Description
POSITION OBJECTIVE
The Team Leader, Information Services serves as the head of the Information Services department for the Cleveland Health Sciences Library (CHSL). This position provides senior-level leadership, strategic direction, and operational oversight for a core library function. The position emphasizes building strategic partnerships, addressing clinical and research information needs, and delivering impactful library support to the students, faculty, and staff of the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Nursing, and for anticipating and responding to evolving institutional and disciplinary information needs.
As a senior library leader, the Team Leader directs a distributed leadership model that empowers librarians to lead service portfolios in instruction, reference, educational support, and evidence synthesis, and to expand these services into emerging areas such as scholarly communications, data management, AI and emerging information technologies, and research impact. The role exercises substantial autonomy in setting priorities, leading service innovation, coordinating cross-functional initiatives, and developing policies, workflows, and assessment strategies that have department-wide and library-wide impact.
The position combines active engagement in high-level information services with responsibility for mentoring, coaching, and evaluating librarians and library assistants, supporting professional growth and succession planning. As a trusted advisor to library leadership, the Team Lead contributes to strategic planning, resource allocation, and organizational decision-making, and represents CHSL in institutional initiatives and collaborations. This role directly supports the library's mission by providing vision, leadership, and expertise that advance education, research, and clinical practice across the academic health sciences.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Provide senior leadership for the Information Services department, supervising and mentoring a team of librarians and fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous professional growth. Lead and advance the Distributed Leadership Working Group structure, enabling librarians to specialize in service areas, lead internal professional development initiatives, and coordinate projects laterally across the department. Serve as Lead Stakeholder for a key Working Group, setting long-term goals and guiding strategic direction. Coordinate departmental priorities to ensure consistent, high-impact support for the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Nursing and alignment across Working Groups. Design, implement, and finalize high-level assessment and reporting frameworks, including metrics that demonstrate departmental productivity, instructional impact, and institutional value. Provide strategic oversight of departmental budget planning, resource allocation, and staffing needs in collaboration with library leadership. (30%)
Establish and sustain strategic partnerships with faculty leadership and program directors to integrate library expertise into the educational missions of the health sciences schools. Lead the standardization and curricular integration of information literacy and evidence-based practice competencies across academic programs. Provide advanced reference and research support to faculty, learners, and staff. Design and deliver complex instructional programming grounded in adult learning theory across in-person, virtual, and workshop formats. Oversee the development of scalable learning objects, including instructional videos, tutorials, and research guides, to support asynchronous learning. Implement, analyze, and apply assessment tools to evaluate instructional effectiveness and educational outcomes. (25%)
Provide leadership for evidence synthesis and research support services, expanding and refining service offerings in response to emerging health sciences research practices, digital scholarship, and AI-enabled tools. Serve as a librarian collaborator on systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and meta-analyses, including co-authoring scholarly publications with faculty partners. Continually evaluate and optimize research service workflows, including intake, triage, and project management processes. Pilot and assess advanced research methodologies, search strategies, and data extraction techniques to enhance service quality and rigor. Offer expert consultation across the research lifecycle, including protocol registration, research integrity, publication strategy, and scholarly impact assessment. (25%)
Serve as a senior ambassador for the Cleveland Health Sciences Library to the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Nursing, representing library expertise and priorities to faculty leadership, department chairs, and clinical partners. Design, implement, and evaluate structured outreach frameworks that increase library visibility and engagement across the university's teaching, research, and clinical missions. Utilize data-driven insights to identify emerging opportunities for expanding the library's services, partnerships, and institutional impact. (15%)
NONESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Perform other duties as assigned. (5%)
CONTACTS
Department: Frequent daily contact with all departmental staff to maintain workflow, supervise Information Services staff, works with other department heads to coordinate services under the direction of the Director of the CHSL.
University: Moderate contact with other university departments in the Health Sciences schools and the other Campus Libraries, leading or participating in committees, as a liaison to the department in curricular activities, and to exchange information.
External: Occasionally participate in local, regional, and national organizations to maintain a network of information professionals which enhances our services and to stay abreast of trends and changes in the profession. Collaborate occasionally with members of the OhioLINK consortia and other academic campus libraries.
Students: Frequent communication with students to support their education and research needs.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY
Supervises Information Services librarians and division librarian assistant(s)
QUALIFICATIONS
Experience: 10 years of appropriate experience is required.
Education: Master's degree in Library Science required. Advanced degree preferred, may be required.
REQUIRED SKILLS
Experience teaching Evidence-Based Practice concepts to clinicians or health sciences students.
Experience participating/leading in evidence synthesis review types of literature based research.
Familiarity with citation management tools (EndNote, Zotero, review software (Covidence, Rayyan), and organizational/ content creation tools like Springshare, Adobe, etc.
Strong organizational, leadership, emotional intelligence (EQ), and interpersonal skills
Able to interact well with various constituencies, such as institutional leaders, faculty, staff, students, and occasionally members of the public using virtual technologies or face to face.
Ability to interact and work collaboratively across functions, levels, and departments toward shared objectives; and ability to work cooperatively and strategically in a team environment with all levels of professional, technical and administrative staff and to integrate resources on a timely and organized basis.
Understanding of the field of health sciences librarianship, preferred
Strong analytical skills and problem-solving capabilities, conflict resolution skills
Sound management and supervisory skills, ability to think strategically while balancing several complex agendas, excellent writing and communication skills
Flexibility and creativity; problem solving ability
Ability to work under pressure while remaining attentive to detail
Demonstrated history of successful support, education, and advocacy for all students, aligned with the values, mission, and messaging of the university.
Experience with grant writing, securing external funding, managing budgets or strategic planning.
Experience using Generative AI tools in health sciences, etc.
Membership in the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) and/or contributing to the field of Health Sciences Librarianship.
Experience with interprofessional education.
Commitment to fostering an environment of belonging.
Ability to demonstrate successful support, education, and advocacy for all students, aligned with the values, mission, and messaging of the university, while adhering to the staff policy on conflict of commitment and interest.
Ability to meet consistent attendance.
Ability to interact with colleagues, supervisors, and customers face to face.
Willingness to learn and work with artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies.
WORKING CONDITIONS
General office environment. The employee will perform repetitive motion using computer mouse and keyboard to type.
