City : Ottawa

Category : Full time

Industry : Higher Education

Employer : University of Ottawa

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Position Purpose

The incumbent plays a key role in building the Press publications program of 28-30 scholarly and trade titles annually by identifying and acquiring outstanding research publications authored by renowned or talented scholars and literary authors; managing the vitally important external peer review process; providing expert publishing advice to authors; and building a network of scholars and stakeholders. The incumbent prepares, presents, and defends selected submissions at the editorial board, develops project-based partnerships, calendars and budgets, and ensures highest standards in publishing, customer service, and public relations.

Specific Accountabilities

• Strategic development of publishing program: Develops the strategic plan for our scholarly and trade lists, builds the annual bilingual publishing program of 28-30 award-winning titles presented in two editorial seasons (Fall and Spring) per year. Manages over 100 active acquisitions files in pursuit of scholarly excellence, aligned with the mandate and mission of the Press and the University, while balancing a set of criteria (language, disciplines, and other considerations), and meeting revenue goals, including identifying new opportunities and series, stewarding existing partnerships, and effectively utilizing backlist titles.
• Acquisitions management: Ensures leadership in acquisitions functions—including peer review, contract negotiation (including open access contracts, royalties and copyrights), presenting and vouching for titles at the editorial board, leading pre-production meetings; streamlining and improving editorial workflow, sharing information efficiently with team members, enhancing the author experience, and representing the Press in various high-profile venues.
• Project development: Manages a pipeline of projects in development. This includes evaluating manuscripts and proposals, recruiting qualified peer reviewers, and presenting publishable projects to the Editorial Board. Ensures data integrity within the publishing management system, which is key to all publishing functions (acquisitions, production, marketing and sales, contract management, rights and royalties) and which correspond to an array of industry standards.
• Peer review: Conducts the all-important peer-review process, which includes developing a rich network of scholars, liaising with series editors, preparing manuscripts for evaluation, analyzing reader reports, communicating decisions to authors, advising authors in crafting their response letters and in reworking their manuscripts, and reviewing revised manuscripts to assess depth of author improvements.
• Acquisitions budget: Develops and submits annual acquisitions budget to the director of the Press. Solicits and manages publication grants, translation subsidies, and series sponsorships to ensure financial sustainability of publication projects. Monitors annual acquisitions budget and makes necessary adjustments throughout the year. Reviews grant applications and submits title subsidy reports to funders. Communicates funding opportunities and program requirements, including deadlines, to researchers. Acts as liaison between the Press and the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program. Oversees peer reviewers, translators, and rights compensation.
• Relationship building: Builds an expansive and diverse network of leading scholars, authors, funders, and publishers, and others in appropriate areas. Plays a key public relations role on campus and beyond. Maintains excellent relationships with authors, series editors, and senior leadership.
• Manuscript preparation: Guides authors throughout the acquisitions process by providing expert, substantive editing advice and feedback to improve manuscripts based on reader reports, style guides, and best practices. Delivers production-ready files to Production department with the objective of reducing the number of typographical, stylistic, and other modifications required to transform a manuscript to a polished book.
• Tracking and Reporting: Provides regular reports and recommendations based on acquisitions related statistics and analytics to the director, the editorial board, and series editors in order to inform strategic decision-making.
• Politics, Procedures, and Compliance: Participates in the development and implementation of internal policies and procedures in compliance with institutional policies and procedures.

Knowledge, Experience and Skills

• University degree in the humanities or social sciences, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Minimum of 5 years of publishing experience (equivalent full-time) at a university press, scholarly publisher, or trade publisher
• Excellent organizational and time management skills to see manuscripts through to completion, with the ability to multitask and prioritize work
• Team player with excellent oral, presentation, and written communication skills
• Demonstrated commitment to the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives
• Bilingualism: fluency in French and English (spoken and written), with excellent spelling and grammar in both languages
• Demonstrated ability to assess and improve scholarly publications, including methodology and citation styles, in both French and English
• Strong program development and implementation skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; ability to foster good relationships with internal and external partners, and particularly tact and diplomacy in providing feedback to scholars
• Superior problem-solving and conflict resolution skills
• Superior writing skills, and copy editing and/or proofreading experience
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and with minimal supervision
• Strong technical skills, including Microsoft Office, Google Suite, and database management
• Experience working with confidential information
• Ability to travel as needed to professional conferences and to meet with faculty at other campuses
• Ability to work flexible hours on occasion, including evenings and weekends

*This position may be eligible for a telework arrangement. Learn more about our telework guidelines click here

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa: 

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.