Content Commissioning Lead x 2

Oxford University Press; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational publisher in Oxford is looking for a Content Commissioning Lead with expertise in English Language Teaching (ELT). Responsibilities include managing supplier-led delivery and ensuring quality content development through strategic outsourcing. The ideal candidate will possess strong negotiation skills and a background in ELT. The company offers a hybrid working model, 25 days of holiday, pension contributions, and other employee benefits aimed at enhancing work/life balance.

Benefits

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Pension contributions up to 12%

Access to local discounts

Discretionary annual payment

Qualifications

• Deep understanding of ELT content development and pedagogy.
• Proven experience in commissioning and managing outsourced suppliers.
• Knowledge of digital content workflows.

Responsibilities

• Commission and manage global and regional suppliers to deliver high-quality ELT content.
• Maximise supplier allocation and negotiate contracts for cost efficiency.
• Create clear briefs and lead quality assurance of supplier outputs.
• Maintain visibility of supplier capacity and project pipelines.
• Estimate budgets and manage costs to improve margins.
• Drive workflow improvements and support automation adoption.

Skills

Strong negotiation skills

Excellent communication

Stakeholder management

Understanding of ELT content development

Education

ELT qualification or teaching experience

Job description

We are seeking a Content Commissioning Lead with strong English Language Teaching (ELT) expertise and a proven ability to deliver content through outsourced supplier networks. This role is responsible for planning, commissioning, and managing fast-track ELT products via strategic supplier partnerships, ensuring efficiency, scalability, and pedagogical quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Supplier-Led Delivery: Commission and manage global and regional suppliers to deliver high-quality ELT content end-to-end.
• Strategic Outsourcing: Maximise supplier allocation (90% of content outsourced) and negotiate contracts to ensure cost efficiency and timely delivery.
• Briefing & QA: Create clear, actionable briefs and lead quality assurance of supplier outputs against pedagogical and editorial standards.
• Pipeline & Capacity Management: Maintain visibility of supplier capacity and project pipelines to prevent bottlenecks and ensure smooth delivery.
• Financial Oversight: Estimate budgets, apply fixed rate cards, and manage costs to improve margins.
• Process Innovation: Drive workflow improvements and support adoption of automation and AI tools for scalable outsourcing.

We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.

About You

• Deep understanding of ELT content development and pedagogy.
• Proven experience in commissioning and managing outsourced suppliers.
• Strong negotiation and commercial awareness.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Knowledge of digital content workflows.
• ELT qualification or teaching experience.
• Familiarity with global markets and multilingual environments.

We care about work/life balance here at OUP. With this in mind we offer 25 days’ holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3-days) and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect to working patterns, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.

We help make your money go further by contributing to your pension up to 12%, offering loans and savings schemes through our partnership with Salary Finance, in addition to travel to work schemes and access to a wide range of local discounts.

This role comes with the added benefit of a discretionary annual payment.

Please see our Rewards and Recognition page for more information.

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce, and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.