,500, and appointments are typically made at the midpoint of the range. UC is one of the largest employers in California, and offers outstanding health and retirement benefits to its employees and their families, including at least three weeks of vacation plus thirteen holidays, opportunities for career advancement, and a chance to make a difference and work alongside some of the brightest and most visionary figures of our time.

For a complete description of the position and to apply, please use the UC Davis online Career Opportunities website.

Please include a letter of interest addressing qualifications and experience related to the position, and a current resume.

The University of California is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.