Senior Editorial Director, Social Sciences & Humanities

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The Senior Editorial Director, Social Sciences & Humanities leads a global team of Research Publishing staff responsible for developing and implementing journal and article growth activities for Wiley society and proprietary journals.

This leader takes primary responsibility for the growth and continued development of a strategically important subject area. They evaluate opportunities and challenges within own area of responsibility into a compelling direction aligns with overall portfolio strategy and company goals and objectives.

The Senior Editorial Director, Social Sciences & Humanities, continually communicates strategic objectives, balancing short and long-term needs of the organization and directs the priorities and resources of the team to deliver on Research Publishing targets and leverage business opportunities. They view work in the context of external and internal customers, and drive development initiatives that respond to stakeholder engagement and feedback.

The Senior Director has in-depth knowledge of own area of responsibility and inter-dependencies with other teams. They play an instrumental role in embedding the Research Publishing Operating model and ensuring adherence to roles, responsibilities, and rules of engagement. They coordinate with other leaders to ensure teams are collaborating effectively and working toward shared goals.

This leader is expected to report regularly to leadership on the activities of the team, providing evidence of the subject team’s impact and delivery of strategic goals, and articulating programs and tactics to attract and retain authors and increase growth in their subject area.

To succeed in this role, the Senior Editorial Director, Social Sciences & Humanities leverages their (1) in-depth knowledge of scholarly journal publishing industry and the competitive landscape; (2) proven experience managing and influencing stakeholders across society and proprietary journals; (3) demonstrable collaboration with editorial operations and marketing functions; (4) team leadership and development capabilities to enable their teams.

How you will make an impact: 

Develop subject area to grow submissions and published output

• Develop the reputation and competitive position of the portfolio in own subject area, aligning with Portfolio Strategy and Policy team, and overall RP organizational goals.
• Collaborate closely with marketing, business analysis and portfolio strategy colleagues to identify and map portfolio strengths & opportunities in own subject area and initiate actions to close gaps
• Oversee implementation of annual journal development planning cycle, aligning targets and objectives with leadership team, and ensuring agreed plans and activities are devised and actioned.
  
  

Provide leadership and change management to drive OA publishing at scale:

• Establish a performance-based editorial culture with journal editors and staff, including expectations for article targets, board appointments, author retention and editor succession-planning.
• Coordinate with marketing and/or content acquisition colleagues on strategic programs to drive and/or acquire content in regions of strategic important to Wiley.
  
  

Build and nurture internal and external partner relationships

• Serve as a partner to our Partner Publishing, Marketing and other RP functions by offering subject matter expertise.
• Represent and contribute to various cross-functional working groups and steering committees as needed.
• Provide thought leadership and subject matter expertise in areas such as scholarly publishing, journal development, open access, editor management best practices when requested.
• Cultivate relationships and represent Wiley with authors, external editors and current/prospective partners, prospective partners through regular communication, travel, and conference attendance.
  
  

Provide leadership and people management.

• Contribute as a member of the Publishing Development Management Team to meet shared goals.
• Be the agent of change when there are opportunities for improvement.
• Be facilitator of change by reassuring and guiding own team or other teams through periods of uncertainty.
• Develop team members to meet current and future organizational requirements, including succession plans for key roles.
• Build a culture of accountability where successes have clear measures and are celebrated, and failures lead to future improvements.
  
  

What we are looking for:

• Bachelor’s Degree required, PhD in related subject area preferred
• 10+ years of knowledge of other publishing houses.
• Journal publishing experience with a track record for developing and growing journals.
• Must have experience managing senior managers to get work done.
• Skilled at persuading, influencing and negotiating and able to negotiate successful outcomes.
• Establishes collaborative relationships within Wiley and external organizations.
• Creates and delivers presentations with impact.
• Exceptional communication and problem-solving abilities with the ability to think creatively to develop and propose solutions.
• Build relationships with external stakeholders in a publishing context.
• Ability to balance short- and long-term needs of the organization and drive for results notwithstanding resource constraints.
• Exceptional communication skills: continually communicates strategic objectives and initiatives that contribute to short and long term goals.
• Experience managing and leading teams, especially through times of change and uncertainty.
• Stimulates and inspires team to develop and grow their careers and keeps employees challenged through recognition and role enrichment.
• Recognizes important relationships between rewards, reinforcement and results.
  
  

About Wiley:

Enabling Discovery, Powering Education, Shaping Workforces.

We clear the way for seekers of knowledge: illuminating the path forward for research and education, tearing down barriers to society’s advancement, and giving seekers the help they need to turn their steps into strides.

Wiley may have been founded over two centuries ago, but our secret to success remains the same: our people. We are willing to challenge the status quo, move the needle, and innovate. Wiley’s headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations across the globe in more than 40 countries.