Digital Researcher Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Salary Range:
$54,581.40 - $60,646.00 Commensurate with the Rank of Librarian 1
$66,193.20 - $73,548.00 Commensurate with the Rank of Librarian 2
$76,946.40 - $85,496.00 Commensurate with the Rank of Librarian 3
About SMU
SMU's more than 12,000 diverse, high-achieving students come from all 50 states and over 80 countries to take advantage of the University's small classes, meaningful research opportunities, leadership development, community service, international study and innovative programs.
SMU serves approximately 7,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students through eight degree-granting schools: Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences , Cox School of Business , Lyle School of Engineering , Meadows School of the Arts , Simmons School of Education and Human Development , Dedman School of Law , Perkins School of Theology and Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies .
SMU is data driven, and its powerful supercomputing ecosystem - paired with entrepreneurial drive - creates an unrivaled environment for the University to deliver research excellence.
Now in its second century of achievement, SMU is recognized for the ways it supports students, faculty and alumni as they become ethical, enterprising leaders in their professions and communities. SMU's relationship with Dallas - the dynamic center of one of the nation's fastest-growing regions - offers unique learning, research, social and career opportunities that provide a launch pad for global impact.
SMU is nonsectarian in its teaching and committed to academic freedom and open inquiry.
About the Position:
This role is an on-campus, in-person position.
SMU Libraries seeks a collaborative and forward-thinking AI & Digital Research Librarian to lead and expand support for artificial intelligence-enabled research and digital scholarship initiatives. The ideal candidate is comfortable working in partnership with faculty, students, and campus colleagues and thrives in the iterative nature of the research process, where exploration, experimentation, and refinement are essential to discovery.
This position is situated within the Research & Digital Strategy unit of SMU Libraries, which brings together the Norwick Center for Digital Solutions (nCDS) and the Research & Scholarly Initiatives (RSI) team to support AI-enabled and digitally driven research. The unit collaborates with faculty, students, and staff on artificial intelligence and machine learning, research data management, open access publishing, scholarly repositories, and digital scholarship, while connecting researchers with SMU Libraries' distinctive special collections through digitization and digital preservation to advance innovative, technology-informed research.
Building on the success of SMU Libraries' 2025-2026 AI for Research cohorts of faculty and graduate students, this position will support new and ongoing projects that incorporate AI to advance innovative solutions in research and teaching. Working in partnership with faculty, students, librarians, and Office of Information Technology (OIT) staff, the librarian will support prompt engineering, prototype research workflows, and advise on AI-enabled research environments. This role will further solidify the Libraries' position as a trusted research partner while ensuring alignment with SMU's new strategic framework that will launch in fall 2026.
This is an exciting time to join SMU Libraries as it continues to invest in innovative spaces and partnerships that support scholarship. The AI & Digital Research Librarian will be housed in the Research Lab within the Rees-Jones Library of the American West, a dynamic hub where researchers will engage with SMU Libraries' special collections and develop projects that integrate rare and archival materials with emerging technologies, including AI and machine learning. In this role, the AI & Digital Research Librarian will design and lead programming, workshops, and research support services within the lab, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and enabling researchers to explore new methods of discovery, analysis, and creative expression.
SMU is a nationally ranked private research university in Dallas, TX, with eight degree-granting schools. SMU Libraries includes six libraries on the main campus and one library at our satellite location in Taos, NM.
SMU Libraries and the SMU campus is dedicated to diversity and inclusion. We seek to hire a person who shares our values of a diverse and equitable workplace based on teamwork with a proactive and positive approach in all that we do.
Essential Functions:
AI Research Strategy and Service Design

• Assist researchers with prompt engineering to enable AI-assisted workflows.
• Evaluate commercial and open-source AI tools for research applicability, usability, and risk.
• Test retrieval-augmented and generative approaches.
• Translate researcher needs into clearly defined use cases and service models.

Digital Scholarship Initiatives

• Collaborate on digital research projects by contributing expertise on AI, data management, and project management.
• Advise researchers on tools for data-driven scholarship and emerging scholarly formats.
• Support text analysis, data visualization, and digital mapping research methods.
• Support research projects that engage SMU Libraries' digital collections.

AI Infrastructure and Research Systems

• Collaborate with OIT and library systems teams to define requirements and use cases for AI-enabled research environments.
• Work with digital collections staff to identify, evaluate, and potentially develop AI tools for metadata and description workflows.
• Serve as liaison between researchers and technical teams to ensure infrastructure decisions align with research needs.

Instruction and AI Literacy

• In collaboration with subject librarians, design and deliver workshops and instruction materials for AI literacy in research.
• Educate users on limitations and biases of AI systems.
• Support the integration of AI awareness and AI literacy within research and information literacy programming.
• Collaborate with library colleagues to develop internal guidance on the evaluation, adoption, and use of AI tools.

Professional Development

• Continue professional growth through publishing, presentations, or participation and leadership in professional organizations.
• Serves on or chairs library, university and professional organization committees as appropriate.
• Engage with and contribute to national conversations relating to AI and digital research, demonstrating a thorough understanding of trends.

Education and Experience:
Required Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Library and Information Science or advanced degree in other relevant or related field.
• Demonstrated experience in engaging with evolving AI/ML tools in teaching and/or research.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating on digital scholarship or digital research initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience providing instruction, consultations, or workshops in an academic setting.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate and explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Strong verbal and written communication.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD, Ed.D., D.L.S., or other terminal doctoral degree in a relevant field Preferred.
• Project management experience.
• Strong knowledge of AI platforms and concepts such as vibe coding and bot construction as they apply to academic research, teaching, and/or libraries.
• Experience working collaboratively across library and IT environments.
• Knowledge of programming languages such as Python and R and frameworks such as Hugging Face and TensorFlow.
• Experience working with Special Collections, archives, or primary source materials in digital contexts.
• Knowledge of copyright, intellectual property, and other ethical considerations in digital and AI-enabled scholarship.
• Experience with digital scholarship tools that support text analysis, data visualization, and/or GIS/digital mapping.
• Candidates hired at the rank of Librarian 2 will require at least 2 years of work experience in an academic setting or research library. Candidates hired at the rank of Librarian 3 will require at least 5 years of experience in an academic setting or a research library.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Candidate must demonstrate strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate broadly across the University and develop and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of constituencies. Must also demonstrate strong written communication skills.
Candidate must possess strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify and analyze problems, as well as devise solutions. Must also have strong organizational, planning and time management skills.
Physical and Environmental Demands:

• Sit for long periods of time

Deadline to Apply:
Open until filled. Applications submitted by May 27, 2026 June 1, 2026 will receive priority consideration.
To be considered for this position, applicants are required to submit:

A resume or CV,

A cover letter that addresses the education and experience required and preferred for this position.

EEO Statement
SMU is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.
Benefits:
SMU offers staff a broad, competitive array of health and related benefit s. In addition to traditional benefits such as health, dental, and vision plans, SMU offers a wide range of wellness programs to help attract, support, and retain our employees whose work continues to make SMU an outstanding education and research institution.
SMU is committed to providing an array of retirement programs that benefit and protect you and your family throughout your working years at SMU and, if you meet SMU's retirement eligibility criteria, during your retirement years after you leave SMU.
The value of learning at SMU isn't just about preparing our students for the future. Employees have access to a wide variety of professional and personal development opportunities , including tuition benefits .