Editorial Operations Manager

Taylor and Francis; Abingdon; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic publisher is seeking an Editorial Operations Manager to optimize peer review workflows and enhance Author and Editor satisfaction. The role involves leading high-performing teams and implementing best practices to ensure quality and compliance. Candidates should possess strong project management and communication skills, as well as experience with data analysis tools. This position offers a hybrid working model, flexible benefits, and opportunities for professional development.

Benefits

Excellent work/life balance

25 days annual leave plus a birthday off

Company-funded private medical insurance

Pension scheme

Life assurance and optical care

Qualifications

• Proficiency with data analysis and insight presentation.
• Experience in managing academic content on submission platforms.
• Ability to build and lead high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage and develop high-performing teams.
• Enhance content flow processes for operational efficiency.
• Implement best practices to streamline peer review workflows.
• Ensure compliance with quality assurance and ethical standards.
• Engage stakeholders to drive service improvements.

Skills

Effective communication

Project management

Data analysis

Leadership

Process improvement

Education

In-depth knowledge of academic publishing

Tools

Power BI

Microsoft Excel

Job description

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 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 the PRS Solutions team to ensure optimal support for editors, authors and reviewers.
• Technology Integration and Innovation: Steer 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.

Qualifications

• In‑depth knowledge of best practice administration and management of academic content submitted to online submission platforms (preferably in Journals, Academic Publishing).
• Proficiency with Power BI and advanced skills in Microsoft Office packages, particularly Excel.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to tailor your style whilst presenting data and ideas; capable of translating data into meaningful insight for stakeholders.
• Significant project management experience, including monitoring performance and building effective teams within an open‑access journals publishing environment.
• Clear understanding of process improvement principles to deliver increased capacity with minimal impact on head count.
• Ability to run, create and analyse reports with complex data sets; demonstrable analytic skills to model and visualise data.

Location

We consider hybrid working. Candidates must live within commutable distance of the Milton Park (OX14 4RN) office to ensure attendance 3 days per week.

What we’re offering in return

• Excellent work/life balance with a flexible working culture.
• Hybrid working: 2 days per week from home.
• 25 days annual leave plus a birthday off.
• 3 additional discretionary days during the holiday season.
• 4 paid volunteering days each year.
• Company‑funded private medical insurance.
• Employee assistance programme – 24/7 wellbeing support.
• Share Match – purchase shares matched with free shares.
• Pension scheme.
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care.

Training and professional development

We support you with a bespoke Taylor & Francis Development Plan, resources, tools, and coaching to help you grow both short‑term and long‑term.

Interview process

After your application we may arrange an initial screening, followed by a short video interview. Successful candidates will then attend a competency‑based interview (virtual or in‑person) and a final 2nd stage interview before an offer is extended.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We recruit, develop, and retain colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non‑merit factors. All colleagues can thrive as their true selves.

Contact: [e-mail]