Systems and Discovery Librarian

University of Puget Sound

Job : 8875

Full/Part Time: Full Time

Staff Posting Details

Appointment: Regular, full-time (1.0 FTE) position.

This position is based in Tacoma, WA, and is hybrid eligible (minimum of 3 days on-site during the summer and 4 days on site during the academic year) after a successful evaluation period.

Please note that we generally do not sponsor applicants for work visas for staff positions. Therefore, we generally require applicants for staff positions to be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Collins Library seeks an experienced Systems and Resource Discovery Librarian to serve as the primary administrator and strategic coordinator for the integrated library services (ILS) platform (Ex Libris Alma and Primo VE) that enables research, teaching, scholarship, and student success at the University of Puget Sound. Working within the Resource Management Services team, this position will partner with colleagues across library departments and consortial networks, and relevant campus units to implement innovative services, support the user experience, optimize user access, and strengthen operational workflows related to discovery systems, electronic resource platforms, and integrated library applications.

The successful candidate will report to the University Librarian and supervise the Acquisitions and Electronic Resources Manager and Electronic Resources Specialist.

• Provide strategic leadership, technical administration, and institutional coordination for Ex Libris Alma (the library resource management system) and Primo (the primary end-user discovery interface), ensuring alignment with institutional goals, user needs, and evolving library service models.
• Serve as the primary administrator for Alma modules including Acquisitions, Resource Management, and Analytics.
• Configure workflows, manage permissions, implement updates, and maintain system integrity across all functional areas of the platform, including integration with university systems.
• Design, implement, and sustain workflows and protocols that facilitate seamless, equitable, and barrier‑free delivery of physical and digital collections while maintaining compliance with institutional and consortial IT standards for system architecture, security protocols, and user privacy protection.

• Direct the configuration, customization, and ongoing optimization of the Primo VE discovery interface to deliver an excellent user experience
• Implement interface enhancements, refine search algorithms, manage display logic, and ensure seamless integration between Alma and Primo VE.
• Partner with library staff to advance systems functionality and adopt user experience principles that strengthen discovery capabilities.
• Coordinate the selection, review, testing, evaluation, and deployment of emerging discovery functionalities and metadata improvements within the Alma-Primo ecosystem.
• Monitor Ex Libris and Orbis Cascade Alliance development roadmaps, participate in beta testing programs, and communicate implementation and deployment plans with both technical and public-facing library personnel.
• Address staff and patron inquiries and troubleshoot system and electronic resource issues and outages.
• Collaborate closely with Public Services (including liaison librarians) to make decisions about the Primo interface.

• Oversee knowledge base management within Alma, including portfolio activation, metadata enrichment, collection representation, and liaison with the Ex Libris Community Zone.
• Lead metadata quality initiatives and coordinate knowledge base cleanup projects to improve the accuracy, online searchability, and discoverability of library resources.
• Establish quality control procedures and implement improvement strategies for bibliographic and holdings data in Alma.
• Engage with colleagues implementing metadata frameworks including MARC, Dublin Core, Bibframe, and RDA, along with data exchange…