City : Waterloo, ON

Category : Temporary

Industry : Education

Employer : University of Waterloo

Term: 18 months

The University of Waterloo Library is the campus's partner in learning, research and innovation. Its two main locations and three satellite spaces act as interdisciplinary hubs, bringing together the knowledge, expertise and resources needed by our diverse campus community. The University was built for change and the Library exemplifies Waterloo’s agility as we continuously transform our approaches to creating, discovering, using, sharing and preserving information. With a commitment to open and equitable access to information, we equip researchers and students with the critical research skills to improve our world as active citizens, creative problem solvers and agile leaders. All of our work is done with a strong commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

The Electronic Resources Access Manager reports to the Head, Collection Development and directs and manages effective and timely processes and workflows for access to the Library’s electronic information resources. They evaluate, enhance, and provide direction and leadership for the efficient and effective maintenance and management of electronic resources management functions within the Library Services Platform (LSP) used by staff and relevant Content Management Systems (CMS) accessed by patrons.

Team Leadership

• Provides leadership, direction, and strategic planning in the execution of electronic resource access functions for the Electronic Resources Access team
• Provides guidance, creates and interprets policies, guidelines, and interface documentation to coach and facilitate the Team in development of efficient and effective procedures
• Provides direction in the prioritization of the team’s duties, triages service requests, assigns appropriate projects, and allocates the team’s efforts to ensure tasks and projects are completed on time
• Adheres to internal and external customer service standards and performance indicators, monitors satisfaction with service delivered, and takes action to enhance service quality
• Manages change, including the facilitation of training and testing

Daily Operations Management

• Oversees the OpenURL resolver maintenance processes, including target creation and updating, and proactive identification of access issues
• Develops, implements and documents workflows engaging staff in process mapping and training as needed  
• Ensures proactive evaluation and ongoing communication of changes to electronic resources, including meeting accessibility requirements (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act)
• Participates in upgrades and testing for new versions of Electronic Resource Management (ERM) systems and assessment tools, as required
• Monitors request ticketing queues to ensure associates have capacity to complete the tasks and contributes to the resolution of tickets during times of high ticket volumes
• Ensures remote access to both direct and consortially acquired resources is configured properly, regularly advising the Acquisitions Team on suitability of electronic resource access models, and that access continues uninterrupted, escalating comprehensive reports of any issues to the appropriate staff member for resolution

Vendor File Maintenance and Usage Data

• Oversees the maintenance of the LSP vendor files to ensure the successful harvesting of usage data from external platforms
• Coordinates workflows for proactively identifying and resolving issues with automated usage gathering
• Works in close collaboration with colleagues in analytics and assessment roles, and the Digital Initiatives department in the extraction and analysis of collections data and web analytics data
• Contributes to the identification of reporting needs and provides feedback for ongoing report modification

Vendor/Partner Relations

• Communicates effectively with publishers/vendors to enhance relationships, negotiate data retrieval and quality, advocates for usability and accessibility improvements, and troubleshoots, at times, very complex issues
• Escalates urgent tickets to the LSP provider’s client service portal and corresponds frequently to ensure timely resolution of system issues
• Participates in vendor visits, as appropriate
• Coordinates remote and onsite vendor training for Library staff
• Maintains awareness of projects, initiatives, and developments in the field through active participation in consortia and professional organizations, such as Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), or external agencies (ex. NISO, NASIG)

Departmental Coordination & Administration

• Hires, trains, coaches and supervises staff, developing effective team dynamics
• Co-develops goals and expectations with staff and helps employees create clear paths to success
• Manages performance and behavior through both formal (performance appraisal) and informal methods such as regular feedback, coaching and one-on-one meetings
• Identifies development opportunities in others and co-creates with the employee a development plan, regularly following up on the progress of development
• Participates in departmental reviews and leads working groups, as appropriate
• Participates in library-wide projects as required by areas of responsibility, expertise, or interest

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in education/experience
• Significant recent experience as a supervisor, preferably of a team, that successfully demonstrates a high degree of skill in leading and developing staff
• Demonstrated experience in data extraction, manipulation, and reporting
• Experience working in an area related to electronic resource or data management, preferably using a Library Services Platform in a library setting
• Experience with office software: MS Word (Intermediate); Excel (Advanced); PowerPoint (Intermediate)
• Proven ability to take initiative and manage multiple projects, priorities, deadlines, and develop/implement process improvements
• Demonstrated experience and aptitude for investigating and troubleshooting technical and process related issues
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and good judgement, with a demonstrated ability to maintain respectful, and constructive working relationships across multiple levels and diverse stakeholders
• Proven ability to clearly and positively communicate complex concepts; excellent oral and written communication skills
• Knowledge of electronic information resources landscape and associated issues, such as procurement and licensing within the higher education context
• Familiarity with web-based analytics tools and programing languages

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within our Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion.  As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at hrhelp@uwaterloo.ca  or 519-888-4567, ext. 45935.