Editorial Operations Manager

Informa Plc; Abingdon; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic publishing company based in Abingdon is seeking an Editorial Operations Manager to optimize peer review workflows and enhance Author and Editor satisfaction. This role entails managing high-performing teams, implementing best practices, and fostering partnerships to ensure seamless editorial operations. Candidates should have substantial experience in academic content management and strong analytic skills. A flexible working culture and numerous benefits are offered.

Benefits

Flexible working culture

25 days annual leave plus a day off for your birthday

Company funded private medical insurance

Employee assistance programme

Pension scheme

Share Match Plan

Qualifications

• In depth knowledge of best practice administration and management of academic content.
• Proficient with Power BI and Microsoft Office packages.
• Excellent communication skills to present data and insights effectively.

Responsibilities

• Manage and develop high-performing teams globally.
• Implement best practices to enhance peer review workflows.
• Foster partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.

Skills

In depth knowledge of academic content management

Proficient in Power BI

Excellent communication skills

Project management experience

Analytic skills of complex data sets

Education

Experience in Journals or Academic Publishing

Tools

Microsoft Office (especially Advanced Excel)

Automation tools

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. We require 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. That is 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

The Editorial Operations Manager (EOM) role focuses on optimizing peer review workflows and enhancing Author and Editor satisfaction through data-driven approaches and best practices.

Working collaboratively with other EOMs, this position is responsible for ensuring smooth transitions of new society titles to T&F and for collaborating with key Editors and Societies to gather feedback on processes and ways of working. Our Editorial Operations Managers design and implement process improvements across all submission-to-dissemination tasks whilst empowering their team to communicate with relevant internal and external (e.g. vendor, society) colleagues, address bottlenecks, and resolve issues to facilitate seamless integration and onward processing.

Overall, the role aims to improve services for Authors, Editors, and Reviewers whilst deploying processes and policies to meet KPIs and financial targets. With support from the Director of Editorial Operations, the EOM cultivates a culture of continuous improvement, swiftly identifying and addressing workflow obstacles.

This position emphasizes sharing best practices and implementing rapid improvements to streamline editorial operations services for Editors, Authors and Editorial Colleagues and maintain high‑quality standards throughout the publication process.

Closing date: 5th December 2025.

What you'll be doing:

• Team Leadership and Development: Manage, motivate, and develop high-performing teams across global locations, ensuring effective recruitment, performance management, and training.
• Continuous Improvement, Strategic Planning and Process Optimization: Continuously develop and implement comprehensive strategies to enhance content flow processes and operational efficiency across diverse journal portfolios.
• Optimize peer review workflows: Implement best practices and utilize data-driven approaches to eliminate unnecessary processes to streamline and improve Editors and Authors experience within the framework of editorial standards.
• Quality Assurance and Ethical Standards: Maintain high standards of scientific integrity, liaise with Publishing Ethics and Integrity to develop processing policies, procedures and monitoring processes to prevent misconduct, ensuring compliance with industry best practices.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management: Foster strong partnerships with internal teams, external vendors, and key stakeholders to drive service improvements and revenue growth.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of the Researcher Services Journal Optimisation, Oversee the implementation and optimisation of manuscript management systems and processes, in collaboration with PRS Solutions team to ensure optimal support for editors authors and reviewers.
• Technology Integration and Innovation: Steward the deployment of automation tools and use of data analytics platforms to assess efficacy and deploy standardised operations, with focus on end-to-end (submission to dissemination) scalability.

What we're looking for:

• 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.
• 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.

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.

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.

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.

Equal Opportunity Employer

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. 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.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/taylor-&-francis-group/life/79e0c27c-afdf-4bbb-84e6-5f8ed5e10bb8/

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 time basis – please ask the Talent Acquisition team for more information.

To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: https://taylorandfrancis.com/careers/