Editor, BMC Series - Open Access

BioMed Central (BMC) is a large portfolio of peer-reviewed open access journals for Science, Technology and Medicine. The journals span all areas of biology, medicine and health, including broad interest titles such as BMC Biology and BMC Medicine alongside specialist journals, such as Malaria Journal and BMC Infectious Diseases.

BioMed Central is the leading open access publisher of STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) research. Since it was founded in 2000, BioMed Central has successfully pioneered the open access publishing model and brought open access to the mainstream.  With offices in London, North America and Asia, the company employs over 290 people across a range of operations including editorial, production, IT and business. BioMed Central is a vibrant and innovative company. It operates in a fast-paced and high-energy environment, hiring talented people who are passionate about science, technology, medicine and open access.

The BMC series is a group of open access, peer reviewed journals that span all areas of biology and medicine. There are over 60 subject-specific journals focused on the needs of individual research communities, offering an efficient, fair and friendly peer review service, and committed to publishing all sound science, provided that there is some advance in knowledge presented by the work.

You will be responsible for the performance and success of a portfolio of journals within the BMC series. This includes overseeing and developing their content, driving their growth, and optimizing editorial standards and policies.

Communication is a key part of this role, as you will need to build excellent and productive relationships with the external editors who manage the peer review process and with internal teams responsible for journal editorial office support, marketing, PR etc. You will also need to take a proactive approach to organizing your work, and through monitoring the content and performance of your journal, you will identify and implement changes to maximise both.

Responsibilities

A. Journal development

• Plan and implement a suitable journal development strategy, in collaboration with colleagues on related journals and editorial board members, to maximize journal performance. Monitor journal performance to identify areas for improvement, and adapt journal strategy as required.
• Work with colleagues on related journals published by BioMed Central to build an understanding of the fields and develop a cross-portfolio subject strategy
• Work with journal Editorial Boards to identify and commission appropriate content for the journal, and to adapt journal section structure as necessitated by current submission profile and state of the field.

B. Peer review quality

• Take overall editorial responsibility of journals in your portfolio,  ensuring that all Editorial Board Members uphold our ethos, policies standards. Investigate occasions where these standards have not been upheld, and step in on manuscripts where required.

C. Editorial board management

• Build excellent communications and relationships with Editorial Board members, ensuring that they are performing well and that their workloads are appropriate and manageable, and take action where necessary to resolve any workload issues. Regularly discuss journal policy, and editorial board recruitment with journal Section Editors.

D. Journal awareness and content showcasing

• Build journal content through Editorial Board liaison, content commissioning, working with the marketing department, developing website content and conference attendance.
• Showcase content through social media and blog promotion, press release of broad interest publications, and Editor’s picks on websites.

Experience, Skills and Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to PhD level (or equivalent) in a biomedical field
• An interest in open access publishing
• Knowledge of editorial process and related matters
• Excellent communication and influencing skills
• Excellent time management and prioritization skills; able to balance short-term deadlines with long-term goals, and respond to non-routine circumstances.
• Highly customer focused
• Analytical and critical appraisal skills
• Willing to travel occasionally and represent BioMed Central at external events
• Pleasant and tactful telephone manner

Desirable

• Scientific editorial/publishing experience

If you are an internal candidate please inform your line manager of your application.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

- Medical, Dental and Vision
- Life and AD&D
- 401(k)
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Transit Accounts
- Tuition Assistance
- Summer Hours

Springer Nature is an Equal Opportunity Employer that complies with the laws and regulations set forth in the following EEO Is The Law Poster:

http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf.

Springer Nature is a leading global research, educational and professional publisher, home to an array of respected and trusted brands providing quality content through a range of innovative products and services.

Springer Nature is the world’s largest academic book publisher, publisher of the world’s highest impact journals and a pioneer in the field of open research. The company numbers almost 13,000 staff in over 50 countries and has a turnover of approximately EUR 1.5 billion. Springer Nature was formed in 2015 through the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media.