Director, Special Collections and Archives

Required Education:

• A graduate degree in library and information science from an ALA-accredited institution or international equivalent, archival studies, or a related field with a focus on special collections or archives management.

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum of six years of progressively responsible experience working with special collections and rare books or archives in a research library.
• A minimum of three years of progressively responsible staff management and development experience in a research library or similar setting. 
• Ability to articulate a vision for the value of special collections and archives to learning, teaching, research, and community engagement.
• Demonstrated ability to foster environments of teamwork and collaboration.
• Deep and broad knowledge of best practices in special collections and archives including collections development and management of analog, digitized, and born-digital materials; ethical purchasing and acceptance of gifts-in-kind; digital preservation; archival description; cataloging; special collections security; as well as copyright and intellectual property issues. 
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience with programs to integrate special collections and archives in research, curricular and co-curricular use, and community engagement. 
• Experience working with prospective donors to cultivate gifts of collections and the ability to establish and maintain successful donor relationships. 
• Experience building and maintaining effective partnerships and collaborations between the Libraries, academic departments, and university community.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work successfully in a collaborative environment with a broad range of people including colleagues, administrators, students, faculty, alumni, and donors.
• Demonstrated ability to support a welcoming and respectful environment in a job-related experience, an academic setting, and/or the community.

Desired Qualifications:

• Additional advanced professional or academic degree in a relevant subject area.
• Classwork, certifications, concentrations, or additional degree(s) in special collections, archives, the history of the book, or other relevant disciplines.
• Demonstrated success working collaboratively with university advancement staff in fundraising, including individual and corporate gifts.
• Successful track-record developing, writing, and managing grants.
• Demonstrated experience with budgeting and strategic planning.
• Basic understanding of metadata standards and schemas for describing special collections, rare books, and archives.
• Demonstrated understanding of the mission of a research university and the mission and functions of a large research library.

Application Details:

In order to be eligible for interview, applicants must upload the following and mark them as “relevant files” when you upload the documents:

1. Cover letter that clearly addresses how you meet each of the required and any desired qualifications of this position. To ensure strongest consideration, applicants are encouraged to review all required qualifications and state directly how they meet each of them. 
2. Current resume

This job ad will be posted through August 17, 2025, and may be removed from posting and filled any time after that date. Please contact andrea-rost@uiowa.edu if you have any questions about the position.

The hiring salary range for this position is $75,000 - $120,000.

Successful candidates will be required to self-disclose any conviction history and will be subject to a criminal background check and credential/education verification. Up to 5 professional references will be requested at a later step in the recruitment process.

This position is eligible for on-campus and/or hybrid remote work within Iowa, with the majority of work time being on campus, and will require a work arrangement form to be completed upon the start of your employment. Per policy, work arrangements will be reviewed annually, and must comply with the remote work program and related policies and employee travel policy when working at a remote location.

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