Reviewer Engagement Manager (Fixed Term)

Location

Bristol

Salary and benefits

Competitive and excellent benefits

Job advert description

Are you looking to work for a company that contributes to the fundamental understanding of the universe? Do you want to be part of a team that supports the physics community in communicating their research to as broad an audience possible? Do you have the skills to help train early career researchers to become accomplished reviewers of scientific content? We have the right job for you!

IOP Publishing (IOPP) is looking for a Reviewer Engagement Manager (maternity cover) to deliver our strategy for reviewer engagement and build on the company’s new reviewer training programme. We’re looking for someone who can train and support the next generation of academics, acting as a voice for them within the company to influence the way we manage the peer review process; a process that helps safeguard the quality, validity, authority and rigour of academic work.

Where does this role fit in at IOP Publishing?

IOPP has a mission to become the leading authority on peer review: the Reviewer Engagement Manager (REM) is key in supporting that goal, ensuring that we meet the needs of the physical science research community and offer the best possible peer review experience to our customers.

Working with thousands of external researchers/academics across different disciplines within the physical sciences, the REM is responsible for setting the strategy and delivering the company’s reviewer training programme. Working closely with the Head of Publishing Operations, the Research Integrity and Inclusion Manager (RIIM) and the Peer Review Product Manager (PRPM), the REM defines what quality peer review looks like at IOP Publishing and owns the roadmap for training and onboarding new reviewers from across the physical sciences researcher community. An early career researcher (ECR) champion, they own our online reviewer training portal, hosts regular training webinars and delivers lectures and seminars at international physics conferences under the Peer Review Excellence (PRE) brand. Constantly alert to the needs of ECRs and changes within the industry, the REM acts as IOP Publishing’s face of peer review within the publishing and academic community.

Key job accountabilities include

• Defining and delivering our strategy for engaging and training new external peer reviewers.
• Improving IOPPs reviewer pool by training and onboarding new reviewers via workshops and our e-learning training hub.
• Acting as an advocate for quality peer review within IOPP and a brand ambassador within the wider physical science community.
• Managing the schedule of IOP Publishing Academy training events to support growth in key markets.
• Acting as the product manager for our e-learning training hub.

Who do we need

An ideal candidate will have:

• Demonstrable experience of working with the reviewer community and understanding their requirements in the STM Publishing market.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to influence and achieve buy-in from both internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to build strong, effective industry networks worldwide.
• A data-driven approach to decision making, utilising validated customer feedback and insights as well as business metrics to make decisions.
• Expert user of all relevant analytical and reporting tools (e.g. Scholar One, SCOPUS, Web of Science).
• Experience of managing successful negotiations.
• Product management experience (desirable).
• University Degree (desirable).
• Certified Scrum Product Owner (desirable).

The right candidate will have experience of interviewing customers, collating and prioritising their feedback and acting on the insights. They will also have similar experience of extracting insights from data sets and survey results and be able to draw conclusions that will inform the direction of their peer review roadmap.

We would love to hear from you and see what you have to offer.

What does a typical week look like?

• Writing and delivering presentations to stakeholders.
• Interviewing customers – both internal and external – about their needs for the best possible peer review process.
• Meeting with account managers of external vendors to ensure software is optimised and developments are on-track.
• Meeting with colleagues from across the business, including in marketing, comms, tech, legal, and IT, to ensure that various improvement tickets and promotional pushes are on-track.
• Regularly checking on key stats for the eLearning hub and workshops.
• Identifying and onboarding senior academics from around the world to work on the scheme.
• Meeting with colleagues within the department, including managing editors, and the PRPM and RIIM to address any dependencies.
• Analysing feedback from surveys, as well as developments in the broader field of peer review, to try and stay ahead of the curve with regards to our reviewer experience.
• Ensuring that the Reviewer Engagement Officer is supported in their role.
• Working with the data informatics team to monitor trends, set up trials, and dig deeper into reviewer behaviour.

About the benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer employees a comprehensive benefits package including an excellent pension scheme, discretionary annual bonus scheme, private medical insurance, life assurance and generous annual leave, and a range of flexible benefits including cycle to work and gym membership.

Our modern and contemporary offices are based in the thriving city centre of Bristol, a stone’s throw away from Temple Meads train station, and within walking distance of Cabot Circus shopping centre, and numerous cafés and restaurants. Named on more than one occasion as the best city in the UK to live in, Bristol is a cosmopolitan and creative city boasting a historic harbour, internationally renowned cultural institutions and home to world-class festivals and events.

This role is based at our Bristol office. Blended and flexible working will be considered with regular office attendance informed by business needs and subject to the local COVID-19 situation.

To apply

To apply, please submit your CV and a covering letter through our careers site highlighting your previous experience and how it applies to the role, and why you are interested in this opportunity and IOP Publishing.

About us

IOP Publishing is an international scientific publisher, through which leading-edge research is distributed worldwide. Our rapidly expanding journals programme is published alongside other sources of scientific information in the form of ebooks, magazines and conference proceedings. Other publications include easily accessible community and regional websites. We are a world leader in the development of electronic publishing for the scientific community and have offices in Europe, Asia and the US. Working in the interests of science and scientists, we aim to maximise the impact of the research we publish.

IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics, a not-for-profit society. Any financial surplus earned by IOP Publishing goes to supporting science through the activities of the Institute. With a continuing focus on growth, we recognise that every single person has a real part to play if we’re to achieve our aim of becoming the world’s leading publisher in our field.

We are seeking a diverse range of candidates and particularly welcome applicants from under-represented backgrounds.