Vacancy for Project Manager: Open Access Publishing at Lancaster University

Digital Preservation Coalition; Lancaster; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading academic project management organization seeks a Project Manager for a part-time, fixed-term maternity cover role supporting a significant open access publishing initiative. You will lead final project delivery stages, ensuring milestones are met, and work with diverse partners across the UK and internationally. Ideal candidates will have project management experience, strong communication skills, and the ability to work collaboratively in a multi-institutional environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in project management, preferably in the academic publishing sector.
• Strong communication and leadership skills.
• Ability to liaise with diverse stakeholders and project partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead the final stages of the project delivery and ensure milestones are met.
• Liaise with and report to funders.
• Collaborate with a diverse project team and external partners.

Job description

Vacancy for Project Manager: Open Access Publishing at Lancaster University

5 December 2025

Lancaster, UK

Fixed Term

This is a 3-month, part-time maternity cover appointment, to support the Copim Open Book Futures project, a major international, multi-institutional project led by Lancaster University and focused on developing infrastructures and practices to underpin the expansion of open access (OA) academic book publishing. The project builds on the pioneering work of the Community-led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM) project. These two projects have had a major impact on the field of open access publishing, including launching initiatives such as the Open Book Collective, Thoth Open Metadata, the Opening the Future revenue model, as well as work to enhance ebook accessibility and the archiving and preservation of open access works, and exploring new approaches to experimental open access publishing.

We are looking to appoint a Project Manager to the project, to cover a period of maternity leave until the end of the project, at the end of April 2026. You will be jointly appointed to the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology and the Faculty of Arts, and will also collaborate with colleagues in Lancaster University Library. You will be working closely with the project Principal Investigator Professor Joe Deville, as well as the wider project team. This team comprises colleagues working in UK Universities, as well as non‑academic partners including open access book publishers, infrastructure providers, and advocacy groups. Many partners are based outside the UK, including in the European Union, South Africa, and the USA.

The Project Manager, in dialogue with the Principal Investigator, will lead the final stages of project delivery, including ensuring that the project remains on track throughout, that project milestones and deliverables are met, as well as liaising with and reporting to funders. Depending on start date, it should also be possible for the current Project Manager to provide a period of shadowing and handover.