Associate Publisher in Oxford

We are the world’s largest university press. That means we serve the academic community as no other publisher can. We work in partnership with institutions and learned societies to bring a world of knowledge to the fingertips of students and researchers worldwide.

The goal is impact. Together with our academic communities, we curate and seamlessly connect together the ideas that push their fields forward, so they can learn from them, add to them, and continue a virtuous cycle of scholarship.

And because we are a part of the academic community and guided in everything we do by our mission, we re-invest in our people, our publishing, and the world-leading research institution of which we are part.

About the Role

Working as an Associate Publisher in our Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law team on a 6-month fixed term contract (with the possibility of extension), you will manage a list of journals to a degree of excellence that enhances OUP’s standing in the academic community and publishing landscape, with the overall aim of supporting the departmental contribution towards divisional goals.

You will collaborate with the academic Editors of your journals to publish high-quality content and increase article output where appropriate. Working with the Executive Publisher and Publishing Director, you will successfully negotiate consistent contractual terms with Editors, and any affiliated partners, and which align with OUP’s strategic priorities and compliance processes.

A key aspect of your role will be to manage the Editor, editorial performance, and any affiliated partners for all titles according to best practices and adhering to contractual terms. The identification, interviewing, appointment and onboarding of new Editors is a key part of this role.

You will be expected to provide, interpret, and present data analysis to enable evidence-based decision making for strategic / editorial development of your journals, including:

• Bibliometric analysis to understand drivers of impact and submissions
• Competitor analysis
• Emerging trends

You will work with the Executive Publisher to respond to queries and requests from Editors in a fast-paced and effective manner, building strong relationships with Editors and key academic contacts.

You will attend editorial board meetings, one-on-one meetings with Editors, ad hoc meetings or conferences as required, presenting reports on behalf of OUP. This may include international travel, weekends and evenings.

Other duties of the role will include:

• Providing data analysis to enable evidence-based decision making for strategic / editorial development of journals
• Working collaboratively and productively with other functional groups (especially production, marketing, digital, and sales) to deliver an excellent service for journals
• Working with finance and operations colleagues to assist in management of costs for the portfolio
• Facilitating the roll out of OUP journal policies across the portfolio
• Assisting with the implementation of projects that scale across the journals programme

This is a 6 month fixed term contract with the possibility of extension.

We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will ideally have:

• Some publishing or transferable professional experience
• Some understanding of academic publishing, including editorial processes, production processes, marketing, industry trends, systems, competitors, and technology
• Excellent communication skills and ability to adapt your interactions and reporting to suit different stakeholders
• Strong data analysis skills and experience

We care about work/life balance here at OUP. With this in mind we offer 25 days’ holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3‑days) and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect to working patterns, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.

We help make your money go further by contributing to your pension up to 12%, offering loans and savings schemes through our partnership with Salary Finance, in addition to travel to work schemes and access to a wide range of local discounts.

Please see our Rewards and Recognition page for more information.

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.