Commissioning Editor in Oxford

We are seeking a Commissioning Editor with modern foreign language (MFL) specialism to join the International Secondary team within our Education Division. This role will develop and commission teaching and learning resources for International Secondary schools, including educational coursebooks, supplementary resources and digital services to fit identified market needs. You will oversee the smooth development of new print and digital resources and drive usage of live products through devising updates and improvements. This role will work across International Secondary lists, including IB, Cambridge, OxfordAQA and Caribbean. All Commissioning Editors work across lists and subjects, but this role will act as the team’s MFL specialist.

Key responsibilities in this role will include:

• Build compelling proposals for new products and enhancements to existing services to meet the needs of teachers and learners in International Schools, including managing subscription updates.
• Develop product concepts through market research, consultation with international sales and external collaboration with schools, educational experts and external exam board partners.
• Direct authors and editors on the required approach, structure, and level to meet customer needs.
• Identify and nurture new author talent and build strong author relationships.
• Negotiate terms and contract authors with guidance from list Heads.
• Train and support authors to deliver high quality material in line with agreed project schedules and budgets.
• Guide authors and content providers on content delivery and work with partners and advisors to input into the process of structural editing; organise and oversee editorial development work so that content is appropriate, accurate and accessible for the target audiences, and consistent with the project brief.
• Create and oversee project schedules and manage projects through to delivery.
• Lead on process improvements and the effective use of systems and best practice to anticipate risks, plan, allocate appropriate resources and problem solve to ensure that products are delivered efficiently and on time.
• Undertake market research among users of existing products and services, and develop plans for updates and revisions to maximise learning outcomes.
• Obtain and share feedback on the Impact on learning and input into product marketing to ensure services are presented accurately to customers.
• Liaise with other publishing teams and departments to input into wider divisional publishing plans, where appropriate, to ensure the needs of international customers are taken into account and to maximise the relevance of these programmes in international schools.
• Recruit, brief and manage the best freelance editors and content developers – and in consultation with the Secondary Editorial Manager – estimate, brief and oversee the work of inhouse editors so that project aims are met.
• Lead on project costings, outlining possible business models and maximising financial viability and scalability.
• Manage budgets across designated projects and problem-solve to keep spend on track.
• Communicate effectively with other departments to ensure a shared understanding of the drivers for success for all projects.
• Ensure inter‑departmental teams have all the information they need about the target audience, the competitive environment, and unique selling points of the products and services within the list.

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/be:

• Editorial or educational publishing experience, ideally in a similar field.
• MFL specialism – knowledge of Spanish and French.
• Awareness of international schools’ market needs.
• Familiarity with writing project briefs and quality checking author submissions.
• Financial literacy and confidence setting and managing budgets.
• Experience and enthusiasm for developing digital content, in line with user needs.
• Ability to analyse data to make decisions.

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. This role comes with the added benefit of a discretionary annual payment. 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.