Managing Editor and Team Lead - AORN Journal

Join AORN and Make an Impact

The Association of peri Operative Registered Nurses (AORN) is seeking a Managing Editor and Team Lead to help advance patient and staff safety through evidence-based practice, education, and clinical resources that support perioperative nurses. We welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds and career stages who are excited to bring their expertise to a mission-driven organization.

In this role, you will lead the editorial strategy, production, and day-to-day operations of the AORN Journal while guiding a talented editorial team and collaborating with the Editor-in-Chief, publisher, and internal partners. Your leadership will ensure the delivery of accurate, timely, and valuable content that informs perioperative professionals and supports AORN’s mission.

Location: Remote
Headquarters: Denver, CO

• Make a meaningful impact on patient and staff safety.
• Work remotely with a collaborative and supportive team.
• Contribute ideas that help shape the future of perioperative nursing.
• Join a culture that values innovation, inclusion, and professional growth.

At AORN, you'll find purpose-driven work, an engaging remote culture, and a team dedicated to advancing perioperative nursing.

Our values guide everything we do:

• Innovation: Taking courageous and bold actions for growth and sustainability.
• Communication:Exemplifying respect, collaboration, transparency and honesty.
• Quality: Ensuring accountability and excellence.
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusiveness:Promoting fairness, valuing differences, considering all perspectives.
• Achievement:Achieving our mission, realizing the vision.

Whether you're early in your career or bringing years of expertise, you'll have the opportunity to contribute and make a difference.

The Managing Editor and Team Lead is responsible for the AORN Journal publication. They manage and oversee the work of the Journal editorial team and work closely with the Journal Editor-in-Chief and the Journal’s publisher. The Managing Editor and Team Lead also contributes to the overall Publications Team, taking on assignments identified by the Sr Director of Publications.

• Supervises the content of the Journal and the work of the Journal team, from planning through distribution; responsible for the quality of all Journal content and for ensuring the publication of accurate, relevant, timely and valuable content that meets the needs of authors, members, and other readers/subscribers.
• Reviews and edits Journal content, including feature articles, columns, special reports, etc. Serves as the handling editor for the President’s Message column.
• Selects and assigns the content for each monthly issue; creates and manages the workflow schedules for the Journal team members. Considers and tracks the annual page budget as part of content planning.
• Creates an annual Journal editorial calendar with the Editor-in-Chief and Sr Director of Publications and updates and distributes it for internal and external stakeholders on a monthly basis.
• Works closely with the Publications Editor to plan and support the development of Periop Briefing content; conceptualizes, reviews, edits, and proofs Periop Briefing articles.
• Provides monthly issue lineups, along with cover information, and selects and coordinates approval of the cover image.
• Builds and coordinates web assets for the Journal homepage on aornjournal.org and Journal pages on aorn.org; this includes managing the podcast selection, distribution, and invoice process.
• Ensures team efficiency and productivity. Identifies and helps implement process improvement initiatives related to author communications and relations, Author Guidelines, author outreach/solicitation efforts, peer review, etc.
• Tracks and manages manuscripts in the manuscript & peer reviewing platform. Manages the export and transfer of all articles to the publisher.
• Establishes positive and effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including the AORN Membership, Creative Services, Digital Marketing, and Nursing Departments, as well as the Journal publisher and ad sales team.
• Co-manages the…