Metadata Librarian

Salary: £36,636 to £38,784 with progression to £46,049 per annum. Benefits include generous holiday package, pension schemes, and health and wellbeing initiatives.

This is an excellent opportunity to join our Content and Discovery team in the University Library, making a key contribution to the support we provide for education and research. You will help develop and maintain workflows that provide efficient access to Library resources in all formats. You will provide reports and analysis to inform the management and development of our extensive collections.

You will work collaboratively with colleagues across Library services, Professional Services and faculties and will need strong interpersonal and communication skills, as is the ability to play a significant role in the work of a busy team. You must have a keen eye for detail and the capacity to prioritise competing demands with minimal supervision. The post is fixed‑term until 14th May 2027, and is a potential secondment opportunity.

Key Accountabilities

• Plan, coordinate and manage the information resource lifecycle, including trialling new resources, ordering and renewing subscriptions, invoicing, arranging access to resources, managing authentication, and other metadata and system configuration activities.
• Collate, analyse and present usage data for collection management purposes.
• Develop, manage and monitor standards and workflows for classification and metadata creation to maximise discoverability of the libraries’ collections through a range of resource discovery tools.
• Provide support and advice to users experiencing problems with access to e‑resources.
• Supervise the day to day work of library assistants, employing coaching techniques, and conducting performance and development reviews.
• Train staff in the functionality of the acquisitions and cataloguing modules of the Library management system.
• Work alongside the team of supervisors within Content and Discovery to provide cover and support for staff across the department.
• Participate in objective setting and Library projects, leading them where appropriate.
• Maintain effective communication channels and excellent working relationships with liaison librarians, library administrators, NUIT, internal customers and publisher/vendor representatives to ensure collection goals are met, including the timely renewal and processing of subscriptions and invoices.
• Obtain licence agreements from vendors or publishers and work closely with the Partnership Licencing & Management Information Librarian to scrutinise new and amended licences. Liaise with vendors where necessary to reach agreements on acceptable changes to licence clauses.
• Participate in initiatives within the wider academic community that have links to collection management and resource discovery e.g. UKRR, Jisc NBK.

The Person (Essential) Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Proven experience in Library/Information work, ideally in the HE sector.
• Experience of using a library management system, particularly the acquisitions and cataloguing modules.
• Experience of using current cataloguing and classification standards, particularly MARC 21 and Dewey Decimal Classification, and of training staff in their use.
• Record of working constructively and flexibly as part of a team to deliver a consistent, high‑quality service to users.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Staff management skills, showing demonstrable experience.
• Highly developed IT skills, including experience of using MS Office applications, and web‑based information resources, authentication services e.g. EZProxy.
• Strong organisation and time management skills with a proven record of ability to deliver to deadlines with minimal managerial supervision.
• Aware of copyright and licensing issues.
• Ability to work accurately and methodically paying attention to detail.

Attributes and Behaviour

• Reviews and revises plans to meet changing circumstances.
• Develops and implements new ideas.
• Gathering information.
• Liaises effectively with stakeholders; colleagues, suppliers, customers.
• Looks for opportunities and impacts arising from external developments.
• Communicating effectively uses face to face communication regularly: team meetings, one to one, informal discussions/chats, briefing sessions, etc.
• Team‑working develops and nurtures skills in order to build a productive team.
• Planning and organising effective at organising and managing heavy and complex workloads.
• Establishes clear roles and responsibilities for self and others.
• Finding solutions identifies when given contradictory or inaccurate information.
• Encourages creative and innovative thinking in self and others.
• Makes decisions based on understanding the wider organisational needs and having considered a range of possible options.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Professional qualification in Library and Information Science, or demonstrable equivalent experience.

Equal Opportunities Statement

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution. We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population. At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme. In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.