Publishing Development Specialist - New Journals Launch & Growth

Frontiers Careers; Madrid; On-site; EUR 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellbeing days

Volunteering days

Employee Assistance Programme

Learning Hub access

Country-specific benefits

In-person teamwork culture

Job summary

Frontiers is seeking a proactive Publishing Development Associate to drive outreach, grow journals, and build communities for open-access titles. You will reach out to researchers and editors, recruit Editorial Board members, and shape campaigns to boost submissions and visibility.

We value a track record in sales or business development, comfort with uncertainty, strong influencing abilities, and familiarity with AI-based tools to optimize outreach across research networks.

Qualifications

• Experience in sales, outreach, or another target-driven environment.
• Comfort with uncertainty and building new opportunities.
• Strong influencing skills and ability to engage new audiences.
• Familiarity with AI-based tools in a business context.

Responsibilities

• Reach out directly to researchers and editors to build collaborations, launch collections, recruit Editorial Board members and commission manuscripts.
• Create and execute outreach strategies to increase journal visibility and submissions.
• Manage a dynamic sales pipeline from first contact to publication.
• Represent journals at conferences, webinars, and online events to raise awareness.

Skills

Sales experience

Outreach

Business development

AI tools

Influencing skills

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 grow some of youngest open-access journals in our portfolio. You'll play a key role in creating momentum, building scientific communities, and helping journals strengthen their visibility and reputation over time.

• Reach out directly to researchers and editors to build new collaborations, launch dedicated article collections, recruit Editorial Board members and commission manuscripts.
• Create and execute outreach strategies that increase journal visibility, attract high-quality submissions, and strengthen engagement across research communities.
• 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.
• Build long-term relationships with authors, editors, and researchers, helping establish trust and credibility for journals that are still growing their presence.
• Represent our journals at scientific conferences, webinars, and online events to increase awareness and market visibility.

Requirements

About You

• You bring solid experience in sales, outreach, business development, or another target-driven environment, with a proven track record of achieving ambitious goals.
• You are comfortable working with uncertainty and enjoy building new opportunities rather than following an established playbook.
• You have strong influencing skills and enjoy engaging people who may not yet be familiar with the products or initiatives you represent.
• You have a strong grasp of AI-based tools in a business operations context.
• While you don't need a research background, you're curious about science and excited by the opportunity to help shape growing research communities.

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.