Associate Director, Publishing Workflows and Content Transformation

Role Summary  

As Associate Director of Workflows & Content Transformation you will ensure that our publishing is enabled by effective and efficient operations placing customers at our core and supporting delivery of PLOS’s vision for Open Science publishing in the digital age. 

You will build and lead teams that support the needs of researchers in the current ecosystem, while actively working to drive change and enable a transition to an Open Science future.  

In this role, you will leverage collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to develop strategies that integrate mission-inspired initiatives into content life cycles. You will work closely with directors and managers to instill a culture of transparency, collaboration and dynamic leadership across the organization.  You will lead and inspire your team and working with them, you will leverage collaboration as a key strategy in accelerating our momentum while contributing to growing the portfolio’s top and bottom line and furthering PLOS’s catalytic mission in scientific communication. 

1. Supervisory Responsibilities

• Manages a staff of approximately 15 across the US and UK in content transformation, operations analytics and production. 
• Lead high performing and cohesive teams of Operations Staff fostering a cross portfolio and cross-cultural mindset. 
• Lead by example, modelling open and clear communication and ensuring all d tactics for stakeholders and regularly monitor progress against established benchmarks.
• Plan for continual improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the groups and provide individuals with professional and personal growth. 
• Address underperformance swiftly, sensitively, and supportively, in collaboration with Line Manager and People & Culture team, emphasizing coaching and support.
• Promote a culture built on teamwork, engagement, the highest personal ethics, and cross functional collaboration. 

Responsibilities 

Strategic and Business Leadership

• Develop a culture of continuous improvement and champion a growth mindset approach to process optimization.
• Translate organizational strategy into clear priorities and goals for functional areas. 
• Propose and manage annual goals, budgets, and departmental expenses, including reforecasting exercises, driving more efficient resource allocation to meet both budget and quality standards.
• Engage with external vendors and hold our strategic partners accountable to high standards and expectations that reflect PLOS’s mission.
• Explore opportunities to introduce new and innovative features that strengthen PLOS’s reputation as a leading scholarly publisher and enabler of Open Science
• Collaborate with stakeholders to design, pilot and launch industry leading Open Science publishing workflows and actively support strategic initiatives.
• Represent Publishing Operations in cross functional leadership discussions to ensure alignment in execution against PLOS’s strategic objectives. 
• Ensure disciplined and responsible decision-making practices are always maintained.
• Actively represent and promote PLOS as a thought leader across the scientific, scholarly communication, and higher education sectors through attendance and speaking at key meetings and events, and through leadership activities with like-minded organizations 

Operations Leadership

• Work closely with the Director of Publishing Operations & Customer Care and the Associate Directors of Peer Review Operations and Customer Care respectively to design strategies to remove barriers to submissions, workflow obstructions and inefficiencies and protect content from threat and risk.
• Ensure superior author experience in the production cycle of accepted scholarly research.
• Ensure interoperability of metadata and taxonomy for optimal value within and beyond peer review and production cycles, in collaboration with the Digital Team. 
• Design workflows in alignment with platform and system features, working collaboratively with Operations Leadership as well as Editorial, Publishing, Product Engineering, and other Stakeholders across PLOS. 
• Work with Product and Engineering teams to ensure that our workflows support end to end platform and system performance, from submission through publication, optimal content exchanges between and among critical systems.
• In partnership with Operations and Editorial leadership, ensure quality control of external suppliers and lead the procurement process for services where required. 
• In collaboration with cross-functional leadership teams, ensure that the portfolio is protected by cohesive and consistent operational policies and quality standards, reacting dynamically to changing community needs while championing Open Science.  

Knowledge and Skills

• Proven track record in a scholarly publishing environment at a senior level with demonstrable success; detailed knowledge and understanding of scholarly publishing practice and policy and of the markets for scholarly scientific medical journals.
• A demonstrated ability to lead high performing mid-sized teams. 
• Increasingly senior expertise managing digital content transformation teams including production and syndication.
• Expert knowledge of industry leading practices, tools, technologies, and like-minded organizations that support journals publishing and content syndication. 
• Acumen in budgeting and forecasting
• Organizational skill to plan and manage resource allocation and budgets to agreed plans, reporting and acting according to changing circumstances.
• Business problem solver – operates with curiosity to get to the root of the business problem to ensure the ultimate solution is grounded in PLOS’ strategy and mission.
• Empathy and strong interpersonal skills demonstrating compassion, self-awareness to skilfully manage your emotions and those of others.
• Excellent vendor management skills with experience of offshoring and outsourcing and the ability to drive cost efficiencies in all processes.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Able to make decisions in a dynamic, fast-paced, changing environment; determine priorities and execute on a plan.
• Proven commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in science and scholarly publication
• Dedication to open access and transforming scholarly communication. 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required. 

Physical Requirements and Work Environment

• Prolonged periods stationary at a desk and working on a computer.
• Some national and international travel will be required.
• Some flexibility to work across time zones. 

The base salary range we’ve established for this position is (UK) £90,000 - £130,000 (US) $145,000 - $200,000. The final salary will depend on several factors, including the candidate’s relevant work experience, skills, education, and other qualifications; the region in which the candidate resides, and internal pay equity with current PLOS employees in similar jobs. PLOS also offers a comprehensive benefits package that will be shared with candidates in the interview process  

About PLOS 

Building on a strong legacy of pioneering innovation, PLOS continues to be a catalyst in open science, reimagining models to meet open science principles, removing barriers and promoting inclusion in knowledge creation and sharing, and publishing research outputs that enable everyone to learn from, reuse and build upon scientific knowledge.

Our work is supported by a highly skilled global in-house team, partnerships with local scholarly organizations, and the valued contributions of a diverse, international community of scientific researchers.

We’re committed to equal opportunity

We’re working to create a more equitable system of scientific knowledge and understanding. Removing barriers to inclusion and facilitating broad participation of voices is core to our success, inside and out. 

Beyond accepting distinct perspectives, we seek and support divergent backgrounds among our staff because we know differences strengthen our teams, our work, and our communities. We strongly encourage applicants of all identities to join us as we work towards a future where science is open to all, for all. 

Visit plos.org/careers to learn more.