Editorial Administration Manager

Springer Nature

Locum Editorial Administration Manager

Nature Research Journals

London or New York

Closing date: June 2nd 2023

The Editorial Support Team sits within the Editorial Operations Division, which supports the Springer Nature Journals group by connecting the editorial and publishing needs of the journals portfolios to the people, systems and processes that will support them. The Editorial Support Team’s primary function is to provide best-in-class editorial support to authors, editors (internal and external) and peer reviewers from the point of submission through to acceptance.

Purpose of the Role

- Training and supervision of a team of Editorial Assistants and Editorial Assistant Supervisors.

- Distributing manuscript workload evenly and ensuring tasks are completed to deadlines and that correct working procedures are followed.

- Reviewing working procedures to ensure that maximum efficiency is maintained.

- Developing the manuscript tracking system for Nature editors and assistants via liaison with the MTS team.

Responsibilities

Managing the Editorial Assistants:

● Recruit, motivate, manage and appraise Editorial Assistants and Editorial Assistant Supervisors,

reviewing progress (quarterly) against objectives set with the input of the publisher(s) and

Editors for their department.

● Meet with team regularly, ensuring they are meeting the needs and working towards the aims of

both the department and wider company.

● Monitor workloads, ensuring an even spread amongst the team and that full cover takes place in

times of absence.

● Responsibility for the professional development of your team.

Processes, Workflows and Policies:

● As Editorial Administration Management, suggest and implement improvements with regards to

services to all our stakeholders (Authors, Reviewers, Editors and Colleagues) specifically

concerning systems, workflows and best practice.

● Ensure that all relevant colleagues are consulted and informed about the development of new

administrative policies

● Evaluate the current processes on your journals and advise on suitable improvements, oversee

the implementation of any group-wide policies and facilitate future efficient running.

Manuscript Tracking Systems:

● Liaison with the MTS team aiming to meet the needs of your department, tracking and

reviewing development requests, managing related projects and testing.

● Play a key role in facilitating the breadth of use of the manuscript tracking system within your

department.

Rights Policies and Department Specifics:

● Maintain an accurate record of rights collected for the publication of articles within your

department.

● Compile regular statistics for your journal(s) throughout the year and improve the process of

obtaining these.

● Participate in ad hoc projects as required.

● Maintain good links with stakeholder departments: editorial, production, subeditors, art, rights,

etc.

● Build strong, friendly and effective working relationships with allocated editors and

administrative colleagues.

Experience, Skills & Qualifications

Experience:

Essential:

● Experience of staff and team management

● Experience in print and online publishing

Desirable:

● Publishing experience within academic journals

Skills/Knowledge:

- Staff and team management skills

- Excellent written and verbal communications skills

- The ability to work both individually and as part of a team

- Strong motivational skills

- Strong interpersonal skills and a customer service ethos

- Adept at using Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel

Qualifications

Essential:

• A-levels or equivalent

Desirable:

• Educated to degree level