Jisc appoints new director of licensing

Caren will be responsible for directing Jisc’s negotiations and licensing activities to deliver value for UK universities and further education institutions.  

Having joined Jisc in 2002 Caren brings a wealth of experience in the successful negotiation and procurement of digital content, and an in-depth understanding of scholarly communications and the sector.

At the start of her career at Jisc, she negotiated a range of agreements and developed new content with partners including the first iteration of Hairdressing Training – a resource that is now embedded in many colleges across the UK. As head of research, Caren focused on gathering intelligence and evidence to drive the development of new licensing strategy and to support negotiations in the area of e-textbooks, open access monographs and journals.

In her most recent role as deputy director of member licensing, Caren established the research unit which has been integral in ensuring negotiations for journals agreements are driven by data and the outcomes, especially of open access agreements, are monitored and evaluated. 

Commenting on her appointment, Caren says:

“In the last couple of years I have been focused on the negotiation of transformative agreements that are affordable, sustainable and transparent. With the launch of the new UUK - Jisc high-level negotiation strategy group and our expert practitioners’ group, I am looking forward to working with our members, sector bodies and research funders on the negotiations and tackling some of the big challenges such as cost allocation and transparency of pricing.

“I am also excited by the opportunity my new role presents to enhance the range of content and software agreements we licence to meet the evolving needs of students, academics and researchers. In particular, I would like to strengthen our licensing and negotiation in the area of teaching and learning and work with the sector to reduce costs and tackle some of the barriers that are inhibiting the development of a diverse, open and affordable marketplace.’

Caren is based in our London office and works four days – enabling her to spend time with her two young boys.