Position: Research Specialist/Senior Research Specialist

Location: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Original post on LLSDC Job Line. 

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. We are currently seeking either a Research Specialist or Senior Research Specialist who will report to the firm’s Research Services Manager. The Research & Information Services department is critical to the firm’s day-to-day strategic and tactical operations.  Our Research Specialists are highly skilled in providing actionable insights which are used to make informed legal and business decisions. 

We are looking for a forward-thinking, proactive, analytical and confident individual with impeccable research skills, business acumen and acute attention to detail, who thrives in a fast paced, team-oriented environment, and is passionate about the profession. This individual will also have strong interpersonal skills in order to develop relationships with members of the firm around the globe, expanding both the types and quality of work the department performs.  This role provides exposure to all types of legal and business work. 

This role can reside in the Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, or Washington, DC office with hybrid work capabilities. The hours for each location would be: 

California: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. PT, M-F
Texas: 10:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. CT, M-F 
East Coast: 11:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET M-F

Key responsibilities of this position include: 

• Initiates and develops strong relationships with designated practice groups (Litigation, Labor and Communications, as well as firm industry groups such as Cybersecurity, and Autonomous Systems & Advanced Mobility) in order to actively collaborate with stakeholders, promote the efficient use of resources, and work together towards common goals.
• Monitors industry developments and curates intelligence in order to alert key stakeholders of critical legal and commercial events.
• Partners with practice group stakeholders in the assessment of resources, identifying opportunities and making recommendations for purchase, training and/or cancellation.
• Analyzes and distills information to provide actionable intelligence from internal and external resources for the firm’s attorneys, marketing/business development teams, and additional business services teams.
• Performs as lead Research Specialist to respective practice and industry groups, and coordinates to ensure quality of research requests.
• Attend, initiate, and participate in team and practice group meetings.

Other Essential Duties: 

• Provide back-up coverage in the event of other department staff member absences.
• Develop/Schedule and follow-up on training for attorneys, paralegals and others, including initial skills assessment and on-boarding processes. We utilize a variety of training media including in-person sessions and on-demand videos.
• Maintain awareness of current legal and business research materials, techniques, strategies and resources; build research skills in new areas of the law and new technologies.
• Assist in resolving technical problems and issues, as appropriate.
• Undertake work to support ad hoc firm and practice group initiatives, as assigned.
• Handle administrative and other projects, as assigned.
• Make edits to the Research & Information Services pages on the firm’s intranet pages. 

Qualifications (Experience, Knowledge, Skills & Abilities):

• Master of Library Science degree and/or J.D. from accredited institution preferred
• 1 – 2 years’ law firm, business or relevant research experience preferred
• Exceptional analytical and research skills including familiarity with a wide range of legal and business materials found across multiple practices and industry groups
• Substantive understanding of legal and business resources, their organization and availability in a multitude of formats
• Familiarity with – and enthusiasm for exploring – technologies, their licensing methods, and their uses in improving research service provision
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including exceptional attention to detail with grammar, spelling and punctuation
• Confident and approachable manner when communicating with all levels at the firm
• Desire to proactively seek out and disseminate additional information and analysis, beyond that which may have been requested. Creativity of thought when seeking solutions, collaborating with stakeholders and working towards the firm’s common goals
• Energetic and highly-motivated work ethic, and the desire to constantly seek out ways to improve knowledge and processes
• Strong working knowledge of Excel, PowerPoint and Word, and document management systems
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, take the lead on team research projects as necessary, set priorities, and see projects through to completion
• Demonstrates flexibility under pressure, and the ability to quickly and efficiently adapt to potentially competing priorities
• Ability to establish effective working relationships within the department, practice groups, office and firm
• Ability to establish effective working relationships with clients, vendors and others outside the firm
• Strong service orientation
• Commitment to professional growth

The base salary range for this position in California is $67,000 to $100,000. Additional information about benefits and rewards can be found here. 

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP participates in E-Verify for purposes of verifying employment eligibility.

Position: Librarian

Location: Export-Import Bank of the United States

Salary: $78,592 – $102,166

Full job posting on USA jobs. 

This position is located Research & Information Services, IT Governance & Administration Unit, Office of Chief Information Officer, Office of the SVP Information Technology, Export-Import Bank of the United. The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (“EXIM Bank”), an independent federal Agency, is the official export credit agency of the United States. EXIM Bank provides international lending, bank guarantees, and insurance for U.S. exports. The Research Center is an international business, finance, economics, law library and archives that supports the mission, programs, and operations of the Bank. The Research & Information Services provides many services: research, reference, news and research alerts, technical services, a print collection, archives, briefings, orientations, and trainings. Supporting these services is a collection that includes print and electronic sources: books, periodicals, documents, maps, multimedia materials, database subscriptions, a Bloomberg Professional Terminal, a large selection of Internet sources, and EXIM’s legislative history. Specific subject areas of interest include emerging markets, risk management and due diligence, international trade, finance, economics, banking, accounting, government, business, and law.

At the full performance level, duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provides reference and research services with respect to EXIM’s Charter, legislative history, and corporate history.
• Prepares responds to ready reference or document requests, research requests from internal stakeholders and Bloomberg-based data requests, providing background information from various databases, publications, credit rating, and other sources.
• Performs country research, providing research on sovereigns including credit ratings and rating agency reports, country risk information and country and regional news analysis.
• Participates in the creation and maintenance of research materials, collection guides, descriptions, and training materials for patron access to collection.
• Uses specialized databases and services including the Bloomberg Professional Terminal, PIERS, Orbis Banks Focus/Bankscope, Thomson Reuters World Check, LexisNexis, Westlaw, Trade Policy Information System (TPIS).
• Performs evaluations of office operations and data analysis/display; supporting projects that require research skills and/or document management.
• Performs industry research, providing tools and research on industries including regional and global outlooks, analysis, identifying major companies in an industry, commodity prices, ratios, etc.
• Performs company research, providing tools and research on company information including credit ratings and rating agency reports, analysis, financials, per analysis and ownership information.
• Performs original organization and modified cataloging of archival materials which include paper documents, photographs, negatives, audiotapes, videotapes, microfilm/fiche, maps, books, artifacts, computer discs and periodicals.
• Reviews paper holdings in the library’s collection to identify material that should be digitized for archival purposes by Library of Congress (LOC)
• Prepares material for shipment to LOC for digitization including logging material into EXIM electronic tracking system and the LOC’s online tracking system, labelling, and boxing the paper copies, arranging for shipment to LOC.
• Upon completion of digitization by LOC, updates both EXIM and LOC tracking systems with appropriate archival coding and return paper copies to proper location in the library’s collection.
• Performs other duties as assigned

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizenship

Background and Security/Suitability Investigation

You may be required to serve a one year probationary period

Specialized experience MUST be documented on your resume

Current or Former Political Appointees: If you are, or have been employed in the last 5 years, you must disclose this information. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

A. Completion of 1 full academic year of graduate study in library science in an accredited college or university, in addition to completion of all work required for a bachelor’s degree;

OR

B. A total of at least 5 years of a combination of college-level education, training, and experience. To qualify on this basis, the applicant must establish conclusively that the education, training, and experience provided a knowledge and understanding of the theories, principles, and techniques of professional librarianship; a knowledge of literature resources; and the knowledge and abilities essential for providing effective library and information services.

In addition to the Basic Requirements noted above, applicants must also meet and demonstrate the specialized experience listed below:

Specialized Experience (Credit for Specialized Experience on resume must reflect 40 hours/Full-time per week for each period of work):

GS-11: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal Government. Specialized experience includes:

• Experience in integrating library systems, library applications, and other information technologies;
• Experience in library and information science principles, concepts, tools and techniques to perform library functions and carry out library programs; and
• Experience in providing consultation or liaison services to internal and external customers.

OR

If you are substituting education for experience to qualify for at this level, you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education in library science leading to a Ph.D. degree or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree related to this position.

OR

If you are combining both education and experience to qualify for this level, equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level.

For qualification determinations, your resume must contain the following for each work experience listed:

• Organization/Agency’s Name
• Title
• Salary (series and grade, if applicable)
• Start and end dates (including the month and year)
• Number of hours you worked per week
• Relevant experience that supports your response to the specialized experience that is stated in the job announcement

If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you will not receive consideration for this position.

NOTE: Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications and your application may be marked as incomplete/ineligible and you will not receive consideration for this position.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. Please visit the following links for more information:

• http://www.naces.org
• http://www.fceatlanta.com

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined here.

All requirements must be met by 04/05/2023, the closing date of the announcement.

Position: Graduate Political Science & International Studies Librarian

Location: American University

Salary: $70,000 – $75,000

Original post on MLA Jobline.

Responsibilities: American University Library invites applications from innovative, energetic, and service-oriented librarians to fill a library continuing appointment faculty position for the School of Public Affairs (SPA) and the School of International Service (SIS), beginning Summer 2023, subject to budgetary approval. Rank will be dependent upon experience and stature in the field at either assistant or associate level. The Graduate Political Science and International Studies Librarian will be the point person for research assistance and information literacy instruction in the graduate curriculum in SPA and SIS and will work in partnership with the International Studies Librarian and the Public Affairs Librarian to support faculty research in SPA and SIS. Requirements: QUALIFICATIONS: An ALA accredited M.L.S and professional experience in an academic or research institution is highly preferred. Deep knowledge of current and emerging ideas, practices, trends, and technologies that support Political Science and International Studies librarianship. Ability to understand, anticipate, and respond to priorities and trends in the library, university and academia regarding international science and political science librarianship. Must be able to work independently and collaboratively. Other essential qualifications include demonstrated research assistance experience or training; evidence of potential for professional contributions and ongoing professional development; outstanding interpersonal and communication skills; strong public service ethic; and collaborative skills. Competency in languages in addition to English is preferred. To be successful in the position, candidates will possess the ability to shift priorities in a rapidly changing environment; to work across a broadbased constituency; to communicate a positive library image; and have an awareness of current concerns and developments in librarianship. Salary Range: Salary: $70,000-$75,000 Application Process: Apply at this site: https://apply.interfolio.com/122531 Special Requests: Closing Date: 6/1/23