Publishing Development Specialist - Evergreen

Frontiers Careers; Madrid; On-site; EUR 36,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Extra wellbeing days

Paid volunteering days

Employee Assistance Programme

Learning & development support

Country-specific benefits

Office-first culture

Job summary

Frontiers is seeking a dynamic Sales/Business Development professional to join our Publishing Development team to grow open-access journals. This role focuses on proactive engagement with researchers and editors, building collaborations, and expanding our journal portfolios.

You will reach out to researchers and editors, manage a dynamic sales pipeline, and leverage AI tools daily to research prospects, personalize outreach, and streamline workflows.

Qualifications

• Solid experience in sales, outreach, or business development with a proven track record of hitting targets.

Responsibilities

• Reach out directly to researchers and editors to spark new collaborations, launch dedicated article collections, recruit into the Editorial Board, commission manuscripts, and liaise with Chief Editors at a journal section level.
• Manage a dynamic sales pipeline, taking opportunities from first contact through to successful publication.
• Work smart: use AI tools daily to research prospects, personalize outreach, and manage your pipeline more efficiently.
• Cultivate trust and build long-term professional relationships with editors and authors.
• Represent our journals at scientific conferences, webinars, and online events to increase their market footprint.

Skills

Sales experience

Outreach

Business development

Target-driven

AI tools aptitude

English fluency

Entrepreneurial mindset

Learning orientation

Tools

AI tools

Job description

Who we are

At Frontiers, we are on a mission to make science open. Most research today sits behind paywalls, meaning only people at well-funded universities or those who can pay get to read it. Open access flips that: every article we publish is peer-reviewed and made available online to anyone, anywhere at no cost. As one of the world’s largest and most influential open-access publishers, we’ve seen Frontiers research cited 16 million times, and viewed and downloaded more than 5.3 billion times, proof of what science without barriers can do.

What you'll do

In this role, you will join our Publishing Development team to help open-access journals grow and thrive. We partner with the world's leading researchers to build collaborative networks, launch themed article collections, and expand our journal portfolios. This is an active, relationship-driven role focused on community-building and strategic outreach.

On a daily basis, you will:

• Reach out directly to researchers and editors to spark new collaborations, launch dedicated article collections, recruit into the Editorial Board, commission manuscripts, and liaise with Chief Editors at a journal section level.
• Manage a dynamic sales pipeline, taking opportunities from first contact through to successful publication.
• Work smart: use AI tools daily to research prospects, personalize outreach, and manage your pipeline more efficiently.
• Cultivate trust and build long-term professional relationships with editors and authors.
• Represent our journals at scientific conferences, webinars, and online events to increase their market footprint.

Requirements

About You

• You bring solid experience in sales, outreach, or business development with a proven track record of hitting targets.
• You enjoy fast-paced environments, handle multiple projects with ease, and know how to prioritize your day.
• You have a strong grasp of AI-based tools in a business operations context. Experience using AI in sales or outreach workflows is a plus.
• You are a natural communicator who is persuasive, personable, and loves building professional relationships and your English is fluent, both spoken and written, as you will be communicating with global researchers and international teams every day.
• You have an entrepreneurial mindset, always looking for opportunities and taking the initiative to make things happen.
• While you don't need to have a research background, you genuinely want to learn, are interested in science, and want to play an active role in making research open to the world. Familiarity with academic publishing or the research community is a bonus.

Benefits

• Extra wellbeing days on top of your annual leave allowance
• Up to 3 paid volunteering days each year
• 24/7 confidential Employee Assistance Programme - wellbeing, mental health, legal & financial support
• Learning & development support via the Frontiers Learning Hub
• A locally relevant benefits package aligned to your country - e.g. healthcare and pension/retirement provision, where applicable - we can share more about it during our first screening
• Collaboration-led, office-first culture - we prioritise in-person teamwork, with role-appropriate adjustments when needed, in line with company policy
• International teams - a diverse, global culture and a strong peer-learning environment

Equal opportunity statement

Frontiers actively embraces diversity and is a safe and welcoming workplace. Recruitment is free from discrimination – including based on race, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. With employees from more than 50 different nations, our diversity creates vibrant teams and constantly challenges us to appreciate multiple perspectives.