Project Controller

The Project Controller will provide project management, asset procurement, and administrative support to Editorial, Design, and Media teams across Schools, Children's, and International publishing. Working closely with colleagues and suppliers, you will help ensure that media assets are sourced, licensed, tracked, and archived effectively, enabling publishing projects to be delivered on time, within budget, and in compliance with company policies and legal requirements.

Key responsibilities include:

• Manage the procurement and licensing of media assets, ensuring the correct rights are acquired in line with project requirements, budgets, and company policies.
• Coordinate supplier onboarding, contracts, statements of work, and compliance processes, maintaining accurate records and documentation.
• Monitor project schedules, costs, and asset workflows, helping teams deliver publishing programmes to agreed deadlines and budgets.
• Raise and manage purchase orders, track expenditure, and maintain accurate financial and project records across multiple projects.
• Provide support and guidance to Editorial, Design, and Rights colleagues on asset acquisition processes, media sourcing, copyright considerations, and best practice.
• Ensure all assets, metadata, rights information, contracts, and project records are accurately archived and maintained for future access and reuse.
• Assist with picture research, cover image sourcing, and other media-related activities to support the wider publishing programme.
• Contribute to project status reporting, planning meetings, and continuous improvement activities that support efficient delivery across the department.

We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.

You will be highly organised, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. You will enjoy working collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders and be confident handling both administrative and project-based responsibilities.

You will have:

• Excellent organisational skills and a strong attention to detail, with experience of coordinating tasks, projects, budgets, or schedules.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships with colleagues, suppliers, and external partners.
• The ability to prioritise workload effectively and adapt quickly to changing business requirements and competing deadlines.
• Good administrative and IT skills, including confidence working with spreadsheets, databases, project trackers, and business systems.
• A proactive and solution-focused approach, with the ability to manage issues through to resolution and maintain high standards of accuracy.
• Strong numerical and analytical skills, enabling you to monitor costs, budgets, and project data effectively.
• The ability to work independently while also contributing positively as part of a collaborative team.

It would be advantageous if you also have:

• Experience working within publishing, media, content management, project coordination, or rights-related environments.
• Knowledge of copyright, permissions, intellectual property, or supplier contract management processes.
• Experience supporting or improving operational processes, data quality, or workflow management activities.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys combining project coordination, stakeholder management, data administration, and problem-solving to support the successful delivery of a large and varied publishing programme.

• We care about work/life balance here at OUP.
• With this in mind we offer 25 days’ holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3-days) and a 35-hour working week.
• We are open to…