Project Manager, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA

Posted June 27, 2020

Description:

Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education seeks a Project Manager to manage the successful launch of the online portal for The Black Teacher Archives Project. The Project Manager will oversee the creation of a portal documenting the intellectual, political, and professional contributions of black educators in the United States up and through the Modern Civil Rights Movement. The Project Manager’s work will support the two primary goals of the online portal: elevating public knowledge on the intellectual and political legacy of African American schoolteachers during Jim Crow and preserving and increasing access to historical primary sources documenting this legacy. This role will report directly to the principal investigators of the project.

Job Duties:

Lead all aspects of external partnership projects, including due diligence, contracts, alliance management and project execution including meeting logistics, authoring of minutes, assignment of action items and tracking of internal and external deliverables.
Develop project planning documents and archive project materials to ensure visibility of both project history, current status, and future directions.
Research, select and oversee technology vendor(s) (web developers, digital specialists etc) to ensure creation of the portal structure and style in consultation with the PIs.
Manage project team members; facilitate team meetings.
Research, cultivate, and maintain relationships with key stakeholders to grow project participation. Identify additional archival collections for the portal.
Create standard procedure through which material can be added to the portal on an ongoing basis. creating metadata.
Coordinate with various libraries and institutions that house physical copies of CTA publications to digitize and create metadata for the resources; help build syllabi and other digital assets relevant to the project.
Work across schools and offices to ensure adherence to IP issues.
Ensure the use of and stay abreast of best practices for digital preservation and conversion including image capture, data migration and metadata creation to include web-based applications and conversion of existing materials into digital formats,
May write and edit content for the portal, ranging from accessible scholarly essays to item captions and instructions for portal users and contributors.
Responsible for creating metadata for the project.
Travel both locally and nationally.

Basic Qualifications:

Master’s Degree in African American Studies, History, Library and Information Science, or in a related field with demonstrated scholarship and expertise pertaining to archives on black history and culture in the United States.
3 years of teaching or academic research experience in one or more of the following fields: Digital Humanities, Cultural Studies with a focus on technology, African American History and Archives, New Media, Public History, or a related field.
Experience creating or managing metadata.
Must be willing to travel as needed.

Additional Qualifications:

PhD in African American Studies, History or in a related field is preferred.
Demonstrated success with project management (preferably digital humanities projects in higher education or non-profit settings) and/or leading technology projects.
Portfolio of successful digital humanities projects.
Active involvement in one or more digital humanities communities and/or professional organizations.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Ability to think analytically, take initiative and complete projects, flexible, able to prioritize multiple demands, and with a strong focus on getting things done.
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a collegial environment.
Familiarity with digitization of library or cultural heritage materials.
Advanced knowledge of the English language.
Familiarity with African American archives and special collections.
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills combined with attention to detail for complex, detail-oriented work.
Effective verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to work independently, as a team member, and across departmental boundaries in a fast-paced environment.
Flexibility to be organized, productive and effective in a dynamic environment, involved with a variety of simultaneous projects and workflows.
Will be required to travel to various partnering libraries to do “in house” cataloging and meta-data creation, as the pre-digitization process. This will require the project manager to perform seated desk-based computer tasks. It may also require the fellow to frequently twist/bend/stoop/squat, grasp lightly/fine manipulation, grasp forcefully, sort/file paperwork or parts, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh up to 20 pounds.
Familiarity with and/or ability to learn, analyze, and utilize existing and emerging metadata standards as required by the project. Ability to provide mapping between different metadata standards in a dynamic environment.
Knowledge of, and basic experience in, applying current cataloging procedures and principles as defined in RDA, MARC Bibliographic, Holdings, and Authorities formats. Ability to rapidly learn and implement new cataloging procedures and principles adopted by the project team.
Familiarity with principles of linked data.

Other Information:

This is a full-time, one year position with an opportunity of renewal.

How to Apply:

The original job posting with the full description can be found here. Apply using the job portal found there. Applicants wishing to be considered must supply a cover letter in addition to a resume and must indicate meeting basic qualifications.