Title: Archives Collection Manager

Employee Classification: Librarian

Campus: University of North Texas

Division: UNT-Provost

SubDivision-Department: UNT-University Library

Department: UNT-University Library-Gen-141000

Job Location: Denton

Salary: Salary depending on qualifications and rank with a minimum of $64,780.20 (Assistant), $69,280.20 (Associate), and $75,580.20 (Librarian).

FTE: 1.00

Retirement Eligibility:

About Us - Values Overview:

Department Summary

A wide range of student- and faculty-centered services are the cornerstone of the Libraries' integral role in the University of North Texas community. As the most-used service on campus and an essential component of education and research at the University of North Texas, the Libraries offer access to an abundant collection of more than 6 million items (print and digital) along with expert personnel to assist patrons in achieving their academic and scholarly goals. We provide innovative and inclusive programs and support to enhance the intermingling of teaching, learning, and research at UNT.  

The Special Collections department collects and preserves rare and unique research materials for use by students, scholars, and the public. The department consists of five highly collaborative units; Digital Collections, Preservation, Processing/Description, Public Services/ Outreach, and University Archives. Special Collections offers unique experiences to students and faculty to engage with primary sources, rare books, arts, and artifacts. Faculty in a variety of disciplines including arts, humanities, and sciences schedule class visits to Special Collections each semester. Faculty also take advantage of coursework development grants to integrate Special Collections into curriculum, and research fellowships to further scholarly pursuits. As one of the largest contributing partners to The Portal to Texas History, Special Collections leads initiatives each year to digitize archival collections and preserve born digital archival content.

The University of North Texas is a student-centered public research university with nearly 40,000 students. A Carnegie-ranked Tier One public research university, UNT is one of the nation’s most diverse universities. UNT has been designated as both a Minority Serving Institution and Hispanic Serving Institution.

With 7.5 million people and two international airports, DFW is the fourth-largest metro area in the United States. DFW is racially, ethnically, religiously, and culturally rich and maintains a long-standing commitment to the arts exemplified by local attractions such as the Dallas Arts District and the Fort Worth Cultural District. UNT’s proximity to these major metropolitan centers ensures that our new colleague will be able to access a wide range of activities and cultural experiences. The university also has a generous benefits, leave and perks package.

UNT is located in Denton, Texas, a growing city with a small-town feel and a thriving arts and music scene centered on its downtown Square and is connected by highways and light rail to the major transportation hubs and big-city attractions of Dallas and Fort Worth, about 40 miles away. Want to know more about why you should consider coming to Denton? Check out Discover Denton.

UNT has a highly diverse campus with a wide range of languages spoken in addition to English. We welcome candidates who have experience with HSI/MSIs and/or who speak Spanish, Vietnamese, American Sign Language, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin and other variations), Arabic, Tagalog, Farsi, French, or/and Yoruba.

Position Overview

The Special Collections Department at the University of North Texas Library is seeking to hire an Archives Collection Manager. The Collection Manager is a key supervisory role within Special Collections that provides leadership and expertise in developing and maintaining a comprehensive program for processing and physically managing archival collections. This position oversees a team of two full-time processing archivists and is directly responsible for managing appraisal, processing, arrangement, and description of analog manuscript and archival materials. Additionally, the Collection Manager will collaborate with the Digital Archivist to guide the appraisal and processing of born-digital archival materials, and collaborate effectively with other units within Special Collections to support the needs of collection users.

The Collection Manager will be responsible for overseeing the use of ArchivesSpace, maintaining documentation of local descriptive standards within Special Collections, and managing the submission of finding aids to the state consortium, Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO). The Collection Manager will have opportunities to participate in a variety of departmental outreach activities and has a key role in the annual Archives Institute, a six-week program designed for graduate students pursuing archival careers.

As a manager within the Special Collections department, and the site supervisor for Special Collections at the Research Collections Library (a remote facility located about one mile north of campus), the Collection Manager plays a crucial role in fostering a culture of trust and collaboration. This is achieved through open communication and by providing regular feedback, guidance, coaching, and mentorship to staff members. In this highly collaborative role, the Collection Manager works closely with other unit heads in Special Collections (Public Services, Digital Archives, University Archives, and Preservation) and UNT Libraries to solve challenges and pursue innovative solutions that maximize the impact of archival resources in an academic context, in alignment with the library’s goals.

As a librarian, this position is expected to contribute to scholarly activity and professional service, including but not limited to research, publications, grant writing, participation in professional organizations, and service on library and university committees and workgroups.
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SPECIFIC POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES
• Supervise and evaluate the performance of processing staff; review completed finding aids for adherence to standards and edit them as needed prior to publication.
• Mentor and coach direct reports to develop their skills in both library operations and specialized areas, fostering their growth in a positive and proactive environment.
• Establish processing priorities and determine appropriate levels of processing for collections, provide project management for processing activities, and set realistic goals and timelines for project completion.
• Develop, refine, and enhance workflows and procedures for processing and managing collections in various formats, ensuring adherence to accepted archival standards and the unique needs of UNT Libraries.
• Collaborate and frequently communicate with colleagues within Special Collections to ensure processing practices support related functions such as acquisitions, preservation, digitization, metadata creation, public services, outreach, and instruction.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation related to processing and description activities, including the departmental Processing Handbook, local descriptive standards, and any other relevant resources.
• Facilitate outgoing loans of Special Collections materials.
• Supervise the use of ArchivesSpace within Special Collections, ensuring its effective application in managing archival materials.
• Serve as the primary liaison with Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO) and ensure the regular updating and submission of finding aids to the consortium.
• Contribute to departmental outreach initiatives.
• Participate in the annual Archives Institute.
• Identify funding and partnership opportunities; write grants and proposals, and assist in the development of funding initiatives.
• Perform other duties in support of Special Collections' core functions as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in Library Science, Archival Science, History, or a related field.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build and sustain effective relationships with library staff, faculty, and students.
• Proven ability to manage projects and meet deadlines.
• Experience supervising, coaching, and evaluating full-time staff.

Preferred Qualifications

We want to emphasize that the preferred qualifications are not required and that we are committed to helping our future colleague develop these preferred skills.
• Certification through the Academy of Certified Archivists.
• Two of more years experience supervising full time employees.
• Experience working in an academic archive or special collections department.
• Experience processing archival collections.
• Experience working with photographic archives.
• Familiarity with ArchivesSpace and/or experience creating and maintaining documentation of local descriptive practices.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, project management, and time management skills, with the ability to set priorities, meet deadlines, and complete tasks within budget and scope.
• Knowledge of descriptive and metadata standards such as EAD, DACS, and Dublin Core.
• Experience securing external funding for processing projects.
• Demonstrated contributions to scholarly activity and professional service.

Required License/Registration/Certifications

Work Schedule:

Varies based on assignment.

Driving University Vehicle:

No

Security Sensitive:

This is a Security Sensitive Position.

Special Instructions:

Applicants must submit a minimum of two professional references as part of their application. If needed, additional references can be added after the application has been submitted. Applicants must submit a CV, a cover letter and a list of three professional references with their online application.

Applications received on or before September 26, 2025 will receive first consideration.

Benefits:

For information regarding our Benefits, click here.

EEO Statement:

The University of North Texas System is firmly committed to equal opportunity and does not permit -- and takes actions to prevent -- discrimination, harassment (including sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking) and retaliation on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status in its application, employment practices and facilities; nor permits race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or sex discrimination and harassment in its admissions processes, and educational programs and activities, facilities and employment practices. The University of North Texas System promptly investigates complaints of discrimination, harassment and related retaliation and takes remedial action when appropriate. The University of North Texas System also takes actions to prevent retaliation against individuals who oppose any form of harassment or discriminatory practice, file a charge or report, or testify, assist or participate in an investigative proceeding or hearing.