Open Publishing Applications Specialist

Code4lib

Claremont (CA)

Hybrid

USD 45,460 - 49,676

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision benefits

10% retirement contributions

Generous time off

Professional development funds

Job summary

A higher education institution in Claremont, California, is seeking an Open Publications Applications Specialist. This role involves enhancing open access publishing and supporting scholarly communication programs. The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor's degree, experience with institutional repository systems, and strong organizational skills. Responsibilities include developing publishing tools and providing training. This full-time position offers a hybrid work schedule and competitive pay between $33 and $36.06 per hour. Excellent benefits are included.

Qualifications

Minimum 2 years experience supporting institutional repository systems.
Experience in a collaborative environment, preferably in higher education.
Ability to effectively train and support non-technical users.

Responsibilities

Develop and customize open-source publishing tools.
Lead technical support for open publishing technologies.
Maintain applications for academic publishing services.

Skills

Supporting institutional repository systems

Working with library data formats (MARC, DublinCore, XML, JSON)

Training non-technical users

Enhancing digital accessibility

Organizational skills

Excellent communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Training in web or application development

Tools

Bepress Digital Commons

Pressbooks

Job description

The Open Publications Applications Specialist (OPAS) will join a highly motivated team of librarians to support open access and open publication, and enhance discovery and delivery of scholarship, creative works, data, and more. This position will provide technical support and trainings for our current suite of scholarly communication and open publishing applications, which includes The Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL), Scholarship@Claremont (S@C) and Pressbooks. This role builds connections to internal and external applications and uses creativity and innovation to create new and exciting applications that improve the development, access, and discovery of open educational resources. This role works within established IT standards and practices to support and expand our digital scholarship infrastructure, including the institutional repository, Scholarship@Claremont, open educational resources, and digital publishing platforms, such as the CCDL. They will be committed to providing excellent service and to developing effective and efficient workflows to ensure that our Open Publishing programs continue to meet the research, teaching and learning needs of The Claremont Colleges.

Priority Deadline: The deadline for first consideration is January 23, 2026. Please note that a cover letter and CV/resume are required along with the application.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Open Publishing Services

Contributes to the development and customization of open-source publishing tools in alignment with institutional needs and open access principles.
Leads the technical development and support of emerging open publishing technologies and platforms, including those supporting open educational resources (OERs), student scholarship, and faculty publications hosted on Scholarship@Claremont.
Collaborates with library and institutional partners to build sustainable workflows for open educational publishing and other scholarly outputs.

Platform Development and Technical Support

Maintains applications and workflows that support academic publishing services for platforms such as CONTENTdm and Bepress Digital Commons
Provides one-on-one or small group training for faculty, staff, students, and/or external university partners on how to use applications and tools as needed
Collaborates with relevant Library colleagues in designing and implementing integrations between digital library platforms, including CONTENTdm, for open publishing and campus systems such as learning management systems or other third-party tools via APIs or custom development solutions.
Collaborates with TCCS IT and library colleagues to support a secure, scalable, and sustainable technology environment.

Digital Initiatives and Open Publishing team

Contributes to policy and process development related to open scholarship and publishing in collaboration with the Digital Initiatives and Open Publishing head and the Open Publishing and Digital Production Associate.
Maintains current knowledge of developments in open publishing and institutional repository management, and other aspects of evolving strategies for scholarly communications and open infrastructure technologies.
Participates as an active and engaged team member by attending unit meetings to discuss priorities and assist with solutions.
Contributes to unit planning and goal setting in support of the library’s strategic initiatives.
Welcomes and values everyone’s perspectives; is committed to fairness and to equal access to information.
Perform other related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Unless otherwise stated, the following qualifications are required to perform the essential functions of this position, or the individual must demonstrate how the essential functions will be performed (with or without reasonable accommodation) using other qualifications not listed below.

Education/Training:

Bachelor’s degree in related field.
Formal coursework or training in web or application development

Experience:

Minimum 2 years experience with the following:
- Supporting institutional repository systems, including storing, organizing, securing, and sharing digital assets (Bepress Digital Commons, Pressbooks, Hyrax, DSpace, Islandora)
- Working with prevalent library data formats such as MARC, DublinCore, XML, JSON, and Linked Open Data
Experience working in a collaborative environment, particularly in higher education, libraries, or cultural heritage institutions
Experience with enhancing or supporting digital accessibility
Knowledge of information systems for research discovery.
Ability to effectively train and support non-technical users (in the adoption and use of systems, tools or processes)
Strong organization, time management, and planning skills. Effective at meeting deadlines, adjusting priorities, and working on multiple projects simultaneously.
Open to learning and developing new skills
Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues and researchers from many different communities.
Demonstrated ability to make decisions independently in a rapidly changing environment.

Preferred Experience:

Experience with platform migration strategies
Understanding of open standards (IIIF), open data, and open research and their role in academic research
Experience in project review, analysis, development, planning, and assessment.

Work Schedule: The regular hours for this full-time position are 40 hours scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday for 12 months annually. May be required to work holiday, weekend, and/or evening hours. Regular hours may vary due to the needs of the organization or business unit. This position is eligible for a hybrid work schedule to work partial hours remotely as approved by the supervisor.

Union: This position is represented by The Claremont Colleges Services Library Staff Federation AFT Local 6735. The employee in this position will be bound by the collective bargaining agreement.

COMPENSATION

Pay: The pay rate for this position is competitive and commensurate with the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required for the position, between $33 – $36.06 per hour.

Benefits: This position is eligible for our employment benefits package including: