Ready to join a workforce UNLIKE any other?

Unit: {lSubDepartmentID}

Department: {lDepartmentPositionID}

Department Summary: {sTALargeOther1}

Duties & Responsibilities:

The Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries invites applications and nominations for the position of Head, Creative Technologies and Scholarship to advance and sustain a suite of programs that elevate the VCU community’s engagement with media and maker technologies. The Head of Creative Technologies and Scholarship is responsible for The Workshop (https://go.vcu.edu/theworkshop). Located in the James Branch Cabell Library in the center of the Monroe Park Campus of VCU, The Workshop is a gathering place for a community of creative makers and users who explore technologies and their application to learning and research. Last year, staff in The Workshop answered 5,996 questions, taught 424 instructional sessions, and handled more than 28,000 transactions for circulating equipment. Creative Technologies and Scholarship leads a robust instructional and outreach program that includes class integrated instruction, VCU Global Game Jam, VCU GIS Day, the Workshops at the Workshop series, and an annual Creative Inquiries lecture.

Responsibilities 
Reporting to the Associate Dean for Scholarly Communications and Publishing, the Head is responsible for leading the Creative Technologies and Scholarship department, including The Workshop. The Creative Technologies and Scholarship department consists of the department head, a team of three accomplished professionals, and approximately twenty student/hourly staff members. The Workshop features two service points, equipment loans, reservable studios, dedicated computer stations for multimedia, XR, 3D, and GIS work, a makerspace, and a new data visualization wall. 

The Head of Creative Technologies and Scholarship will 

• Lead the Creative Technologies and Scholarship department, overseeing personnel, services, facilities, budgets, technologies, communications, planning, assessment, and training.
• Continually improve Creative Technologies and Scholarship policies, procedures, and initiatives to align with university and library values, goals, and capacities.
• Cultivate existing library, university, and community relationships, and strategically forge new partnerships.
• Proactively pursue and administer external grants and funding opportunities to expand departmental programs and resources.
• Champion the responsible development and promotion of media and maker technologies to advance the department's mission in support of learning and scholarship.

This position is an essential member of the Scholarly Communications and Publishing division’s leadership team and is expected to play an integral role in the success of division-wide operations and collaborative ventures. As a member of VCU Libraries Department Head Council, the Head of Creative Technologies and Scholarship will work with colleagues to further the strategic initiatives of the libraries.

The Head, Creative Technologies and Scholarship is expected to be active professionally and to contribute to developments in the field. Faculty with VCU Libraries are evaluated, and promoted, on the basis of job performance, scholarship, and service.

Candidates need not meet preferred qualifications to be fully considered. We value individual and unique skills that would strengthen the VCU Libraries and our teams.

Salary: Salary commensurate with experience, not less than $85,000 annually. This is a full-time, non-tenured faculty position. 12-month faculty benefits apply, including 24 vacation days annually and choice of retirement and annuity plans.  Librarians are provided a generous professional development allowance. For more information about benefits, see the Faculty Benefits page.  

Interviews: Initial interviews will be conducted virtually. We anticipate inviting finalists to campus. 

Learn about the position in an online information session
We are hosting information sessions for interested applicants in advance of the February 20, 2026 review date.

Please consider joining one of these sessions to learn more about the position, meet the supervisor (Jimmy Ghaphery), and get answers to your questions about the position.
 
Join one of our info sessions via Zoom:

• Monday, January 26, 3pm EST
• Thursday, January 29, 3pm EST

The attendee list for each Zoom session will be hidden and those asking questions may do so anonymously. Live captioning will be provided. To attend a session, please complete the confidential form to receive a Zoom link.

Questions? Please contact:  Jimmy Ghaphery at jghapher@vcu.edu

About VCU Libraries

Libraries at Virginia Commonwealth University, including the James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park Campus and the Health Sciences Library on the MCV Campus, employ over 60 professionals and 64 staff with annual expenditures exceeding $26 million. VCU also operates academic programs in Doha, Qatar, supported by a library there, and in various locations throughout the U.S. and the world. The VCU Libraries is a member of the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, Center for Research Libraries, Coalition for Networked Information, National Digital Stewardship Alliance, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, and the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA), a statewide networking consortium for shared access to electronic and print resources, as well as a Resource Library in the Network of the National Library of Medicine, among others.  The VCU Libraries uses the following packages for its system architecture: Alma, Primo, Rapido, Digital Commons, ArchivesSpace, and Omeka. The print serials collections of the VCU libraries represent unique holdings committed to regional print retention programs, such as ASERL. VCU has been a selective, regional depository library in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) since 1971, as well as a depository for government documents of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Our present collection is focused on electronic government documents.

For more information about the VCU Libraries, please visit our home page at https://www.library.vcu.edu/. Review of applications will begin February 20, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled. To apply, go to https://www.vcujobs.com/, complete the application and submit a cover letter, CV/resume, and the names, email addresses, addresses, and telephone numbers of three professional references.  

About Virginia Commonwealth University
We are the university for Virginia. We know that the unique backgrounds and life experiences of the VCU community are what drive the university forward. Together, we’re forging a future that is built by us. Here, artists and engineers, doctors and designers come together to reimagine the human experience and tackle the problems of tomorrow.   For information about the City of Richmond, see: https://www.visitrichmondva.com/

VCU enrolls more than 29,000 students in more than 200 academic programs across its urban campuses: the downtown Monroe Park and MCV campuses in Richmond; the Rice Rivers Center in Charles City, Virginia; satellite locations in Fairfax, Virginia, and Abingdon, Virginia; and a campus in Doha, Qatar, for the School of the Arts.  VCU is designated as a research university with very high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation, garnering more than $550 million in sponsored research from federal and other agencies in FY2025.  The National Science Foundation ranked VCU among the top 50 public research universities in the country, and we are one of only 84 public universities nationwide to be designated by the Carnegie Foundation as “Community Engaged” with “Very High Research Activity.”

VCU’s mission, is to serve as one national urban public research institution dedicated to the success and well-being of our students, patients, faculty, staff and community through:

• Real-world learning that furthers civic engagement, inquiry, discovery and innovation.
• Research that expands the boundaries of new knowledge and creative expression and promotes translational applications to improve the quality of human life.
• Interdisciplinary collaborations and community partnerships that advance innovation, enhance cultural and economic vitality, and solve society’s most complex challenges.
• Health sciences that preserve and restore health for all people, seek the cause and cure of diseases through groundbreaking research and educate those who serve humanity.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications

• ALA-accredited graduate degree or accredited graduate degree in another appropriate discipline.
• Progressively responsible experience in the management of a program related to media and maker technologies.
• Superior communication, active listening, and collaboration skills essential for leading staff and engaging with the university community.
• Demonstrated ability to work in and foster an environment of respect, professionalism, and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from all backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU.

Preferred Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in current and emerging trends, best practices, and instructional strategies for supporting and promoting media and maker technologies within a university or similar setting.
• Experience supervising and empowering technology and information professionals.
• Experience and/or vision providing students meaningful and transformative work experiences.
• Experience developing, assessing, and evolving programs in media and maker technologies.
• Experience working collaboratively within and across organizational and community boundaries in a diverse and evolving organization with a wide variety of users.
• Experience with hardware and software planning, purchasing, and deployment.
• Experience in grant application and administration.
• Evidence of professional engagement, research, or scholarship in the field of digital scholarship, maker culture, academic librarianship, or related discipline.

Salary Range: Commensurate with experience, not less than $85,000 annually

Benefits: All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave granted up front, generous tuition benefits, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more.

FLSA Exemption Status: Exempt

Hours per Week: 40

Restricted Position: No

Rank: Open

Tenure: Ineligible

Months: 12 months