Content Operations Lead

ITHAKA HARBORS, INC; Ann Arbor (MI); On-site; USD 58,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental & vision plans

Retirement plan (employer-paid 10%)

Parental leave

Paid time off 22 days

Paid holidays 11

Sick days 12

Wellness benefits

Job summary

ITHAKA is seeking a Content Operations Lead to support and advance operational excellence across Archive Journals, Books at JSTOR, Reveal Digital, Research Reports, and emerging initiatives. You will ensure content is received, prepared, validated, published, and maintained across multiple product lines.

You will coordinate and optimize content operations workflows, improve content quality and metadata integrity, and collaborate cross-functionally with internal teams and external partners to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• 2–4 years of experience in scholarly publishing, digital collections, electronic publishing, archives, or related operational environments.
• Strong understanding of content operations, digital publishing workflows, and content quality standards.
• Ability to think strategically about long-term process effectiveness while balancing day-to-day execution needs.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and shifting business needs.
• Experience developing process documentation, operational guidance, and workflow standards that improve consistency and scalability.
• Knowledge of XML, SGML, ONIX, metadata standards, content delivery workflows, or related publishing technologies preferred.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and provide support for content operations workflows across Archive Journals, Books at JSTOR, Reveal Digital, Research Reports, and emerging initiatives, including handling daily processing tasks so that content is successfully made available on the platform consistently and in a timely manner.
• Drive operational improvements that strengthen content quality, metadata integrity, discoverability, and delivery outcomes across multiple product lines and content types.
• Investigate, assess, and resolve a range of content and data issues by balancing technical understanding, operational priorities, and stakeholder impact to deliver timely and sustainable resolutions; lead retrospective remediation efforts and operational cleanup initiatives, ensuring projects are appropriately scoped, prioritized, monitored, and successfully completed.
• Partner cross-functionally with platform teams, vendor teams, and other stakeholders to improve operational alignment, identify opportunities for automation and workflow optimization, and support successful execution of shared initiatives.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on content operations standards and workflows, translating operational concepts into actionable guidance for internal and external work partners.
• Develop and maintain operational documentation and process guidance that improve consistency and strengthen knowledge sharing within and across teams.
• Identify patterns and root causes across operational issues and implement process improvements that reduce recurring problems and improve long-term operational performance.
• Guide vendors and operational partners toward consistent quality standards by providing operational direction, feedback, training, and problem-solving support.
• Evaluate incoming content deliveries, workflow exceptions, and production risks to proactively identify issues and improve processing outcomes.
• Support operational readiness for new products, content types, and strategic initiatives by helping define workflows, quality expectations, automation opportunities, and implementation approaches.
• Follow digital accessibility requirements and implement accessibility best practices into daily work.
• Occasional travel, comprising less than 10% of the time, may be necessary, with a primary focus on visits to our Michigan and New York offices.
• Commitment to our organizational values of belonging, evidence, speed, teamwork, and trust.

Skills

Content operations

Analytical thinking

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Documentation

Workflow optimization

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

JIRA

Google Workspace

Microsoft Office

Databases

FTP

Job description

ITHAKA’s mission is to expand access to knowledge and education around the world. Our services — JSTOR, Portico, and Ithaka S+R — enable people everywhere to learn, to grow, and to overcome barriers to education. In carrying out our mission, as employees we feel a deep responsibility to members of our community and to each other, and we are committed to building and sustaining a culture where everyone can thrive.

The Role

ITHAKA is seeking a Content Operations Lead to support and advance operational excellence across Archive Journals, Books at JSTOR, Reveal Digital, Research Reports, and emerging initiatives. This role will ensure content is successfully received, prepared, validated, published, and maintained across multiple product lines, as well as coordinate and optimize content operations workflows, improve content quality and metadata integrity, and collaborate cross-functionally with internal teams and external partners to support scalable, sustainable operational outcomes. In this role, you will serve as a subject matter expert on content operations standards and workflows while helping to drive process improvements, supporting strategic initiatives, and contributing to a culture of collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and provide support for content operations workflows across Archive Journals, Books at JSTOR, Reveal Digital, Research Reports, and emerging initiatives, including handling daily processing tasks so that content is successfully made available on the platform consistently and in a timely manner.
• Drive operational improvements that strengthen content quality, metadata integrity, discoverability, and delivery outcomes across multiple product lines and content types.
• Investigate, assess, and resolve a range of content and data issues by balancing technical understanding, operational priorities, and stakeholder impact to deliver timely and sustainable resolutions; lead retrospective remediation efforts and operational cleanup initiatives, ensuring projects are appropriately scoped, prioritized, monitored, and successfully completed.
• Partner cross-functionally with platform teams, vendor teams, and other stakeholders to improve operational alignment, identify opportunities for automation and workflow optimization, and support successful execution of shared initiatives.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on content operations standards and workflows, translating operational concepts into actionable guidance for internal and external work partners.
• Develop and maintain operational documentation and process guidance that improve consistency and strengthen knowledge sharing within and across teams.
• Identify patterns and root causes across operational issues and implement process improvements that reduce recurring problems and improve long-term operational performance.
• Guide vendors and operational partners toward consistent quality standards by providing operational direction, feedback, training, and problem-solving support.
• Evaluate incoming content deliveries, workflow exceptions, and production risks to proactively identify issues and improve processing outcomes.
• Support operational readiness for new products, content types, and strategic initiatives by helping define workflows, quality expectations, automation opportunities, and implementation approaches.
• Follow digital accessibility requirements and implement accessibility best practices into daily work.
• Occasional travel, comprising less than 10% of the time, may be necessary, with a primary focus on visits to our Michigan and New York offices.
• Commitment to our organizational values of belonging, evidence, speed, teamwork, and trust.

Experience And Skills

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• 2–4 years of experience in scholarly publishing, digital collections, electronic publishing, archives, or related operational environments.
• Strong understanding of content operations, digital publishing workflows, and content quality standards.
• Ability to think strategically about long-term process effectiveness while balancing day-to-day execution needs.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and shifting business needs.
• Experience developing process documentation, operational guidance, and workflow standards that improve consistency and scalability.
• Knowledge of XML, SGML, ONIX, metadata standards, content delivery workflows, or related publishing technologies preferred.
• Experience with tools such as JIRA, Google Workspace, Microsoft Office Suite, databases, FTP, or related operational systems preferred.
• Ability to independently identify and implement solutions to operational challenges.
• Ability to design and document new or revised processes that improve efficiency.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly across teams and leadership levels.
• Ability to anticipate organizational needs and adapt strategy and workflow accordingly.

Work Authorization and Sponsorship

ITHAKA is not currently considering candidates who require any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) to work in the United States.

Compensation And Benefits

At ITHAKA we believe in openness and fair pay. Part of living those values is our commitment to clarity about salary ranges, so candidates know what to expect. The starting salary for this position ranges from $58,000.00 – $68,000.00 per year. Starting pay may vary with job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. At present, our total compensation package for benefits-eligible employees includes medical, dental, and vision plans, an employer-paid 10% retirement contribution, paid parental and caregiver leave, 22 days of paid time off, 11 paid holidays, up to 12 sick days, wellness benefits, and more. Please note that ITHAKA, at its discretion, may make changes to its benefits programs from time to time.

Work for ITHAKA

We are committed to our organizational values of belonging, evidence, speed, teamwork, and trust. We take seriously the need for everyone to feel welcome. Belonging is one of our core values, and it shows in our vibrant culture. People from a wide range of backgrounds work at ITHAKA, and we believe that unique perspectives help us realize new insights and build better solutions.

We want to work with people who are passionate about ideas like these and who wish to contribute their perspectives and talents to ITHAKA’s mission. We enthusiastically welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and credentials. We want to hear your story and include your perspective in the transformative work we aim to do.

Learn more about Working at ITHAKA.

Although ITHAKA has physical offices in New York and Ann Arbor, Michigan, our employees are distributed across the continental United States. At this time, we’re not considering candidates who are unable to work and reside in the continental U.S.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to identity or other status protected by law. We invite you to read our Equal Employment Opportunity Statement. ITHAKA cares about your privacy, learn more about our Applicant Privacy Notice.