Copyright & Licensing Advisor - Library Services Grade 7

Position Details

Library Services

Location:

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to November 2026

Closing date: 12th March 2026

This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.

Interviews for this position will take place on 25th March 2026

Libraries and Learning Resources supports the information resource and service needs of staff and students undertaking high quality research, learning, and teaching at the University of Birmingham. Including the main library on the Edgbaston campus, the service operates from five site libraries across the campus and in the West Midlands region, supports the delivery of library services at the University’s Dubai campus, and delivers access to information resources and library services to distance learners and transnational users.

The Collections, Discovery and Research Communications Division, within Libraries and Learning Resources, manages the acquisition of and access to a substantial collection of information resources in a range of different formats. A significant and growing proportion of that collection is delivered electronically with access and use of the content controlled by licence agreements.

The Copyright and Licensing Team advise students and staff in matters of copyright to support both teaching and research, review the Library's electronic licensing agreements and manage the Digitisation Service. We work with students and staff across the university to resolve any copyright related queries. We also support teaching and learning activity by supplying digital versions of Library content for Resource Lists and we provide accessible versions of materials for students with disabilities in line with their needs.

Under the direction of the Head of Copyright and Licensing, the post holder will provide advice and guidance on complex copyright and licensing matters as they impact upon university research and teaching activity. This will include supporting staff and students as they use and create copyright materials, the Library’s acquisition of content for use across the University, and the dissemination of teaching and research outputs.

The post holder will collaborate with academic staff to support all areas of the research environment and scholarly communications lifecycle. This will include working with researchers and students engaging in teaching and research activities across the whole range of disciplines. Activities will include exploring and facilitating new and emerging research in areas such as Big Data, AI and Machine Learning offering guidance on how copyright and licensing issues contribute to these activities.

An awareness of how copyright issues might affect initiatives impacting upon researchers will be vital, especially in relation to the increasingly complex scholarly communications landscape, Open Access and Open Research, and digital research.

The role will also support teaching activity, advising academic colleagues on the use of content externally sourced and included within teaching materials regardless of the model of delivery. This may include providing guidance on the use and re-use of Open Educational Resources, making textbooks Open Access, the use of materials within lecture content used in class and via Canvas, as well as addressing issues such as those raised by lecture capture.

Working with colleagues across the division, the post holder will be responsible for the continual review and recording of electronic resources licences, to ensure the licences enable all uses of content. This will also include ensuring content is usable by students and staff based at the University’s Dubai campus and other transnational educational activities. Where appropriate the post holder will liaise with content providers to ensure that the licences meet all research and teaching needs.

The post holder will line manage the Digitisation Service Assistant Team Leader and therefore…