Senior Discovery and Resourcing Librarian

Do you have expertise in electronic resources management? Do you have excellent communication skills, with an ability to lead and motivate others to achieve key objectives? Would you like to be part of the team developing and delivering our content strategy at UWE Bristol and responding to trends in academic publishing and resource provision? 

About the role:

You will lead on the licensing and authentication of electronic information resources and the procurement and lifecycle management of subscription journals and databases. You will oversee supplier liaison, budget management, return on investment analysis, negotiation and licensing for these resources. We currently have over 800 applicable subscriptions. 

A key element of the role is to lead a team of Discovery and Resourcing Librarians, who each manage a portfolio of resources as well as having other specialist and non-specialist responsibilities. 

This role also comes with responsibility and oversight for the end user library discovery system (currently Primo), including user experience (UX), customisations and awareness training for staff, including relating to open access content. 

Collaborative working is critical to success in this post. Examples are wide ranging and will include:

• Working closely with the Discovery and Resourcing Manager and other senior colleagues to provide leadership to the team. You will support and motivate staff through line management, matrix management and project management.
• Working with library Open Research colleagues on the JISC Next Generation OA Strategy project and the move to open access journal content.
• Building on important collaborative working relationships across Library and Learning Services and using specialist knowledge to contribute to wider university projects, e.g. the new Student Information System, due to go live in January 2026.
• Regular working with internal stakeholders such the Data Protection Officer, ITS, Procurement and the Business Intelligence team.
• Representing the University at internal and external local and national meetings and other fora such as SUPC, UKSG, SCONUL and JISC special interest groups. 

About you:  

You will have a professional qualification in a library/information related subject, with experience of working with library systems and services. You will have excellent communication skills alongside excellent IT skills and aptitude, with practical experience of working with complex database systems.

You will have proficiency in at least two of the following areas of specialist knowledge: digitisation, ebook management, resource discovery and description, licensing, authentication, document supply, book acquisition, copyright, negotiation with publishers/suppliers, open access models.  

Key to success in this role will be your ability to:

• Build on your existing expertise to maximise the opportunities offered by developments in licensing, open access and discovery, to continually improve the end user experience for our large and diverse body of students and staff.
• Establish good working relationships and collaborative working with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead and motivate a team of staff as we adopt new ways of working as part of the continual improvement of our services.
• Carry out assessment and analysis of complex issues and problems, using specialist knowledge to identify appropriate solutions. 

Further information  

If you would like to speak to us to find out more about this role please contact Jane Choules, Discovery and Resourcing Manager at  Jane.Choules@uwe.ac.uk

This is a full time, permanent post working 37 hours per week.