Head of Content Innovation (m/w/d)

Job title: Head of Content Innovation (m/w/d)

Locations: Heidelberg, London or Pune

Terms: Full-time, fixed term: April 1st – December 31st, 2025

Application deadline: ongoing; we encourage early submissions.

About Springer Nature Group

Springer Nature opens the doors to discovery for researchers, educators, clinicians and other professionals. Every day, around the globe, our imprints, books, journals, platforms and technology solutions reach millions of people. For over 180 years our brands and imprints have been a trusted source of knowledge to these communities and today, more than ever, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that fundamental knowledge can be found, verified, understood and used by our communities – enabling them to improve outcomes, make progress, and benefit the generations that follow.

The Content Innovation Team Mission

We transform the scholarly publishing experience by integrating human expertise with advanced technologies. We deliver scalable and personalised content solutions which drive growth and impact across the research lifecycle. We make research content generation, evaluation, and consumption an innovation positive experience for researchers, reviewers, and editors.

About the role:

Drive the creation of new content types, research experiences and publishing workflows that will enable greater and more rapid growth and development of Springer Nature’s Research Publishing. You quickly build prototypes for the Research group working closely together with relevant Research Publishing business units to scale new solutions upon handover. Your strong expertise, knowledge and background in Research Publishing, strategy and reporting are critical to success in this role.

This role can be in our Heidelberg, London or Pune offices on a hybrid working model.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Discover – work closely with customers, partners, and colleagues to identify new opportunities for greater revenue growth, better serving the needs of research(ers)
2. Undertake research, monitor new trends, technologies and techniques to understand and consider all possibilities
3. Engage with research communities, track early career researcher needs
4. Track competitors, work with market research, editorial, and technology colleagues
5. Develop – be a leader in the content innovation process and team
6. Apply a rapid, agile process of content design which includes testing, refining and application
7. Design new content meeting both human and machine-readable application needs
8. Contribute to developing tools supporting editorial workflows
9. Plan – work closely with publishing and editorial, technology, and the commercial teams to plan new opportunities
10. Work with commercial and strategic marketing colleagues to establish business models
11. Develop implementation strategies considering technological and human factors
12. Implement – transition implementation responsibilities to relevant business unit
13. Work with relevant business units to transition implementation and scaling
14. Provide advisory support and training during handover
15. Develop formal documentation for transitions
16. Leadership – contribute actively to the Springer Nature leadership team to develop, agree and communicate a strategic narrative that we will use to guide and inspire the entire group.
17. Contribute to strategic narrative and content innovation purpose
18. Foster a culture supporting cross-functional collaboration
19. Drive diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Content Innovation team

Required skills and experience:

• Technical expertise
• Strong knowledge of design thinking and consumer perspective
• Experience working with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

• Professional background
• Proven expertise in Research and Research Publishing strategy
• Successful track record delivering innovative content
• Significant experience in digital content and community interaction
• Experience building successful investment cases
• Knowledge of scientific research world (desirable)

• Stakeholder and management skills
• Ability to manage multiple stakeholders
• Experience implementing strategies in complex organizations
• Track record working across geographies and cultures
• Experience presenting to senior management
• Excellent internal and external relationship-building skills

• Individual attributes
• Self-starter with results-focused approach
• Comfortable with less structured functions
• Excellent analytical and communication skills
• Flexibility to work varied workload under pressure
• Ability to travel regularly

• Personal Characteristics
• Innovative mind-set
• Creativity to implement transformative content solutions
• Performance-driven approach
• Intellectual confidence to challenge status quo

Please apply sending your CV. We encourage early applications.

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At Springer Nature, we value the diversity of our teams and work to build an inclusive culture, where people are treated fairly and can bring their differences to work and thrive. We empower our colleagues and value their diverse perspectives as we strive to attract, nurture and develop the very best talent.

Springer Nature was awarded Diversity Team of the Year at the 2022 British Diversity Awards. Find out more about our DEI work here Diversity Equity Inclusion

If you have any access needs related to disability, neurodivergence or a chronic condition, please contact us so we can make all necessary accommodation.

For more information about career opportunities in Springer Nature please visit Springer Nature Careers

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