Editorial Content Manager - Maternity Cover

Informa Plc; Abingdon; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic publisher in Abingdon is seeking an Editorial Content Manager for a 12-14 month maternity cover. This role involves managing a team to support editorial governance for journals, focusing on quality and ethical compliance. The successful candidate will drive process improvements and develop editorial policies. Competitive compensation and a hybrid working model are offered.

Benefits

Flexible working culture

25 days annual leave

Company funded medical insurance

Paid volunteering days

Pension scheme

Qualifications

• In-depth knowledge of best practices in academic content management.
• Significant project management experience in open access journals.
• Ability to handle complex data sets and provide insights.

Responsibilities

• Manage and develop a team of Content Specialists.
• Drive change within teams and maintain effective relationships.
• Evaluate and improve peer review strategies and delivery.

Skills

Knowledge of academic content management

Power BI proficiency

Communication skills

Project management experience

Process improvement understanding

Analytic skills for data visualization

Tools

Microsoft Office

Advanced Excel

Job description

Company Description

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis Group operates globally and produces high quality, peer reviewed books and journals. We produce unique, trusted content by expert authors, spreading knowledge and promoting discovery globally. We aim to broaden thinking and advance understanding, providing academics and professionals with a platform to share ideas and realize their individual potential.

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge. We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that’s the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we’d love to hear from you.

Job Description

Taylor & Francis Editorial Operations (Programmes & Delivery - Academic Content) is currently recruiting for an Editorial Content Manager (maternity cover). It is anticipated that the role will last approximately 12-14 months.

The successful candidate will manage a team of Content Specialists:supporting the governance of out‑sourced editorial office function for F1000 and T&F open access journals, including design, development, and delivery of ambitious process improvements across all submission to dissemination tasks, aiming to transform services to customers (authors, Editors, Reviewers) that encounter our submission to dissemination process at Taylor and Francis.

This team sustains oversight of all submissions for editorial quality and ethical compliance, managing specialised and complex queries.

This role also contributes to the development and implementation of Editorial & Ethical policies, serving as a subject matter expert for policy interpretation across our journal portfolio, and supports critical manuscript decision‑making processes (reject/revision/accept), particularly for ethically complex submissions, open data policy compliance, or those requiring specialised assessment.

Closing date: 5th December 2025.

What You’ll Do

• Manage, motivate and develop Specialists; this role is Responsible for the recruitment, performance management and training of the Specialists reporting into them.
• Sustain an interconnected relationship with supplier management, vendor Partners and other Academic Content teams and services by providing clear, effective and prompt feedback.
• Drive and champion change within the teams and allocate resources appropriately; ensuring effective team working and prioritisation to accommodate competing demands.
• Develop and deliver the peer review strategy regarding speed, compliance and customer service quality, in-line with KPIs targets.
• Deliver outstanding service to our stakeholders; explore both internal and external best practice to identify new and innovative approaches.
• Act as point of escalation for the Editorial operations team. Blockers and risks are escalated appropriately to the Director of Editorial Operations only after tenacity and creativity have been applied.
• Participate in the evaluation of new functionality, industry initiatives, and emerging submission and peer review best practice.

Qualifications

• In depth knowledge of best practice administration and management of academic content submitted to online submission platforms (preferably in Journals, Academic Publishing)
• An ability to use Power BI and be proficient with Microsoft Office packages. Having Advanced Excel skills is an advantage.
• Having excellent Communication Skills with an ability to tailor your style whilst presenting data and ideas. It will be essential to communicate well with stakeholders and translate the data into meaningful insight.
• Significant project management experience, including monitoring performance and building effective teams within an open access journals publishing environment.
• A Clear understanding of process improvement principles would be a distinct advantage, as delivery of increased capacity with minimal impact on head count is a standing objective
• An ability to run, create and analyse reports with complex data sets.
• Demonstrable analytic skills of complex data sets to model and visualise data.
• An understanding of process improvement principles would be a distinct advantage, as delivery of increased capacity with minimal impact on head count is a standing objective.

Skills and Behaviours Required

• Strong communication and influencing skills, both verbal and written.
• Team player and self‑starter with a positive outlook who easily builds positive relationships.
• An ability to handle and communicate information sensitively and professionally.
• Actively cultivate an up‑to‑date knowledge of industry standards and developments to inform best practice procedures. Commercial awareness is a distinct advantage.
• Be self‑reliant and motivated to look beyond the immediate task, see the bigger picture and identify opportunities to grow and do things better, providing added value to stakeholders and peers alike.
• Calm and logical response under pressure.
• Being responsible for managing own workload.
• Ability to prioritise appropriately and work to deadlines.
• Attention to detail.
• Customer focus.
• Accountability for managing own learning, taking responsibility to identify and develop skills gaps and active knowledge sharing, regarding peer review systems and data manipulation.

Additional Information

Location: We believe that great things happen when people connect face‑to‑face. That's why we work in‑person with each other, or with customers and partners, three days a week or more. When you’re not spending time together in one of our offices or other workplaces – like at conference – you get the flexibility and support to work from home or remotely.

The successful candidate will be able to utilise our balanced working model. We ask that candidates live within a commutable distance of the Milton Park (OX14 4RN) office to ensure that as a balanced worker they can make it to our office locations 3 days per week.

This is a fixed term maternity contract and will last for approximately 12-14 months.

What we're offering in return:

• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture
• Hybrid working with 2 days per week worked from home
• 25 days annual leave per year plus a day off for your birthday
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season at the end of the year
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Company funded single cover private medical insurance
• Employee assistance programme – offering 24/7 well‑being support
• Share Match – Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares.
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care

You must have the right to live and work in the UK.

Training and professional development

We’re passionate about ensuring you have all the tools and resources at your fingertips to reach your short and long‑term career goals. We’ll support you in your journey by working together on your own bespoke Taylor & Francis Development Plan, ensuring you have the resources, tools, support and coaching that will get you where you want to be.

Interview process

Once you have submitted your application, we may get in touch with you for an initial screening conversation or ask you to complete a short video interview to enable us to better understand your skills, experience, and motivation. Following this, you will be invited to attend a competency‑based interview, either virtually or in person. Typically, we’d then finish the interview process with a final, 2nd stage interview before extending an offer to the successful applicant.

We want all our candidates to shine in our recruitment process. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to ensure you are able to show us your best self. This could include having the application form in a different format, more time for questions, or anything else – please ask us, we are happy to be flexible! Please contact [e-mail].

If you have a disability, or face another barrier, and would like to request an adjustment to assist your participation in the hiring process and/or in the advertised position, please contact [e-mail]. Your request will be reviewed and considered in the strictest confidence.

Being Yourself at Taylor & Francis

If you’re excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, we invite you to apply even if your existing skills and experience don’t fit every item listed above. At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and make a contribution regardless of their identity or background. As a colleague, you will have the opportunity to further innovate and develop in areas that you are passionate about. Our goal is to empower you with the resources, incentives, and flexibility you need to enjoy success at work and to live a healthy, balanced life.

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops, and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non‑merit based factor.

We genuinely care about our colleagues, promoting work‑life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about. To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: http://www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/careers

Or better yet check out our LinkedIn ‘Life’ Page, highlighting our accomplishments, employees, and company culture. It’s also a good way of meeting our recruitment team, who will be happy to advise you on your journey here at T&F.

We know that sometimes the 'perfect candidate' doesn't exist, and that people can be put off applying for a job if they don't fit all the requirements. If you're excited about working for us and have most of the skills or experience we're looking for, please go ahead and apply. You could be just what we need! We believe strongly in the value of diversity and creating supportive, inclusive environments where our colleagues can succeed. As such, Informa is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, ancestry, national origin, religion, or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, citizenship, or other protected characteristics under local law. This role may also be available on a flexible working or part