Head of Collections, Teaching and Research

Overview

Location: The University of Manchester Library

Reports to: University Librarian and Director of The John Rylands Library

The Head of Collections, Teaching, and Research at The University of Manchester Library is responsible for the strategic leadership, care, management and discovery of the Library’s outstanding Special Collections.

This includes rare books, maps, archives, manuscripts, visual collections, and digital materials. The role aims to position the collections at the forefront of curatorial practices to enhance research, teaching, learning, and public engagement

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership and Innovation: Lead the Curatorial team to enhance research, teaching, learning and public engagement, driving initiatives like Rylands New York and the Library's role in Sister.
• Collection Development and Management: Position Special Collections as a leader in curatorial practices, working to best practice standards for academic and public engagement.
• Policy Development: Develop and review policies, KPIs and staffing to advance collection management.
• Collaboration and Networking: Build and maintain strategic relationships internally and externally, representing the Library at committees and events nationally and internationally.
• Access, Discovery and Metadata: Improve cataloguing, metadata standards and workflows, enhancing discovery systems and ensuring collections are accessible.
• Leadership and Staff Development: Inspire and manage teams to deliver high performance and continuous improvement, supporting strategic staff development.
• University and Community Engagement: Enhance visitor experiences at the John Rylands Library and actively engage with disciplines across the University to align collections with teaching and research.
• Operational Excellence and Compliance: Ensure compliance with policies on health, safety, equity, diversity and information governance.

Person specification

• A PhD in a relevant discipline or a professional qualification in librarianship or archive management with significant management and leadership experience.
• Extensive experience in managing rare books, maps, manuscripts, archives, and visual collections.
• Proven leadership skills with the ability to drive change and manage staff performance.
• Strong understanding of metadata standards and curation practices.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and project management skills.
• Commitment to the University’s strategic goals and values.
• PhD in a subject area relevant to Special Collections (desirable).
• Experience in developing and managing rare books within a higher education context (desirable).
• Knowledge of emerging digital scholarship trends (desirable).
• Experience in writing funding bids and seeking philanthropic support (desirable).