Executive Director, Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP) in Princeton, New Jersey at Princeton University

The Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP) seeks a strategic, entrepreneurial Executive Director to lead one of the world's most significant shared collections partnerships into its next phase of development.

Jointly owned and operated by Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, and The New York Public Library, ReCAP stewards a single-site collection of more than 18 million items, which is among the largest concentrations of research material anywhere in the world. Each year the consortium accessions ~500,000 new items and fulfills 240,000+ requests in print and digital formats, delivering timely service to researchers across its partner institutions. ReCAP also hosts and stewards BorrowDirect, the resource-sharing partnership that connects faculty, students, and researchers to thirteen of the world's premier library collections.

Reporting to and working closely with the Board of Governors, the Executive Director operates with a high degree of independence to set operational direction and represent the consortium in national and international cooperative library initiatives, including shared print, discovery-to-delivery innovation, preservation, logistics, and facilities. With partner libraries increasingly uniting their resources, expertise, and collective scale, ReCAP aims to model scalable innovation — leveraging digital opportunities and shared collections to advance world-class research and teaching. This is a rare opportunity to shape new directions for large scale collaborative collection stewardship.

Required Qualifications:

• Master's or professional degree in library science or another area of cultural heritage.
• Ten or more years of relevant experience, including five or more years of progressive management experience in a large research library, especially in collection management, access, preservation, and/or library storage.
• Demonstrated success leading strategic planning efforts and guiding collaborative, multi-institutional projects.
• Experience managing and developing both exempt and non-exempt staff.
• Broad knowledge of the library community gained through roles in collection development, access services, technical services, and/or administration.
• Ability to work effectively and independently with a governing board.
• Strong consulting, negotiation, mediation, and interpersonal skills, with excellent public presentation abilities for a wide range of audiences.
• Sound business judgment and familiarity with procurement, budgeting, billing, and invoicing.
• Skill in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to guide operational improvement and policy development.
• Experience engaging on the national and international stage.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of operations management principles, particularly inventory and supply chain management.
• Extensive experience with data reporting and analysis tools.
• Familiarity with enterprise information technology and library systems.
• Experience with facility management and construction or renovation projects.
• Familiarity with unions and collective bargaining arrangements.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.

If the salary range on the posted position shows an hourly rate, this is the baseline; the actual hourly rate may be higher, depending on the position and factors listed above.

The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.