Executive Director of Libraries and Digital Services

University Positions; Nottingham; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Flexible patterns

35 days annual leave

Health insurance

Pension plan (Salary Sacrifice)

Health & wellbeing benefits

Professional development

Job summary

Nottingham Trent University seeks an exceptional, strategic leader to unite libraries and digital services into a cohesive portfolio. The Executive Director will provide executive leadership, shape service-led outcomes, and align with the university strategy across education, research and support functions.

The role requires senior leadership experience in higher education, strong stakeholder engagement, and a track record of delivering major transformation within multidisciplinary teams.

Job description

Work at the cutting edge of digital innovation.

Doing things differently.

Executive Director of Libraries and Digital Services

Competitive Salary

Full time/Permanent Contract

About The Role

Nottingham Trent University is seeking an outstanding, service-focused strategic leader to unite our library and digital technologies services around a common purpose: giving students, educators, researchers and colleagues the information, systems, resources, spaces and support they need to succeed.

The Executive Director, Libraries and Digital Services will provide executive leadership for a newly integrated portfolio spanning user support, innovation, library operations, academic skills, scholarly communications and open access, digital systems and infrastructure and cyber security. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and Registrar, the Executive Director will unite established professional communities to deliver our new University strategy through a shared set of service-led principles, ensuring that physical and digital environments work coherently to support excellent education, research and professional practice.

The successful candidate will bring significant senior leadership experience in higher education, substantial expertise in at least one of the portfolio's core disciplines and the breadth, curiosity and judgement to lead the whole portfolio. They will have a strong record of leading large, complex and multidisciplinary services, delivering major transformation and investment and creating a culture of service excellence, innovation and high performance. The ability to engage credibly with students, academic colleagues and professional services, use data and insight to improve outcomes and navigate competing institutional priorities will be essential.

NTU offers a powerful platform for this work. With five University of the Year awards, Gold status in the Teaching Excellence Framework and 83% of its research activity judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent, the University has built a strong reputation for innovation, inspirational teaching, outstanding student support and research that addresses pressing global challenges. The University’s new five-year strategy creates the opportunity to establish an integrated service that is central to student success, academic quality, outstanding research and institutional effectiveness. The Executive Director will shape inclusive physical and digital learning environments, resilient and secure digital foundations and forward-looking information and academic services, while ensuring that investment delivers clear and measurable value.

This is an opportunity to join a University with a distinctive culture, strong momentum and a clear sense of purpose. Guided by values that emphasise changing lives, being bold and doing the right thing, NTU is looking for an authentic, visible and empowering leader who can unite specialist teams, create the conditions for collaboration and creativity and translate strategic ambition into an excellent experience for students and colleagues.

The closing date for applications is noon, Monday 21st September 2026

Join Us

• Hybrid working - We support flexible ways of working through a combination of campus-based and home working where applicable. For full-time roles, this includes a minimum of 60% on-campus commitment. We trust colleagues to work with their teams to shape working patterns that enable them to deliver the best possible outcomes for their stakeholders.
• Flexibility - We welcome and support a range of working patterns and approaches, helping colleagues balance their work and personal commitments while meeting the needs of the role.
• 35 days annual leave, plus statutory bank holidays and 5 university closure days pro rata.
• Annual Health Insurance or Private Medical Insurance
• Salary Sacrifice Retirement Savings Plan with life assurance and income protection. Available to colleagues who choose to opt out of the contractual pension scheme. Minimum colleague contributions of 0% matched with minimum NTU contributions of 8%.
• Range of health and wellbeing services, including a Health Cash Plan, voluntary benefits, discounts, and savings for all colleagues.
• Access to a wealth of formal and informal professional development opportunities to develop your skills and advance your career.

Safe and Inclusive

At NTU, we continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our students and colleagues. By championing positive wellbeing, we promote an environment where all can thrive and reach their full potential. We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring and we encourage people from underrepresented communities and backgrounds to apply to join our team.

Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.

Whilst this role is currently eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker Route, we recommend that you assess your eligibility before applying for this position, or for more information visit the Government Skilled Worker visa support page.

This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) and successful applicants will be asked to declare any unspent criminal convictions.