Managing Editor

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JMIR Publications is a rapidly growing open access publisher of peer-reviewed STEM journals, with an emphasis on medicine, health, and technology titles. The ambitious vision of JMIR Publications is to lead the transformation to open science and to contribute to a world where people are empowered by health research and technology to make effective and informed decisions.

Job Summary

JMIR Publications is seeking a full-time Managing Editor to join our editorial team. We are interested in applicants who are enthusiastic, outgoing, and service-focused Master’s level graduates (preferably from a health-related, library science, or publishing program). Previous experience working for a peer-reviewed journal is strongly preferred.

Your Impact

Reporting to the Editorial Operations Manager and working in close collaboration with the editorial team, the Managing Editor oversees the day-to-day operations of a selection of journals within JMIR’s portfolio of 30+ titles. This role works cross-functionally with internal teams, including Editorial, Copyediting, Production, Marketing, and Product & Technology, as well as externally with Editors-in-Chief and Editorial Board members to support the strategic growth and success of each journal.

Primary Duties And Responsibilities

• Oversees the peer-review process
• Manages email communications with authors and peer-reviewers.
• Ensures the peer-reviews adhere to JMIR policy and guidelines.
• Monitors manuscripts to ensure a timely peer-review process.
• Monitors manuscript progress and ensures that authors adhere to JMIR guidelines and acceptance criteria.
• Manages author initiated withdrawals and other author concerns during the peer-review process.

Editor support Editorial Board management

• Monitors articles in their JMIR portfolio and works with editor to ensure timely decisions.
• Managing Editors facilitate author and Editor communication.
• Provide resources and support to Editors so they adhere to JMIR policies and guidelines.
• Manage the Editorial Board (Associate Editors, Advisors) and plan annual board meetings.

Editor onboarding and training

• Conduct virtual onboarding sessions with new Editors.
• Train Editors on JMIR policies and how to use the manuscript management system.

Journal strategy and key performance indicators

• Collaborate with the marketing department for promotional activities (i.e. call for papers and webinars).
• Work with the Editors and the marketing team to identify conferences for journal promotion.
• Monitor journal statistics, trends and key performance indicators (i.e. turnaround times).

Qualifications

Education:

• Preferably a health, medicine, science, information technology, library/information science degree with demonstrated scientific experience (not journalism, media, or arts degrees); MSc or Masters in these fields are typical, although applications may also be considered when there is applicable experience below.

Experience

• Excellent communication skills in (American) English, especially written communication.
• Experience in peer-reviewed scholarly (STM) publishing is a plus.
• Work for a peer-reviewed journal is strongly preferred.
• Work for higher-volume journal publications is preferred.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in using Microsoft Office (including MS Word and Excel), Google Suite, and Project Management tools (i.e. Asana).
• Familiarity with data collection software, academic databases and indexing databases.

Additional Desirable Skills

• Familiarity with open access publishing, and open source platforms for scholarly publishing.

Competencies

• Customer Focused:
  Is dedicated to meeting the needs and expectations of key relationships with editors, authors, and peer reviewers.
• Communication Skills:
  Communicates effectively and in a timely manner with all stakeholders, such as authors, peer reviewers, editors, scholarly industry, and internal staff.
• Teamwork:
  Interpersonal savvy, collaborative and supportive team player. Builds constructive effective relationships, particularly with current and prospective Editors-in-Chief and Editorial Board members.
• Process-Oriented:
  Skilled at identifying, understanding, and streamlining workflows to improve efficiency. Understands how to organize people and tasks to create effective processes, and actively contributes to ongoing departmental improvements.
• Organized:
  Coordinates with Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Director on setting and monitoring targets for their journals. Able to effectively manage and develop Editorial Boards. Can marshal resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done.
• Problem-Solver:
  Independent problem solving (within procedure and guidelines). Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions.
• Quality of Work:
  Highly detail-oriented with strong organizational and prioritization skills. Delivers consistently high-quality work on time, ensuring accuracy and excellence across all tasks.
• Time Management:
  Able to manage journals…