Executive Editor, History

OUP; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 77,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation & sick days

Health insurance

Retirement plan contributions

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Oxford University Press in New York is seeking an exceptional Executive Editor to lead the growth of our trade and academic history publishing program. You will acquire 20-25 books per year and publish ambitious, market-aware titles that combine intellectual rigor with broad appeal.

Working with established historians, scholars, journalists, and agents, you will guide acquisitions to publication while coordinating with Marketing, Publicity, Sales, Design and Rights & Translations, in a hybrid

Qualifications

• Record of acquiring standout books with critical acclaim and strong commercial results.
• Own publishing program with ambitious editorial and commercial results.
• Built a network of authors, agents, academics, thought leaders.
• Experience leading individuals or teams and mentoring editorial talent.
• Guides projects from acquisition to publication and keeps on schedule.
• Strong communicator, pitches ideas and builds relationships with colleagues, authors, partners.
• Values data infrastructure and tools for smarter decisions.
• Energized by evolving serious non-fiction landscape and trends.

Responsibilities

• Lead growth of Oxford University Press's trade and academic history publishing program.
• Acquire 20-25 books per year.
• Publish ambitious, market-aware books that combine intellectual rigor with broad appeal.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Publicity, Sales, Design and Rights & Translations across teams.

Skills

Editorial leadership

Acquisition & publishing

Project management

Communications & pitching

Mentoring

Relationship building

Job description

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Salary: $77,000- $110,000 - Dependent on experience

Department: 364-Academic Editorial

As the world's largest university press, Oxford University Press combines global reach with a deep understanding of local audiences. We are committed to publishing serious non-fiction and partnering with authors whose authority, insight, and originality illuminate the issues that shape public discourse. If you share that passion, you may be an ideal fit for us.

With a presence in more than 50 countries and millions of customers worldwide, OUP publishes books that inform debate, illuminate the past, and help shape the future. An idea championed at OUP can have truly global impact.

Oxford University Press is seeking an exceptional Executive Editor to lead the growth of our acclaimed trade and academic history publishing program. This position offers a rare opportunity to drive strategy for OUP’s list, identify and develop books that influence public conversations, earn critical recognition, and reach readers around the world. Working with established historians, emerging scholars, leading public intellectuals, journalists, and literary agents, you will acquire 20-25 books per year and publish ambitious, market-aware books that combine intellectual rigor with broad appeal. Along the way, you will work in collaboration with a high performance team across Editorial and in the wider business, including Marketing, Publicity, Sales, Design, and Rights & Translations.

As part of OUP's award-winning publishing team, you will play a central role in shaping the future of history publishing while advancing the Press's mission to bring exceptional ideas to the widest possible audience.

ABOUT YOU

• You are passionate about the importance of serious trade non-fiction and its capacity to spark curiosity, challenge assumptions, and reveal how the past continues to shape the present.
• You have a record of acquiring standout books that have earned critical acclaim and delivered strong commercial results.
• You take ownership of your publishing program, combining ambition and sound judgment to deliver outstanding editorial and commercial results.
• You have built a vibrant network of authors, agents, academics, and thought leaders, and know how to turn relationships into books that resonate with readers.
• You have experience leading individuals or teams and take genuine satisfaction in mentoring colleagues and building the next generation of editorial talent.
• You excel at guiding projects from acquisition to publication and shaping manuscripts while keeping your projects on schedule.
• You thrive in a collaborative environment and are a compelling communicator, equally comfortable pitching ideas, building relationships, and presenting with confidence to colleagues, authors, and external partners.
• You value airtight data infrastructure and tools that enable smarter decisions.
• You are energized by the evolving serious non-fiction landscape and curious about the trends, audiences, platforms, and ideas shaping its future.

BENEFITS

• We care about work/life balance at OUP. We offer 15 days’ vacation time that rises with service, 10 sick days, plus floating holidays, personal days, volunteering days, company holidays, and a 35-hour working week. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.
• We care for you and your dependents by offering health, dental, and vision insurance plans to our full-time employees. Each plan has multiple levels of coverage to fit your needs and has a high level of contribution made by OUP. We also offer life insurance and disability insurance.
• We help make your money go further by providing a non-elective contribution on your behalf to your retirement plan of 7% of your salary and a matching contribution to the retirement plan of 50% on the first 6% of employee contributions on based earnings.

Position Location:

This role will be hybrid and based in New York, NY.

GJC Level:

I6 (for internal purposes only)

Salary

Dependent on skills and experience. Salary will be considered aligned with experience.

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce, and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.