Senior Acquisitions and Cataloguing Assistant (Asian and Middle Eastern Team)

Location: Normally: Osney One Building, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0EW; occasionally the Bodleian Japanese Library or other libraries holding East Asian open-shelf collections

About the role

Join our team! We are looking to recruit a motivated and enthusiastic person to deliver acquisitions and cataloguing support primarily for our Japanese collections but also for Korean studies. 

You will be a member of a small team in the Asian and Middle Eastern Technical section within Collection Management, Bodleian Libraries, based at the Osney One building, and will act as first point of contact for acquisitions and cataloguing in the relevant languages. You will have a varied role dealing with purchases from vendors, invoicing, donations and cataloguing of materials, and will liaise closely with the relevant subject librarians and also with vendors. 

This is a permanent, full-time post, working 36.5 hours per week. Some home working may be possible after training. 

About You

You will have good knowledge of spoken and written Japanese and English and a working knowledge of Korean. 

You will have a calm and methodical approach to work and excellent attention to detail, even when working under pressure. 

Good IT skills (Microsoft Windows 11), in particular Word and Outlook and Excel is essential. Experience of structured online data entry on our online system, preferably Alma would be beneficial. 

You will be able to work both independently and co-operatively with colleagues in a small team environment. 

What We Offer

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days of annual leave
• A comprehensive range of childcare services
• Family leave schemes
• Cycle loan scheme
• Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans 

More information is available at https://hr.admin.ox.ac.uk/staff-benefits 

Diversity

Our staff and students come from all over the world, and we proudly promote a friendly and inclusive culture. Diversity is positively encouraged, through diverse groups and champions, as well as a number of family-friendly policies, such as the right to apply for flexible working and support for staff returning from periods of extended absence, for example, shared parental leave. 

How to apply

You will be required to upload your CV and a supporting evidence form using the attached template as part of your online application. The supporting evidence form lists each of the essential and desirable selection criteria, as listed in the job description - please explain how you meet each one.  Applications submitted without a CV and supporting evidence form will not be considered. 

The Chair of this recruitment panel will be Ann Evans, Acquisitions Manager, Collections Management, who can be contacted with enquiries relating to the role

(ann.evans@bodleian.ox.ac.uk). General queries about the recruitment and application process should be directed to the Recruitment team within our Human Resources department (recruitment@glam.ox.ac.uk). 

Only applications received online by 12.00 midday GMT on Friday 28 November 2025 can be considered. Interviews are expected to take place on Thursday 11 December. 

Please do let us know if you require any more information. Many thanks for your assistance in advance.

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