Copyright & Licensing Advisor - Library Services - 107034 - 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

Background

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 ResourceLists and we provide accessible versions of materials for students with disabilities in line with their needs.

Role Summary

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 useable 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 have oversight of the Digitisation Service and the staff within the Service. The Service provides digitised reading materials for students via ‘ResourceLists@Bham’ and provides alternative format materials for users with disabilities in line with accessibility requirements. Knowledge and awareness of copyright and licensing issues associated with accessibility and the creation of alternative format materials will be central to this element. The post holder will be responsible for reviewing the needs and resourcing of the Service to ensure its effective operation including identifying and implementing any key performance measures. Part of this role will involve liaising with colleagues across campus to ensure the effective support of users with disabilities incorporating best practice in service delivery.

The post holder will devise and deliver training to university staff, researchers and students across campus ensuring that guidance is up to date and in line with best practice from across the Higher Education sector. This will include the continual review of related website information, ensuring it is up to date and compliant with the associated legislation, and is accessible for a wide range of audiences.

The post-holder will promote equality and value diversity including actively acting as a role model in own behaviour and fostering a non-discriminatory culture, whilst actively applying internal processes in a fair and equal way.

Main Duties

• Act as the main point of contact for copyright queries, providing expert advice relating to copyright issues as they impact on research activities, scholarly communications and teaching activities of the University escalating complex issues to the Head of Copyright and Licensing.
• Have ownership and responsibility for developing and delivering training activities to enhance copyright literacy across the University.
• Review e-Resource licence agreements ensuring that they are suitable for the needs of the University, suggesting improvements where appropriate. The review may include identifying issues and liaising with publishers and vendors to resolve queries (e.g. ensuring access to overseas students or data mining is permissible).
• Taking a strategic direction to leveraging copyright and licences to maximise the provision of accessible texts for students and staff with disabilities.
• Oversee and provide strategic direction and management to the Digitisation Service by aligning activity and priorities to the University’s strategic framework, benchmarking activity against peer institutions, and incorporating best practice into local service delivery.
• To lead an ongoing evaluation of the existing procedures of the Digitisation Service to enhance service user.
• experiences, while making best use of resource available, including producing regular reports on current issues and trends impacting on service provision.
• Update and maintain the content of the University’s intranet pages (or similar) where applicable to ensure compliance with associated legislation, and ease of consumption for a wide variety of audiences.
• Provide guidance on the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act and Reuse of Public Sector Information Act, as applicable to Library Services’ activities, liaising with colleagues as required.
• Show a commitment to continuing professional development e.g. by participating in appropriate professional groups or networks, and by engaging in self-motivated research to remain up to date on relevant legislation and practice across the sector.
• Promotes equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working. 
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

Qualifications

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) plus relevant practical experience - where no equivalent qualification is held significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required.
• Hold a recognised qualification in librarianship/ information science or equivalent level of experience in a library.

environment, or a recognised legal qualification or equivalent level of experience in a legal environment.

• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
• GCSEs to a minimum of grade C in English and Mathematics (or equivalent qualifications).

Stakeholders.

• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly. 
• Extensive in-depth knowledge and understanding of copyright legislation at national and international level, including the application of relevant exceptions, and related legislation.
• Extensive in-depth knowledge and understanding of e-resource licensing.
• Knowledge of a range of information sources, including how they are used by students, lecturers and researchers in a higher education setting.
• Awareness of sector-wide policy developments and their impact upon research, scholarly communications and teaching activity.
• Understanding of accessibility requirements in higher education, the requirements for accessible content and the impact upon service users.
• Knowledge of data protection, freedom of information and other legislative areas that impact upon library and university activity.

Skills

• Ability to understand, interpret, assimilate and communicate complex ideas to a range of internal and external

Stakeholders

• Ability to diagnose and resolve a range of complex problems from staff and students, suggesting appropriate solutions.
• Ability to independently and proactively prioritise workload in the face of conflicting demands, both individually and in a team environment.
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to establish and maintain constructive working relationships with colleagues at all levels across Library Services, internal academic staff and internal/external suppliers.
• Strong influencing and negotiating skills.
• Ability to have challenging conversations in a sensitive and professional manner.
• Skilled in the use of IT with an excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.

Experience

• Practical experience of interpreting legislation, licences and other legal documents.
• Significant experience of working in an appropriate library, information, publishing or legal contracts environment, with at least some of it having been gained in the further or higher education sector.
• Extensive experience of developing and providing guidance and training to stakeholders both face to face and via written forms.
• Experience of line management including recruitment, team development and service enhancement.
• Experience of service evaluation and enhancement including the implementation of best practice to ensure continual improvement of the services provided.

Informal enquiries to Lisa Bird, email: l.s.bird@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.