The University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is 
seeking an Associate Head, Software Development Department to join the Library 
& Information Technology division.

The Associate Head takes a leadership role within the University Libraries’ 
highly collaborative Software Development Department. The person in this 
position advocates for and leads the implementation of robust software 
development and systems analysis practices, including automated testing, 
software documentation, user-centered system design, and the responsible 
stewardship of software inspired by DevOps practices. The University Libraries 
is active in and committed to open source development and communities and the 
Associate Head will have opportunities to contribute to open source software 
projects in a variety of ways. Mentorship of staff and the continued 
cultivation of healthy, diverse, and inclusive working environments is an 
essential requirement for any position in our department. The University 
Libraries has fostered a community of learning and collaboration and presents 
many opportunities to learn new skills and to take on a range of technically 
challenging projects with support from senior staff.

As the University Libraries develops increasingly sophisticated data and 
software infrastructure to enable scholarly, research, and teaching and 
learning partnerships in our community, we are working to connect and extend 
disparate information systems. The Associate Head will manage a team providing 
strategic technical oversight for this initiative by leading the development of 
software and practices that enable fluid data interchange among a network of 
systems and communities. In order to identify and pursue opportunities to 
increase the local and global impact of the University Libraries’ collections 
and services, the Associate Head will draw from the practices of:

computational research and scholarship
business intelligence (i.e. data-informed strategic planning)
archival information management
machine learning
software engineering

The position works with library and campus partners to design and implement 
infrastructure to support their data needs. In order to be successful, these 
projects will require close collaboration with units across the Libraries and 
University with related service missions, including:

Digital Research Services
Metadata Strategy
Wilson Special Collections Library
Libraries administrative and operational units
Digital preservation specialists
Scholarly Communications
Liaison and research services staff
Campus IT and Research Computing units
Our global community of scholars

The Associate Head regularly shares progress with stakeholders and seeks input 
on prototypes. The Associate Head provides support to users throughout the 
lifetime of the project, troubleshooting problems and maintaining code. Our 
colleagues have taken a variety of paths to technical specializations and we 
welcome candidates seeking collaboration with professionals who care about 
their work, within an environment that respects a work-life balance.

The person in the position will represent the Libraries in University-wide 
activities and in other venues, participate in other activities in support of 
the University Libraries’ mission, and serve the University community as needed.

Qualifications

Required

Master’s and 1-2 years’ experience, or Bachelor’s and 2-4 years’ experience or 
will accept a combination of related education and experience in substitution.
Awareness of relevant issues that are unique to mission-driven research and 
academic institutions.
Demonstrated ability to lead a technical team to plan and complete projects.
Experience mentoring software developers and developing a supportive and 
rewarding team culture.
Experience working collaboratively and communicating effectively with software 
stakeholders coming from a range of technical backgrounds.
Experience developing server-based and browser-based software.
Experience transferring data between systems via APIs.
Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
A commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where differences 
and complexities in background, cultures, values and viewpoints are valued.

Preferred

Experience working in a library or academic setting.
Demonstrated experience contributing to professional communities.
Experience supervising technical staff.
Experience with agile development methodologies.
Experience with computational research (e.g. data science) methods.
Experience working with Machine Learning systems and models.
Familiarity with practical applications of artificial intelligence concepts.
Experience working with application frameworks (e.g. Ruby on Rails, Django, 
Laravel, or Angular).
Experience applying DevOps techniques in partnership with infrastructure 
management colleagues.
Experience with test driven development and/or continuous integration.

The University and The Libraries
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the country’s oldest state 
university. UNC Chapel Hill has an enrollment of approximately 29,000 students, 
employs more than 3,500 members of the faculty, and offers 69 doctoral degrees 
as well as professional degrees in medicine, social work, information science, 
and law. The University Libraries, one of the largest research libraries in the 
South, is an essential part of the University’s educational and research 
efforts. It includes 9 libraries on campus, including the Health Sciences 
Library, Walter Royal Davis Library, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections 
Library, and the R.B. House Undergraduate Library. The University Libraries 
hold approximately 9.2 million volumes and extensive collections of 
manuscripts, audiovisual, microforms, graphics, government documents and rare 
books. The Libraries is a member of the Association of Research Libraries, the 
Council on Library and Information Resources, and the Center for Research 
Libraries. Together with the libraries at Duke University, North Carolina 
Central University, and North Carolina State University, the members of the 
Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) provide services and collections to 
their students, faculty, and staff in support of the education, research, 
healing, and service missions of the universities.

The University Libraries is committed to increasing the diversity of its staff, 
and therefore welcomes applications from candidates who bring additional 
dimensions to our mission and work. The University Libraries invests proudly in 
our employees, strive to create a diverse environment of respect and 
collaboration, and encourage vision and innovation.

The Region
The Triangle region is one of the most desirable places to live and work in 
North America and offers its residents a wide array of recreational, cultural, 
and intellectual activities. The mountains or the seashore are less than a half 
day’s drive from Chapel Hill.

Salary and Benefits
This position is at will. The salary is commensurate with qualifications and 
experience, with a range of $74,500-$95,000. Standard state benefits of annual 
leave, sick leave, and State or Optional retirement plan.

Deadline for Application
Review of applications will begin upon receipt. Applications will be accepted 
until the position is filled.


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