Are you passionate about editorial ethics and policy and how standards and best practices can lead to greater transparency and trust in scholarly communication? Do you thrive working with a global team? DOAJ’s current Head of Editorial is retiring, and we’re looking for someone to continue her work in leading our Editorial Team and helping us advance our mission to make research open to all.
About DOAJ
DOAJ offers free online access and visibility to the thousands of publishers, journals and authors who produce quality, peer-reviewed, open access content. It is a unique and extensive database of diverse open access journals worldwide, and its content is freely available online for everyone.
We are a mission-driven, global organisation registered in Denmark. We are a small, growing virtual team across Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. We are scholarly communication professionals, publishers, librarians, and academics working collaboratively to maintain the world’s best directory of open access journals. We are primarily contractors working part-time.
About the role
The Head of Editorial role is one of global influence. You will lead a team to maintain and develop a robust, up-to-date, and globally applicable editorial policy. Your decisions will shape the future of open access scholarly publishing, from small scholar-led journals to large commercial organisations. Your contributions to DOAJ’s strategy will help us maintain our position as a global and trusted open infrastructure.
The role is 15-20 hours per week.
The Head of Editorial has responsibilities in the following areas:
Editorial strategy and policy
- Leading and developing the DOAJ editorial strategy and policy so they remain current, globally relevant and equitable
- Raise DOAJ’s profile as a trusted organisation for research integrity
- Ensure the DOAJ criteria for inclusion are fit for purpose, evolving and that they promote bibliodiversity in the index
- Advise editorial team on policy matters
- Develop the Principles of Best Practice and Transparency with our partners
- Escalation point for contentious or difficult decisions or situations
- Chair the monthly Appeals Committee to review appeals and complaints against exclusion
- Has ultimate responsibility for editorial decisions taken by the team
- Representing DOAJ
- In meetings with publishing stakeholders
- Externally in raising DOAJ’s role and profile as an expert voice on publishing standards and research integrity
Executive leadership
- Leading the Editorial Management Group (consists of the Head of Editorial and the two Deputy Heads)
- Leading and consulting with the Editorial Policy Advisory Group to gather advice and information as required
- Playing an active role in the DOAJ executive team and contributing to DOAJ’s overall strategy and priorities
- Ensuring that the organisation, especially the editorial team, is up to date on open access publishing trends and developments
- Taking responsibility for strategic projects and collaborations as agreed with the Executive Team
- Participating in the Operations Team and Editorial Team meetings
The right candidate for this is a confident leader and a publication ethics visionary focusing on equity and transparency. You are committed to our ground principles: research should be open and available to everyone, regardless of gender, social or economic status, geographic location, ethnicity, or race.
Requirements
Obligatory
- Experience from within the publishing industry, preferably including some experience in commercial publishing
- Have several years of experience working with research integrity issues, publication ethics, or editorial policy
- A proven ability to think strategically
- Fluent in written and spoken English
- Excellent communication skills
- Demonstrate quick and adaptive thinking and assume responsibility for initiatives within the scope of the role.
- Demonstrate alignment with our organisational values
- Experience of successful team leadership
Desirable
- Fluent in other languages
- Previous experience or a good understanding of libraries as publishers, scholar-led publishing or another part of the scholarly communication industry
- First-hand experience of publishing in areas outside the Economic North
- Previous experience with collaboration and productivity software, such as Google for Business apps, Slack, etc.
To be an integrated member of the team, you must:
- Be available online at some point between 09:00 and 17:00 UTC+1
- Manage your schedule and work independently
- Have a stable and reliable internet connection
- Attend scheduled online meetings using Google Meet and Zoom
More details
The successful candidate will be engaged as an employee or freelance, depending on location and individual circumstances.
We welcome applications from individuals worldwide, provided you meet the timezone requirement above.
The role will require some travel to meetings and industry events.
Compensation
The Managing Director will agree on the level of compensation upon appointment. The level of compensation depends on where you are in the world and your level of skills and experience.
Diversity
DOAJ is an adopting organisation of the C4DISC Joint Statement of Principles and strives to improve diversity and inclusion in scholarly communications. It is extremely important to DOAJ that these principles are reflected in our organisational structure and underpin our day-to-day operations.
Questions
If you have questions about the role, working for DOAJ, or the application process, please email Lene Rasmussen at lene@doaj.org.
How to apply
Please email a cover letter and a copy of your resumé/CV to Lene Rasmussen, DOAJ Operations Manager (lene@doaj.org), by 12:00 UTC on Friday 8th November 2024.
Your cover letter must explain how you meet the obligatory and desirable requirements.
