Head of Publishing Development

Head of Publishing Development

The American Physical Society (APS) is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to advancing and diffusing the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals and scientific meetings, as well as its education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. APS represents 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.

Position Summary:
The American Physical Society (APS) publishes the trusted, renowned, and growing Physical Review family of peer-reviewed journals, covering physics and physics-related research and including world-leading, premier titles such as Physical Review Letters, Reviews of Modern Physics, and Physical Review X, as well as the essential and trusted core Physical Review titles.

But we're also about more than journals; through our publishing program we're aiming to advance the very fabric of scientific discovery. Our vision extends beyond traditional publications and into creating products and services that revolutionize how knowledge is discovered, shared, and utilized.

As the Head of Publishing Development, you'll focus on more than managing journals; you'll play a key role in shaping the future of scientific communication. You will report to the Director of Publishing and hold responsibility for understanding the global physical sciences publications landscape, tracking developments within this market, and using this knowledge and other data to inform the strategic development of publications, products and services that will allow APS to advance scholarly communication and open research, and better serve researchers and other stakeholders across the scientific community. You’ll lead cross-functional project teams and align development initiatives with organizational goals. You will join a group of highly engaged professionals focused on delivering value and providing innovative and creative solutions to the research community.

You will be pivotal in supporting the development of effective publishing strategies to expand the breadth of the APS publications portfolio and grow article output and citations, and central to the execution and operationalization of strategic initiatives. You will develop and drive business plans to ensure new journal launches and other development initiatives are successful and aligned with our journal’s portfolio strategy, as well as broader Publications and APS strategies and goals. You will also develop and manage P&Ls towards ensuring a clear and comprehensive understanding of our business and long-term sustainability of our publishing program.

We look forward to hearing from you!
 

APS has a “remote first” concept that promotes equal treatment and equal access within the United States, independent of physical work location, with a majority of staff working primarily from home. APS values diversity and welcomes candidates from a variety of backgrounds.  APS offers a dynamic work environment with an outstanding total compensation package, including salary, outstanding benefits, and excellent paid time off.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic leadership to translate strategy into clear objectives and targets and lead cross-functional teams to develop and execute business plans that drive strategy and achieve goals.
• Keep a finger on the pulse by proactively monitoring developments across the landscape of research publishing and related products and services, particularly in the physical sciences.
• Collaborate effectively across APS functions – such as Editorial, Marketing and Communications, Information Systems, Sales, Finance, and others – to ensure intelligence and data flow from all areas of our business into the development of Publishing strategy and business plans.
• Develop and evolve publishing strategy and policies, including by advising on emerging trends and opportunities, as well as threats, risks, and other concerns.
• Embrace a data-driven approach by identifying and prioritizing key questions and potential scenarios to be addressed by analysis of internal and external data, towards informing subject-area and regional publishing strategies as well as the development of new products and services.
• Monitor KPIs and other metrics, reporting on performance against agreed objectives and targets, identifying shortfalls and communicating corrective actions.
• Own new journal launches and other development initiatives, like our new author services offerings, to ensure success and alignment with the strategy and goals of APS and its Publications group.
• Work closely with colleagues in Publications, Marketing, Communications and other APS departments to ensure strategic alignment of messaging, communications plans, and other marketing and outreach activities.
• Oversee essential publishing functions such as a ISSN and trademark registration, abstracting and indexing, and dark archiving, as well as management of relationships with key partners in these activities.
• Bring your unique publishing expertise and experience into the mix of a growing and dynamic Publications team!

Scope & Relationships:

The Head of Publishing Development reports to the Director of Publishing

• Will recruit and manage 1 Direct Report, and potentially more dependent on growth
• Collaboration with Publications Leadership and internal interactions with APS colleagues across departments
• Serve in lead, subject expert and other roles on product and project teams, as required

Qualifications:
Education:

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably with a focus relevant to the defined responsibilities of the role

Experience: 

• A minimum of 7 years experience with scholarly publications and products, preferably in the physical sciences or other areas of STEM
• Extensive experience with and knowledge of scholarly communication, trends in research communities – including open access and open research – and other forces currently shaping the publishing industry
• A deep appreciation for high-quality, society-owned journals and their value to the scholarly record and scientific enterprise
• A combination of experiences including some or all of the following is desirable:
  • journals development, including new launches and re-launches of existing titles
  • publishing policies and processes
  • product development
  • project management and/or leadership
  • managing and developing direct reports
  • business planning and P&L management

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Proven leadership and people skills, including experience planning and driving change
• Ability to shape and drive cross-functional work, including through effective leadership and collaboration across functions beyond your own department
• Customer focus
• Product and business development
• Self-motivated, with a strong drive for results
• Ability to plan, manage and measure work
• Ability to make timely, quality decisions
• Strong organizational and work management skills, including project management/leadership, and ability to use data to drive decision-making, identify opportunities, and support customer needs
• Demonstrated skills in relationship building
• Business travel savvy and ability to travel up to 20% of the time
• Ability to work well both independently as well as collaboratively with intra- and interdepartmental teams, as well as external colleagues
• Ability to work effectively and efficiently from a remote location, or while traveling, with minimal day-to-day supervision
• Strong written and oral communication skills, and ability to utilize digital technology to effectively collaborate with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to adapt and remain flexible to changing priorities

Travel:
 

The position requires travel up to 20% to relevant events and stakeholder sites, as well as to APS offices located in Long Island NY and Washington DC, and other offsite locations for periodic meetings, training, and strategy sessions.