"A centre of excellence in digital information management, providing advice and services to the library, information and cultural heritage communities."

UKOLN is based at the University of Bath.

Person Specification

1. Further details

UKOLN is a centre of expertise in digital information management, based at the University of Bath, providing advice and services to the library, information, education and cultural heritage communities by:

• Influencing policy and informing practice
• Promoting community-building and consensus-making by actively raising awareness
• Advancing knowledge through research and development
• Building innovative systems and services based on Web technologies
• Acting as an agent for knowledge transfer

As an Innovation Support Centre, UKOLN receives core funding from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the Council for Museums, Libraries & Archives (MLA) and from the University of Bath. It is directed by Dr Liz Lyon and currently has a staff of thirty-one.

We are seeking to recruit a Deputy Director to provide leadership and strategic direction to all technical activity within UKOLN and to assure our position at the forefront of innovative Digital Library and Web developments within research and education. This key senior role includes co-ordination of the extensive JISC Work Programme with particular responsibility for core activity, development of Innovation Support Centre functionality and collaboration with a range of UK and international partners.

2. Attributes and skills

The post-holder will require extensive technical leadership expertise in the Digital Library field within research and education and within the broader Web environment, will be able to demonstrate strategic insight and vision, have outstanding communications skills, and in-depth experience across education, research or cultural heritage communities. The following attributes and skills will be assessed at application and interview stages of the recruitment process.

Criteria	Essential	Desirable	Assessed by
			A/F	I/T	R
Experience/Knowledge
Outstanding technical leadership, with evidence of vision, strategic insight and innovation associated with the implementation and development of Digital Libraries (DL) within the education, research or cultural heritage sectors.	X		X	X
In depth knowledge of DL infrastructure, open standards development, deployment and implementation, metadata schema and associated interoperability issues.	X		X	X
Demonstrable knowledge of current and emerging Web technologies with a clear understanding of their potential applicability and value for DLs, information management and scholarly communications e.g. “open science”.	X		X	X
Proven ability to generate income by initiating new and innovative R&D projects, studies or consultancy, and to secure associated funding awards and revenue streams.	X		X	X
Significant experience of managing technical projects including budgetary management and an understanding of the costing of research and development work.	X		X	X
Extensive experience of staff management including leading teams and managing technical and/or research staff.	X		X	X
Established international reputation in the DL arena through pro-active leadership, publications track record, substantive research and/or strategy and policy implementations.		X	X	X
Experience of leading and shaping research and development projects which display a very high degree of innovation.		X	X	X
Skills:
Outstanding communication skills including evidence of the ability to produce a range of high quality publications, including technical reports and journal articles.	X		X	X
Highly developed presentational skills including the ability to communicate complex technical material to mixed audiences.	X		X	X
Political, influencing and negotiating skills including interactions with policy and funding organisations, and key senior stakeholders.	X		X	X
Excellent inter-personal, problem-solving and analytical skills with the capability to gather, synthesise and communicate critical information from many channels.	X		X	X
Able to lead, co-ordinate and prioritise multiple and diverse innovation activities and to demonstrate confidence in dealing with a range of high-profile UK and international contacts.	X		X	X
Attributes:
An understanding of wider issues such as open access approaches, digital curation and preservation, Web architectures, e-research or e-learning initiatives and institutional information strategies.		X	X	X
Code: A/F – Application form, I/T – Interview/Test, R - References