Research Services Librarian

Northwestern University | Qatar
Research Services Librarian

Job Summary
Northwestern University in Qatar is seeking a collaborative, forward-thinking Research Services Librarian to support it student, faculty and institutional interdisciplinary study and research in communication, media, journalism, and the liberal arts.

NU-Q is a globally embedded institution: it is one of three campuses of Northwestern University (Chicago, Doha, Evanston) and one of several institutions in the Qatar Foundation’s Education City in Doha, Qatar. Our mission is to mentor and educate students to become creative, ethical and impactful communicators across cultural and national boundaries. We are committed to a vibrant student life, academic excellence, and to high-level undergraduate student research and media making, particularly on the Global South. Located at the confluence of continents, NU-Q is a diverse global community with 450 students from 59 countries.

The Research Services Librarian supports the information gathering, review, synthesis and analytical support for advanced interdisciplinary research in the social sciences and humanities, graduate course and capstone research, as well as general research and library needs of the NUQ community. The librarian will serve as the primary liaison to the planned Institute of Advanced Studies at Northwestern Qatar (IAS@NUQ), a developing center to support research on and in the global south. This position will develop and implement robust student and institutional engagement library programs and collection selection within a global and diverse work environment and across varied research interests.  The research services librarian will also support general library services such as access, information literacy, reference and related outreach.

Principal Responsibilities 

1. Leads library’s research support services for research centers, grants, advanced faculty or collaborative efforts and institutional research needs. 
2. Serves as library liaison to the IAS@NUQ, graduate studies, executive education programs or others as needed. 
3. Coordinates and delivers front line research support for graduate students and executive education programs including curriculum research, one-on-one consultations, access materials, instructional programs and customized content services as liaison. 
4. Performs content selection for liaison areas, including graduate programs and research centers in support of the library’s overall collection development and management activities.
5. Contributes to general library services such as outreach initiatives, subject guides, library web pages, social media content and displays in support of liaison responsibilities.  
6. Participates in planning, decision-making, and innovation of NUQ Library services and programs.
7. May serve as library liaison for non-academic departments and administrative teams.
8. Supports other library responsibilities and participates in special projects as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

1. A Master’s degree in Library/Information Science accredited by an internationally recognized library association.
2. A minimum of five years professional library experience supporting research in an academic research setting, or the equivalent combination of experience.
3. Experience with advanced and/or graduate research support, engagement, assessment and delivery of research services in an academic library or research institute.
4. Experience with content access/delivery services, including collection content selection. 
5. Strong written and oral communication skills; strong organizational skills. 

Minimum Competencies

1. Demonstrated knowledge of advanced library search, discovery and fulfillment services. 
2. Knowledge of evaluation and measurement of research impact. 
3. Demonstrated experience in information literacy instruction and knowledge of information literacy standards. 
4. Knowledge of user-based assessment to improve the researcher information experience.
5. Demonstrated collection development experience.
6. Knowledge of institutional repositories and best practices for researchers. 
7. Ability to promote library services and engage library users.
8. Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a diverse community in an inclusive manner among both internal and external constituents.
9. Excellent oral/written English communication and presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications

1. Experience supporting academic research centers, including grant writing research.
2. Experience with research data management. 
3. Knowledge of digital humanities and digital social sciences initiatives. 
4. Knowledge of scholarly communication needs and activities in an advanced research environment such as copyright, author rights, open access, publishing and more.
5. Knowledge of emerging technologies in an academic research and learning environment. 
6. Experience working/living in the middle east or global south in an academic environment.
7. Knowledge of or experience working in a U.S. or U.S.-style higher education institution.
8. Knowledge of Arabic. 
9. Demonstrated analytical planning capabilities.
10. A second advanced degree in journalism, communication, media, strategic communications, or relevant social sciences or humanities discipline.

Preferred Competencies

1. Ability to multi-task projects with minimal supervision in a team environment across departments or divisions of the university.
2. Awareness and understanding of the expanding Global South research dialogue. 
3. Awareness of current and development trends for academic research and publishing in research in academic libraries.

Applications received by May 1, 2021 will receive the highest priority.  The search will continue until the position is filled or the search closed.

To apply, please upload the following:

• Cover letter including how the applicant’s experience and credentials align with this position.
• Curriculum Vitae
• Statement of library research support philosophy.  Discuss experience and philosophy of working with diverse student and faculty groups across a varied research agenda in a cross-disciplinary research environment, including relevant international workplace influences. 
• Email addresses of three academic/professional references.

Please read ALL instructions and prepare before proceeding to the application page:

• Applications will only be accepted via online submission (see link below).
• Please prepare all documents in advance as Adobe PDF files and please be sure all information is entered accurately (especially names and email addresses), as there will be no opportunity for online revision after your application has been submitted.
• All required fields in the application form are marked with an asterisk and must be filled before clicking the “Submit” button.
• Be aware that incomplete applications cannot be saved.

Applications accepted here: https://facultyrecruiting.northwestern.edu/apply/MTA1Mg==

Northwestern University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and does not discriminate against qualified individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, marital status, age, disability, citizenship status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected class. Individuals from all diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in Qatar.

For more information, please see the University’s Policy on Institutional Equity at https://www.northwestern.edu/equity/documents/policy-on-institutional-equity.pdf