Librarians Without Borders (LWB) Volunteer Opportunity: Director of Operations

February 7, 2016

Librarians Without Borders (LWB) is recruiting for a Director of Operations with a project management focus to join their team of Directors!

Ten years ago Librarians Without Borders (LWB) was founded at a single university in Canada with a handful of MLIS students launching our work. Fast forward to 2016: we’re now an organization with multiple program partners, new project ideas and partners under development, and an executive team of twelve with six student sites, 500+ members worldwide, and more than 95 professionals who have participated on our annual service trips to Guatemala.

In other words, we are fortunate to now have a lot of moving parts! We are at the point in our growth where these parts would benefit from someone helping to keep tabs on them and keep them on track.

To that end, we are recruiting for a Director of Operations  (DoP) with a project management focus to join our team of Directors. The DoP will work alongside the two Co-Executive Directors and Director of Membership and Communications to advance the priorities of the organization.

Who are you? You’re a master of organization who enjoys putting sense and structure to work, who is excited about translating the big picture into daily practice, and who likes to collaborate with diverse teams.

We have a lot of ambitions for LWB. If you love the mission of LWB and would enjoy volunteering with us in this important role, please read on.

Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Co-Executive Director (Operations), the Director of Operations is responsible for ongoing partnership and program management support. You’ll have your finger on the pulse of our programs, and help shape our projects and move them forward. This includes:

• project scheduling to identify when tasks will be performed and by which team/team member
• tracking and reporting on project milestones, following up as necessary with team members
• suggesting and potentially rolling out interventions when projects may run off-schedule
• take minutes at core organizational meetings (directors, executive team, program heads, AGM)
• convert varied meeting notes into action items in our  project management software
• manage and monitor the main LWB general email account (info@lwb-online.org)

Your first task? Review our existing plans and help us choose a tool for managing them. Once the tool is up and running, you’ll port our plans into it and then help us stay on track.

Qualifications:

• You’re a master at organizing multiple projects, deadlines, resources and schedules.
• You’re a team player (and team leader), self-motivated and able to use time wisely.
• Disposition marked by maturity, resourcefulness, flexibility, empathy, and collegiality.
• Good problem-solving skills and nimbleness are a must!

Time Commitment and Duration:

The work is expected to take 10-20 hours regularly per month, with a consistent 2-4 hours per week. There is no term limit on this position.

LWB is a virtual workplace. Our volunteers work from their home — wherever that may be — and collaborate across geography using web conferencing software provided by us. The virtual nature of our workplace allows you to work whenever is most convenient for you (aside from periodic scheduled synchronous meetings).

Compensation:

LWB is an entirely volunteer-run organization.

While we cannot offer monetary compensation, we can offer you a great experience for furthering your management aspirations in your professional career and a vibrant outlet for contributing to global librarianship in a leadership role. You will also find community with those who share similar interests and passions as you do!

How to Express Interest:

For questions or to explore your interest, please email Melanie Sellar and Mark Gelsomino at exec@lwb-online.org by February 19. When you’re ready to apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to Melanie and Mark at the email address listed above.