Role: Executive Peer Review Manager

Location: Hybrid/London

Salary: £54k - £64k

JOB PURPOSE

The role involves collaborating with the Director to support and implement strategy within the Global Peer Review department to support broader organisational goals and effective collaboration across the business. The Executive Peer Review Manager is responsible for leading the Peer Review Management division of the wider Global Peer Review Department to ensure that the team delivers on that strategy.

The Executive Peer Review Manger also plays a key role in working across departments to achieve our goal of maintaining our reputation as a high quality ethical publisher, and continuously seeks improvement in our standards of research integrity and ethics in relation to peer review.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Lead a team of Peer Review Managers and Assistants to execute strategy in line with departmental and divisional strategic objectives.

• Define priorities and objectives for the Peer Review Management division of the Global Peer Review Department, develop metrics and KPIs to measure and report on progress, success and benefits.

• Ensure that the Peer Review Management team meets agreed-upon targets and delivers high quality and efficient peer review support to authors, editors, & reviewers.

• Responsible for the hiring, training and performance evaluation of the Peer Review Management team.

• Contribute to the leadership and development of the Global Peer Review department through active participation and collaboration with other Sr Management within the Peer Review Managers group.

• Play a positive role in the leadership of the broader journals editorial department through dynamic participation in the Journals Editorial Publishers and other groups, as needed.

• Build and maintain positive relationships across the company and with external partners, and act as an ambassador for our brand within the wider publishing industry, developing our status and reputation as a high quality ethical publisher.

• Represent the department in specific areas of process, systems or cross departmental collaboration to develop and implement projects that further our operational strategies and goals.

• Consider broader Editorial department strategic objectives concerning publication ethics and peer review work with colleagues across different departments to improve our ethical policies and protocols in line with industry best practice.

• Develop and support policies, processes and internal and external resources around research, peer review and post-publication ethics.

• Lead team efforts to identify and prevent ethical issues pertaining to the peer review process. Collaborate with others within the organization to advise on peer review system capabilities and limitations and lead on implementation and roll-out of new functionality to safeguard against evolving areas of publishing ethics breaches.

• Lead external product development projects and relationships with vendors and partners, if and as needed.

• Oversee due diligence and transition activities for journal acquisitions to ensure that journals are transitioned according to standard procedures.

• Manage the Peer Review Management Team budget and ensure costs align with the budget.

SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Comprehensive experience in journals publishing with an understanding of the changes and challenges facing academic publishing, particularly as they relate to peer review.

• Excellent understanding of publication ethics and familiarity with industry best practice in this area.

• Extensive understanding of online journal peer review and submission systems, preferably with direct experience of working with Scholar One Manuscripts.

• Strong leadership and decision-making skills.

• Excellent project management skills.

• High level communication and interpersonal skills.

• Flexibility of thought and creativity to communicate and resolve complex problems, and an aptitude to drive new initiatives.

• Highly effective delegation skills and the ability to cascade information appropriately.

• Strategic awareness, including a detailed understanding of industry trends and best practice, and the ability to apply this knowledge to shape projects and tactical planning.

• Ability to simultaneously drive multiple projects and deliver results internally and externally.

• Excellent prioritisation skills and a high level of adaptability,

• Proficient in standard IT packages, including Microsoft Office and basic web database driven dynamic online sites like Scholar One Manuscripts.