Job Details

Director, Metadata and Digital Platforms, Baker Library, Harvard Business School (Boston)

Job Summary (63835BR)

Would you categorize your approach to innovation as a “race car of innovation”, are you unafraid to take a risk, fail, and learn from that experience? Are you leading the Generative AI work for your organization or wish you were? If so, I hope you might consider joining a team who shares those values and unwavering determination to be world leaders in libraries.

Reporting to the Executive Director of Baker Library, we are seeking a forward-thinking leader with an adventuresome spirit to lead a talented team of metadata and technologists. We are seeking a bold leader who can bring the library to the next level and continue our tradition of leading in digital innovations to meet the demands of our faculty, students, and the global community of scholars. The library is playing a pivotal role in the School’s initiatives around digital transformation, generative AI, technical architecture, and investments in life-long learning. As the Director of Metadata and Digital Platforms, you will have an exciting opportunity to position the library in this work and to contribute directly to the mission of Harvard Business School (HBS) in educating leaders to make a difference in the world.

You may be thinking that the library is not normally at the heart of these types of initiatives. However, Baker Library is no ordinary library. We have been on the vanguard of several innovations including building tools to manage born digital documents and creating a digital platform experience with personalization and all the while continuing to honor our role as the largest academic business library in the world. There is no library like Baker Library for the study of business and there is no other business school as deeply committed to our mission of educating leaders who make a difference in the world.

Position Description

The Director of Metadata and Digital Platforms will be part of a dynamic hands-on team supporting Baker Library (BL) technology, ensuring we have the technology, workflows, and support needed to satisfy the range of information the scholarly and professional community needs.

- Serves as the Library’s chief technology and metadata management strategist. Manages the Metadata and Knowledge Systems (MKS) department with 4 direct reports (who have oversight of 12 staff members and approximately 10 contingent workers) responsible for the program delivery of: the user experience program; Baker Library technology and the knowledge discovery program; information products; metadata management; information architecture; and the HBS analytics program.
- Influences HBS’s direction through metadata and knowledge management, the delivery of products and services, as well as the continuous evolution of our technology ecosystem in collaboration with HBS IT and other Baker Library departments.
- Builds and strengthens relationships with HBS IT and Harvard Library leaders to create partnerships that advance the HBS mission.
- In collaboration with MKS and senior leadership, leads strategic budgeting and planning, acquires information technology, manages technology licenses, and contracts with outside vendors. Responsible for the MKS budget, forecasting, and other financial reporting.
- Provides overall direction for metadata projects ensuring the work is grounded in applicable standards and accepted best practices, and provides inclusive representation of marginalized perspectives in local, national, and international standards and policies.
- Powers Baker Library’s commitment to digital Library access, user experience, and product design and delivery through supporting product development standards, repositories, and best practice processes, including through the implementation of metadata, taxonomy, machine learning, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and analytics.
- Oversees the development, delivery and continued support of the systems, platforms, and processes that enable the delivery of information products and publications, knowledge management services and external consulting, platform-wide technical development and support services, product and service prototypes and usability testing, and external vendor selection, management, and contract negotiation.
- Supervises the design, implementation, and continued support of the HBS-wide web analytics platform, programmatic outreach and assessment of web analytics to HBS web content owners, and Baker Library’s analytics program to monitor and ensure efficacy and impact through web-based delivery of publications, products, and services.
- Develops and maintains key relationships with academic peers and industry thought leaders, as well as customers – including technology providers, vendors, information and publishing industry associations, and other constituencies.
- Leads the revisioning of the user experience program for Baker Library.
- Other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

- Master’s degree in Library and Information Science, digital technologies, or a related field is required.
- 10 years or more of progressive staff management experience with at least 5 years of metadata and/or knowledge management through project management, consulting, digital strategy, or in a formal supervisory capacity are required.
- Experience leading and implementing progressive initiatives, strategic priorities, projects, and transformational change. Expertise in providing leadership to create and promote a clear vision; experienced decision-maker, able to sell ideas and follow through on decisions.

Additional Qualifications and Skills

- A demonstrated track record of bringing innovative and complex projects to completion, especially for projects requiring collaboration across library departments and/or with academic schools and/or academic-support departments at the university and/or multi-institutional organizations or community-based projects.
- Excellent written and oral communication, interpersonal and presentation skills, with the ability to explain complex concepts to a wide variety of users in individual and group settings. Adept at building and maintaining relationships to facilitate impactful digital leadership across disparate audiences.
- Solid analytical skills with an ability to gather and synthesize information and interpret both quantitative and qualitative data and present them to non-technical audiences in an easily understandable manner.
- Ability to drive work on multiple fronts simultaneously, in a user-centric, fast-paced, complex work environment.
- Strong understanding of digital, web, data, and knowledge governance at both the system and policy levels.
- Readiness to embrace a culture of learning that supports the professional growth and development of the team.
- Sense of humor, a willingness to take risk, a willingness to fail and learn from it, and possesses an adventuresome spirit.

Our expectations are that employees of HBS adhere to and represent our Community Values. They are:

- Respect for the rights, differences, and dignity of others
- Honesty and integrity in dealing with all members of the community
- Accountability for personal behavior

Full/Part Time

Full Time

Education

MLS/Masters

Salary Range

$160,000.00 - $200,000.00  / year

Salary Notes

Salary is commensurate with relevant experience

Closing Date

How to Apply

A cover letter is required to be considered for this opportunity.

To apply, please visit the Harvard Careers website: https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/home/HomeWithPreLoad?partnerid=25240&siteid=5341&PageType=JobDetails&jobid=1997707

Posted

2023-10-17 |  Quick link to this job