Manager – Peer Review Admin Services

Nova Techset Ltd.; Chennai District; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Nova Techset Ltd. in Chennai is seeking a seasoned Peer Review Admin to manage and coordinate Peer Review Teams, ensuring timely journal transitions and high-quality deliverables.

You will drive process improvements, maintain strong relationships with editors, authors and reviewers, and lead initiatives to enhance productivity. The role requires 6–10 years in scholarly publishing, Master’s degree, and hands-on experience with ScholarOne/Editorial Manager and reviewer tools.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree required in English, Journalism, Mass Communication or Life Sciences.
• Overall 6 years of experience in scholarly publishing.

Responsibilities

• Manage Peer Review Teams and monitor deliverables.
• Ensure journals transitions occur per schedule and teams are optimally utilized.
• Develop and implement quality controls, client relationship management, and reporting mechanisms.
• Communicate with stakeholders within 24 hours of inquiries.
• Track capacity, workload, training needs and skill matrices for teams.

Skills

People and Project Management Skills

Diligence

Effective Collaboration

Critical Thinking

Problem Solving and Decision-Making

Time Management

Organizational and Research Skills

Reporting Skills

Presentation Skills

Education

Master’s degree in English/Journaling/Mass Communication/Life Sciences

Tools

ScholarOne

Editorial Manager

Web of Science

Google Scholar

Publons

JANE

Job description

Job Purpose

• Manage direct reporting of Team Leads or Assistant Managers of Peer Review Teams.
• Create, manage, coordinate and take overall responsibility for all Peer Review Teams.
• Monitor clients’ overall expectations are met efficiently and escape any concerns timely with the reporting manager.
• Maintain healthy professional relationships with all business partners, existing and potential clients.
• Support management as needed and defined and contribute effectively to achieve organization success.
• Suggest, plan, execute, implement, and assess projects aimed at building efficiencies in terms of quality and productivity.
• Take up additional assignments from reporting manager and projects for self and process development.
• Engage in other initiatives and activities to achieve organization and department goals, as needed.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage Peer Review Teams, as assigned by the reporting manager.
• Monitor the expected deliverables from Team Leads or Assistant Managers of Peer Review Teams.
• Ensure that the journal transitions happen as per schedule and Peer Review Teams are optimally utilized.
• Work on quality control mechanisms to control errors (timeliness, process adherence and client relationship), meeting expectations of all internal and external stakeholders.
• Respond to all email inquiries/requests from clients, authors, reviewers, editors, or internal staff within 24 hours of receipt (excluding any weekend and holiday).
• Streamline processes for journals peer review and adopt best practices.
• Pro-actively and clearly communicate with the reporting manager if there are any challenges with managing Peer Review Teams, processing client requests etc.
• Maintain Capacity Vs. Workload Projections, Training Needs and Skill Matrix for Peer Review Teams, and share periodic updates with the reporting manager.
• Flag any hiring needs at least 3 months in advance to the reporting manager.
• Build an effective tracking mechanism for Peer Review Teams’ KPIs, monitor them regularly, and share periodic reports with the reporting manager and clients, as needed.
• Ensure clear communication with all internal and external stakeholders with regards to any new journal transitions, updates in journal workflows, progress made to enhance the process etc.
• Immediately discuss with the reporting manager any communication that is tense and volatile in nature, or any positive words and praise received from clients, authors, reviewers, or editors.
• Assist reporting manager with any projects, additional assignments, or initiatives, as needed.
• Keep all direct reports motivated and equipped to take ownership of the assigned workload and responsibilities.
• Suggest and implement newer technologies, automations, and build efficiencies in the process, where appropriate.

Qualification, Experience And Required Skills

• Master’s degree in any discipline; preferably English/Journalism/Mass Communication/Life Sciences.
• Overall, 6 years of experience in scholarly publishing industry.
• Minimum 2 years of relevant experience.
• Thorough understanding of peer review admin full journal management workflow and reviewer research.
• Hands on experience of using peer review management sites like ScholarOne, Aries Editorial Manager, etc. and reviewer research tools and platforms like Google Scholar, Publons, JANE, Web of Science etc.
• Experience of applying best practices, streamlining processes, and developing enhanced services and solutions.
• Skills required:
  • People and Project Management Skills
  • Diligence
  • Effective Collaboration
  • Critical Thinking
  • Problem Solving and Decision-Making Skills
  • Time Management Skills
  • Organizational and Research Skills
  • Reporting Skills
  • Presentation Skills

Department: Peer Review Admin

Job Type: Full Time

Job Location: Chennai

Experience: 6-10 Years

No. of Vacancies: 1