Journal Production Coordinator

Job Description

The Journal Production Coordinator is responsible for the delivery, and the production performance of an allocated portfolio in line with Emerald’s standards. They take responsibility for monitoring copyflow post-acceptance, with a particular eye to how their portfolio is performing in total. Close collaboration with our colleagues in peer review and commissioning is a necessity.

Journal Production Coordinators work with, and coach when required, the journal Supplier Project Managers in day-to-day activities, including system support, on-time publication of articles and issues, problem-solving and effective communication with authors and editors. Supplier Project Managers and our prepress teams are responsible for the editing, proofing and setting of articles, as well as completion of issue production and publication. Alongside this, they will support the Production Team Lead and Head of Publishing Operations in delivering a programme of strategic change across the portfolio in line with wider department and business objectives.

The Journal Production Coordinator will have a mindset of continuous improvement, an eye on the prize of publication targets, an appreciation of being part of a service-led team and demonstrate an understanding of the changing landscape of academic publishing and the production environment. They will actively participate or lead projects that support Emerald’s mission.


Location: We perform at our best when we feel trusted and are able to choose an approach to working that suits us best, which is why we are a remote-first company. However, we also believe in face to face collaboration, and our UK colleagues meet once a month for team time and quarterly for company get togethers in our Leeds office, so we ask that you be within a commutable distance that you are comfortable with in order to attend the office on those occasions.

About our Recruitment Process: We welcome applications from all individuals, irrespective of age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, or belief. As we understand the value of the transferability of skills and experiences, we are not looking for the 'perfect candidate' – we encourage everyone who is truly excited about our mission to apply.

Day to day we’ll trust you to:   

• Ensure article and issue targets are met for your allocated portfolio to maintain and progress a program of timely and target-driven publishing.• Using management and organisational skills to assess portfolios on a detail-oriented basis and birds’ eye view, taking action to monitor the status of issues and articles in issues. This involves weekly assessment of delayed issues, issues under budget, and titles with poor pipeline.
• Work within Emerald’s standards of timely publication and quality, liaising with our customer insights managers to review author feedback and define journal-level plans based on this.
• Monitoring copyflow and collaborating with the supplier project managers, peer review editors, commissioning editors and journal editors to obtain and complete publication to agreed schedules.
• Lead projects for continuous improvement, including projects and workshops to help improve workflows, processes, and policies. The team will identify these opportunities using real time pain points and opportunities in order to streamline and improve processes. Journal production coordinators will have specialisms and an eagerness to work to streamline and progress change to further Emerald’s goals.
• Championing best practice and consistency of process with vendors and across Emerald by becoming subject and process experts, taking ownership of documentation and the training of colleagues via specialisms, as well as identifying and completing streamlining opportunities in order to progress change and further Emerald’s goals.
• Communicating effectively to provide excellent customer service for authors, editors, vendors and Emerald Publishing Services journals.
• Coach a team of external supplier project managers in the day-to-day activities of journal production across a portfolio of allocated titles, investigating and resolving issues and inconsistencies as they arise. Swift resolution of issues and clear, helpful communication to empower SPMs to complete their work and maintain schedules is essential.
• Actively monitoring vendor performance through providing constructive feedback via approved methods and supporting the service deliver manager and the production team lead with vendor management activities.
• Ensuring journal, article, and issue information is maintained and up-to-date across Emerald systems.
• Managing and implementing strategic changes across a portfolio of titles in partnership with colleagues in Content Solutions and Content Acquisition.

You’ll need to have:   

Key competencies
• Advanced organisation and project management skills
• Ability to scale workload and processes to support Emerald’s growing portfolio
• First-line manager skills of coaching, negotiating with confidence, training and managing remote teams
• Strong ownership tendencies and comfort in both detail and wider evaluation work
• Competence with data evaluation, particularly MS Excel, to evaluate internal reports and create clear information from data sets
• Problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Analytical and strategic skills
• Results-orientated
Social skills
• Customer service skills
• Negotiating and influencing skills
• Relationship development and management
Knowledge and technical skills
• Knowledge and ability to work with MS office applications
• Ability to learn and adapt to internal systems and processes
Experience level
Relevant publishing or industry experience in managing portfolios and working within publication targets

What’s in it for you?

At Emerald, we value our people. Becoming a part of our team means you’ll join a trusting and flexible environment and we've been flexified so you can trust that we're a truly flexible workplace. All we ask is that you attend the office once a month to come together with work colleagues. You'll also have numerous opportunities to progress your career, as well as access to professional development and the opportunity to learn new skills.

You’ll receive a wide range of benefits, such as 38 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays, remote flexible working, a discretionary performance bonus, 6% pension contribution and various benefits aimed at supporting your wellbeing and work-life balance such as a working from home allowance. You can check out a full list of our benefits here.

Roles are advertised at a benchmarked market median rate. Offers will be made within a range of the median, depending on skills and experience.

Please note - Applicants must be authorized to work in the UK without restrictions or sponsorship. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Emerald Group is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all of our applicants. If you would like to request any accommodations/adjustments from application through to interview stages, please complete the relevant section within the application or contact us at peopleteam@emerald.com and let us know.