University of St Andrews

Library Systems Manager / Applications Services Manager

Fife, Scotland

£41,526 - £51,034

Permanent / Full Time

About the company

We are delighted to be exclusively recruiting for the prestigious University of St Andrews, as they are looking to employ a Library Systems Manager / Application Services Manager for their IT Services Team.

Founded in the 15th century, St Andrews is Scotland's first university and the third oldest in the English-speaking world and is known across the globe as a world leader in education. Situated on the east coast of Scotland and framed by countryside, beaches and cliffs, the town of St Andrews was once the centre of the nation’s political and religious life. Today, it’s a vibrant academic town with a distinctively cosmopolitan feel where students and university staff account for more than half of the local population.

The University of St Andrews is a diverse and international community of almost 12,000, typically of over 140 nationalities. It has over 9000 students, just over 7,000 of them undergraduates, and employs approximately 2,500 staff - made up of c. 1,200 in the academic job families and c. 1,350 in the non-academic job families.

IT Services is responsible for providing, developing and maintaining the University’s central IT infrastructure which includes:

•     The campus data network, telephone system, external network connections and data centres

•     A general-purpose computing service for the students and staff of the University

•     Corporate information systems for the administrative units

•     Specialist advice and support for academic and administrative computing

IT Services offers comprehensive computer, telephone and media services to all students and staff at the University of St Andrews and also manages reports of hardware faults and requests for advice on the use of computing service systems via our IT Service Desk.

The Unit aims to provide a contemporary and integrated technological environment, which sustains and strengthens the University's ability to deliver its strategic objectives, facilitating collaboration, world-class teaching and research, and efficient business processes. We want to deliver an environment which will support students, researchers and academics by providing an empowering platform and functionality for knowledge creation and exchange.

IT Services is headed up by the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and has approximately 95 staff.

This post forms part of the Enterprise Applications and Software Development team within IT Services. The team is strongly customer focused and staff are encouraged to keep their skills up to date and to share knowledge and expertise freely with their colleagues both within IT Services and across the University.

What you’ll be doing

Proactively manage and develop Library and Museum IT services & systems and provide application expertise as required to help resolve business problems and to identify and plan for new and emerging business needs.

As the owner of support for Library and Museum enterprise applications, act as an advocate for the Libraries and Museums, and as the key interface between IT Services and service users, building relationships across IT Services and beyond and facilitating solutions.

Key Tasks

• Proactively manage the Library/Museum IT systems and services in close liaison with users and 3rd party suppliers, to maintain secure, highly available and performant applications, and application services.  Ensure performance is in accordance with Supplier Service Level agreements.
• Be the focal point for Library/Museum systems and technology and proactively manage the services in accord with ITIL best practice.
• Contribute to the development of the Library/Museum associated IT systems in accordance with the changing requirements of business users and to assist with the achievement of university strategic objectives. Advise and assist with planning, design and improvement of services.
• Apply software patches and upgrades, where required, on a regular basis.  Configure / add new services as necessary, ensuring that the formal Change Control process is followed.
• Research and recommend innovative and automated approaches and use for enterprise applications. Identify approaches that leverage our resources and provide economies of scale.
• Liaise with the Systems Team as appropriate to ensure that all required applications and data are successfully backed up to the appropriate media and stored appropriately.
• Continually review and maintain operating procedures and guidelines for all systems and services and ensure compliance.  Provide training and support to peers and junior colleagues.
• Perform periodic performance reporting to support capacity planning.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation to describe the various Library/Museum systems and record any changes.  Provide information and prepare reports, guidelines, and procedures of a strategic or complex technical nature.
• Participate in internal and external committees and working groups as appropriate or as directed.
• Proactively establish and routinely enhance productive relationships with senior stakeholders, users and external vendors.
• Manage relationships with third-party suppliers of systems and services to the Library/Museum.
• Line management duties in accordance with role and grade.
• Deputise for the relevant line manager when required.

Why you will be hired

To be considered for this role you will require:

Essential

• Relevant Degree level IT qualification or equivalent experience
• Experience of Library Management Systems (e.g. Sierra, Alma) and other aligned systems within the library landscape (for example, self-service, e-resource management, library access control etc).
• Experience of heritage collection management systems (e.g. Ke Emu, Axiell Collections) -Desirable
• Experience of heritage collection user interfaces, including knowledge of IIIF infrastructure. -Desirable
• Proven experience of managing, supporting and upgrading a variety of enterprise applications in both on-premises and SaaS environments.
• Proven ability to manage relationships with customers and third-party suppliers.
• Understanding of the systems and software development lifecycles; software management approaches, requirements design and test techniques
• Knowledge of scripting and software development, and integration/interfacing between systems
• Proven ability to produce comprehensive supporting documentation
• Proven ability to work well with others and support others within the team to achieve business objectives
• Awareness of data security principles and GDPR
• Proven experience of change management in an enterprise environment
• Excellent customer service mindset and flexibility and ability to cope with busy workloads
• Ability to work openly and co-operatively with others, both within immediate project teams and customers elsewhere in the University
• Self-motivated and able to organise own time effectively as well as to motivate and advise others to schedule their own workloads. Able to work reliably with minimal supervision
• Outstanding written and oral presentation skills; able to present complex ideas at the appropriate level to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, able to develop and implement innovative solutions to complex/diverse problems and issues

Before an appointment can be confirmed, you will be subject to a Basic Disclosure check.

The University is committed to equality for all, demonstrated through their working on diversity awards (ECU Athena SWAN/Race Charters; Carer Positive; LGBT Charter; and Stonewall).  More details can be found at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/diversityawards/

The University is also committed to equality of opportunity.

The University particularly welcome applications from traditionally under-represented groups of the community.

Why you should apply

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone to join a prestigious University

If you are interested in learning more: Please get in touch on 020 7378 5469 or Daniel.rose@suehill.com