Head Librarian

The German Historical Institute London is seeking to employ, from 1 August 2023, an enthusiastic, self-motivated and proactive Head Librarian for its research library (permanent position).

Located in the heart of a diverse and cosmopolitan city, the German Historical Institute London (GHIL) is an academically independent institution and forms part of the Max Weber Foundation – German Humanities Institutes Abroad. It focuses on researching British–German relations, British history, and colonial history, often from a comparative, transcultural and global perspective. By co-ordinating international research projects and promoting early-career scholars, the GHIL enhances British–German co-operation in the humanities. It also maintains a comprehensive library on German history, British–German relations from the Middle Ages to the present day, and wider European history.

The Head Librarian will lead a small team of three colleagues in delivering high-quality services to promote both research and teaching of German history in Britain as well as supporting the institute’s research staff. Your role will involve the strategic planning, evaluation and continuing development of services, collection development and subject cataloguing. You will also liaise with the working group of head librarians of the 10 sister institutes within the Max Weber Foundation and contribute to collaborative projects.

You will

• hold a postgraduate library or information science qualification
• ideally hold a PhD in history or another historically oriented humanities discipline, or have substantial research experience at postgraduate level
• have ideally several years of experience of working in academic libraries
• have native or near-native language skills in German and/or English, with very good knowledge of the second language (C1 CEFR preferred)
• be familiar with Library Management Systems (LMS) and have a willingness to develop some systems librarian skills (the institute’s new LMS is Koha, hosted and supported by an external company)
• be a natural team-player and have excellent people skills
• have a conscientious, committed and professional attitude to your work

The place of employment is London. This is a full-time position; job-sharing will be considered if suitable complementary candidates are available. The starting annual salary is between £53.352 and £54.444 depending on professional experience. In principle, the salary is taxable in Germany; the only exception is for British nationals who do not also have German citizenship, who are taxed in the United Kingdom.

If you have any questions about remuneration or the terms of the contract, please contact the administrative director of the GHIL, Sandra Heyn (s.heyn@ghil.ac.uk). Questions about the role should be directed to Dr Christiane Swinbank (c.swinbank@ghil.ac.uk).

The Max Weber Foundation is a family-friendly employer and promotes a good work–life balance for parents. We value diversity and therefore welcome all applicants, regardless of nationality, ethnic and social background, religion, age, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Applications (in English) including a covering letter outlining your motivation and what makes you suitable for the role, supporting documents and the names and email addresses of two referees should be sent by email only to bewerbungen@ghil.ac.uk, quoting the reference number 02/2023. Please compile all your application documents into a single PDF file.

Interviews are expected to be held on 19 April 2023.

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