This presentation addresses the opportunities and challenges of transacting digital humanities collaborative projects from the perspective of a Digital Humanities Research Designer in an academic library. While collaboration is often celebrated as a central to the success of digital humanities projects, I argue that often the language of collaboration excludes those whose work is organized by reward systems that do not include long-term projects. In this presentation, I discuss the language of digital humanities project management that, when put into practice, often replicates the academic hierarchies that DH prides itself on transcending or resisting.