Digital Asset Coordinator

Description

Reporting to the Head of Repository and Digital Curation, the Digital Asset Coordinator designs, coordinates and executes the day-to-day preservation of and access to significant digitized and born-digital assets, including deposited faculty research, for the Libraries. The Digital Asset Coordinator will collaborate with staff across the library to ensure they can ingest content into the digital repository systems, to confirm their content is appropriately preserved, and to guarantee their content is appropriately accessible when requested. Generally, the Digital Asset Coordinator will steward the library’s digitized and born-digital collections, including materials created by faculty and students, and will connect this work to relevant consortial and national projects.  

Specific Responsibilities • Designs and maintains user-focused repository policies to support access, use, discovery, and preservation of digital collections for the research and scholarly communities we serve. Advises library staff, such as curators, on digital content lifecycle issues and strategies for digital content preservation. • Collaborates with staff across the library in the areas of digitization, digital curation, metadata creation, project management, repository architecture, and born digital archiving in order to configure and monitor workflows for ingesting, preserving, accessing, auditing and reporting on preserved digital content. Ensures appropriate planning measures are taken for storage of digital assets; understand, configure and enforce security protocols within repository systems and services. • Works closely with the repository software development and digitization team leads as well as personnel in other workgroups to design, implement and enhance services related to digital preservation and acts as a project coordinator as needed. • Act as a service lead for repository applications and communicate with internal and external users to promote services and troubleshoot service issues. • Monitors emerging trends and best practices in digital asset management, repository services, digital preservation, and digital reformatting. Participates in relevant consortial and external projects and meetings. Please note that this position is eligible for Alternate Work strategies (remote up to 3 days a week) starting at 6 months, unless it is negotiated at point of offer. This position does require some time onsite at the Libraries in Evanston, IL and is not eligible for full-time remote.

Minimum Qualifications • Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree; OR appropriate combination of education and experience. • 2 years of experience using digital asset management systems, such as Extensis Portfolio, and working with a variety of content and asset types, such as images, audio, and video. • Experience trouble shooting and offering higher-level support of end users for technical systems resulting in resolution.

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.) • Knowledge of a variety of digital asset management systems, asset types and metadata standards, such as Dublin Core or IPTC. • Demonstrated good organizational skills and an aptitude for analytical and detailed work. • Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a complex, rapidly changing environment. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills. • Demonstrated knowledge or awareness of tools and technology standards typically used in digital library environments and/or in open-source communities, such as Samvera. • Ability to thrive and actively participate in an environment that supports diversity, equity and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications • 3-5 years' experience managing digital assets in a large organization. • Formal training or certification in relevant digital preservation software and platforms. • Work experience in academia, libraries or library consortia.

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities) • Experience initiating change and process improvement projects. • Experience with user experience processes and usability testing. • Experience with agile software development, such as Scrum.

Northwestern requires all staff and faculty to be vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to limited exceptions. For more information, please visit our COVID-19 and Campus Updates website. 

The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today. Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. 

Apply at Northwestern University Careers site, Job ID 42407: https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/careers/