The Pratt Institute Libraries are seeking a creative, collaborative, and service-oriented colleague to lead their Technology Department. Reporting to the Library Director, the Head of Library Technology & Innovation leads the Libraries’ Technology Department and provides technology leadership, management, budgetary oversight, and long-term strategy in support of the Libraries’ mission to provide access to a resource-rich environment that facilitates critical thinking and creative teaching. The Head supervises the unit’s Library Systems Administrator and student employees (including Graduate Assistants) and leads a cross-departmental Libraries’ Technology Team to collectively focus on library-wide initiatives such as circulating equipment, building a robust web presence, and making online resources discoverable. The Library Technology Department collaborates with library staff, faculty, and institutional IT toward the development of innovative services, interfaces, and applications. This senior-level position sits on the Libraries’ Management Team.

This position will lead our technology efforts to pioneer the next stage of technology evolution in the Libraries.  Major projects on the horizon include an Integrated Library System (ILS) migration, implementation of best practices in digital preservation, evaluating open-source platform opportunities, development of open educational resources, and the development of an institutional repository to share Pratt authorship.

On a typical day you will be required to:

• Supervise the library systems administrator and student employees to ensure systems integrity for the libraries’ 24/7 mission-critical systems and networks. This includes installing, maintaining, security, and troubleshooting.

• Manage the Libraries’ systems budget supporting new and continuing technologies, software, and web-based applications or services.

• Liaise with the Institute’s IT and other campus stakeholders for planning system maintenance, strategizing new campus-wide technologies, and implementing institutional technology priorities.

The Pratt Institute Libraries support the research and education of approximately 4,800 undergraduate and graduate students across campuses in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Libraries provide research support to students, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars pursuing teaching and learning in areas of art, design, architecture, information studies, writing, and other fields of academic inquiry and creative work.

Salary is $90k + generous benefits

Qualifications

Education: Master’s degree from an ALA accredited program concentrated in Information Science, Information Technology, or related field.

Experience: 3-5 years of experience in information technology management in an academic library or similar organization. Experience in a variety of web scripting languages and standards (e.g. JavaScript, jQuery, XML, JSON, PHP, Python, HTML, CSS). Demonstrated intercultural competence and ability to work effectively in a diverse community while centering equitable and inclusive practices.

Required Skills: 

• A strong service orientation with the ability to foster a collegial, collaborative work environment, and maintain positive professional working relationships.  
• The ability to work accurately and productively in a busy environment with many competing priorities.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to set and modify work priorities independently with a high degree of initiative. 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Preferred Skills: 

• Familiarity with existing and emerging metadata standards, models, applications, and initiatives, such as BIBFRAME, EAD, RDF, XML, Dublin Core, VRACore, PB Core, PREMIS, OAI-PmH and linked data.
• Working knowledge of databases and querying. (e.g. MySQL.)
• Familiarity or knowledge of WCAG 2.0
• Awareness of cyber security standards and methodologies

For campus access requirements related to COVID, click here

Pratt Institute gives the creative leaders of tomorrow the knowledge and experience to make a better world. A top-ranked college with opportunities in art, design, architecture, liberal arts and sciences, and information studies, Pratt offers nearly 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The Institute’s impact expands beyond its 25-acre residential campus in Brooklyn to cutting-edge facilities throughout the borough, an additional historic building and public gallery in Manhattan, as well as an extension campus, PrattMWP College of Art and Design in Utica, New York. Since its founding in 1887, Pratt has prioritized diversity and inclusion, welcoming students from all walks of life while developing and sustaining pathways to more equitable workplaces and careers. Today, Pratt and its exceptional faculty pride themselves on being academically excellent as well as adaptable to both in-person and online learning. Pratt students are part of a collaborative, interdisciplinary, research- and inquiry-based education that prepares them for professional and personal success in creative fields and with the goal of contributing to a more just and sustainable world. With a long-held commitment to the communities of New York, Pratt offers a variety of programs for local pre-college and continuing education students in the Pratt Center for Community Development, the Center for Art, Design and Community Engagement, the Pratt Center K-12, and the School for Continuing and Professional Studies. The value of a Pratt education is evident in its graduates' diverse and thriving careers, where their designs, art, work, and environments have reimagined our world. In over 75 countries across the globe, Pratt’s 61,000 alumni are advancing the creative economy and making a positive impact through their remarkable work and research.

Application Instructions

A cover letter is required for consideration for this position. The cover letter should be submitted alongside your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position, outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position, and describe your leadership philosophy. If you are selected for an interview, please be prepared to provide three references via our on-line reference tool system. References should be people who are knowledgeable about your qualifications and/or suitability for this position and may include teachers, professors, or fellow employees, but at least one of them must be or have been, a direct supervisor.

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