Seattle FT job: e-Librarian Full time, regular

Job Title: e-Librarian

Employment Status: Full time, regular.

Status: Exempt

Starting Salary: DOE. Final compensation will be based on the market value of the position, salary and work history, and experience and educational background.

Place of Performance: Seattle, WA

Travel Requirements: Up to 10 days per year.

Supervisor: Director, Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights

Description of the Position:

The Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights seeks a full-time information professional to provide leadership and expertise in the creation and management of an electronic library focused on the land and property rights of women around the world. The intent of the e-Library is to collect and disseminate laws, regulations, and other secondary resources (both legal and non-legal) related to women’s formal and customary rights to land and property.

Description of the e-Library Project:

In October 2009, Landesa launched its Center for Women’s Land Rights, an initiative to champion the untapped potential of women and girls to transform their communities through secure rights to land.

To strengthen women’s land rights, practitioners, law and policy makers, and advocates need access to laws and secondary resources (local customs and traditions, analysis of the impact of laws, etc.) related to women’s rights to land and property. Currently, there is no single site providing a comprehensive collection of these laws and resources, and no forum for interested parties in remote areas of the developing world to exchange information and develop strategies to strengthen women’s property rights. The e-Library will address this gap by creating an online database of laws and secondary legal materials essential to addressing women’s land rights.


Core Responsibilities

A. Database Construction, Maintenance and Preservation:

• Assist with design, and oversee creation of a system to collect and make electronically available, laws, regulations, and secondary materials related to the land and property rights of women around the world. This includes assisting programmers and/or system administrators to write technical specifications that meet the project objectives;
• Once created, manage all facets of e-library system. This includes but is not limited to updating and managing data, information analysis, thesaurus construction, metadata development, database design, information gathering, database construction and testing, as well as data preservation and archiving;
• Provide ongoing technical guidance to staff and Landesa system administrators on project requirements as needed;
• Keep abreast of technological and professional developments in order to advise the organization on potential new technology initiatives, e.g. Web 2.0, podcasts etc.

B. Information Services and Promotion

• Provide research and reference services to Landesa staff and the larger development community;
• Develop and deliver training, workshops and online tutorials for staff (both national and international) on e-Library resources;
• Collaborate with international organizations and libraries focused on women’s land rights.

C. Service Evaluation

• Ensure that the e-library meets the needs of development professionals, legal practitioners, and researchers through focus groups or other evaluative methods;
• Collate usage statistics on e-Library resources and their use on a regular basis, in order to inform subscription and promotional decisions as well as preparation of the organization’s annual report.
• Identify and lead the implementation of technical improvements and bug-fixes to e-library after launch.

Position Requirements:

• 2-5 years of progressively responsible experience in a dynamic information environment;
• Experience designing, developing, and managing web-based services to support learning;
• Experience working with programmers, database administrators, and system administrators to lead creation of a web-based service;
• Project management experience;
• Knowledge of legal, international, and foreign documentation systems;
• Knowledge of current information architecture and database design;
• Willingness to explore new technologies and practices;
• Excellent teaching and presentation skills;
• Team-oriented, self-starter focused on the customer;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Ability to plan workload and identify priorities.

Required Qualifications:

Education: The successful candidate must possess an accredited master's degree in library or information science, e.g. MLIS or MSIM from an ALA-accredited program. Preferred 2nd masters or advanced degree in a field related to international development.

Experience: This successful candidate should have experience with open source content management systems such as Drupal, Joomla, or equivalent packages. The candidate should have experience with client side and server side web development including PHP and MySQL. Must be flexible, possess the ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing, and the ability to work independently and as a member of a team and work well in a changing work environment managing multiple deadlines and projects. Preferred candidates will also have knowledge of legal information and research services, and familiarity with legal terminology, and experience in systems design and systems architecture.

Management Skills: Ability to lead teams and people toward mission objectives at the highest standards of quality. Ability to manage tasks, funds, products, and other elements in such a way that budgets, schedules, delivery requirements, and staff resources are used efficiently and according to work plans. Ability and desire to mentor, teach and develop less experienced colleagues and partners.

Administrative Skills: Ability to manage documents, expense reporting and accounting, labor reporting and accounting, correspondence, and other administrative items so they are handled efficiently, routinely, and in conformance to RDI standards and procedures.

Interpersonal Skills: Ability to work collaboratively with a range of people at all levels, including those from host country governmental and non-governmental organizations, and other counterparts, clients, donors, and grantors. Ability to demonstrate cross-cultural sensitivity, tact, and poise.

Teamwork Skills: Ability to lead and work as a member of teams, including consensus building, communications, and leadership skills.

Communications Skills: Exceptional ability to communicate in writing and orally in English. Needed communication skills include an ability to make and use distinctions as to types, frequency, tenor, and levels of communications, depending upon the circumstances, audience, recipient, and content. Second language skills preferred.

Technical Skills: Demonstrated experience with web database design and development,
digital library concepts and standards (e.g., metadata standards, media-specific standards) and automated reference software, and ability to use Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.


About Landesa

Grounded in the knowledge that having legal rights to land is the foundation for prosperity and opportunity, Landesa partners with governments and local organizations to ensure that the world’s poorest families have secure rights over the land they till. Founded as the Rural Development Institute in 1967, Landesa has helped more than 100 million families gain legal control over their land, unlocking sustainable economic growth and advancing education, nutrition, and conservation efforts.

About the Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights

An initiative of Landesa, the Center for Women’s Land Rights champions the untapped potential of women and girls to transform their communities. With secure rights to land, women and girls can improve food security, education, health, and economic development for themselves and their families.

To Apply:

To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@landesa.org with the title e-Librarian in the subject line. Landesa is an Equal Opportunity employer.