Job Description

This position will either be filled as Journals Managing Editor I or Journals Managing Editor II depending on the candidate's skills and experience. The corresponding salary ranges are as follows:
Journals Managing Editor I:
$43,000-$59,000
Journals Managing Editor II:
$51,000-$68,000

Human Kinetics is headquartered in Champaign, IL. This position is eligible for on-site, hybrid, or remote work, depending on the applicant's location.

Remote workers may not reside in the following locations: CA, CO, Washington, D.C., HI, MA, Montgomery County, MD, MN, NM, NY, RI, & WA.

A pplicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Applicants are not obligated to disclose expunged juvenile records of adjudication, arrest, or conviction as part of the application process.

*Learn more about our perks and benefits here:  ( Kinetics is committed to building a more diverse workforce. We welcome BIPOC candidates and others who identify with underrepresented groups to apply.

Human Kinetics is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Human Kinetics will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact HR at 217-403-7540.

Human Kinetics Compensation & Benefits Information

Our compensation philosophy is to value the contributions of all HK employees and to reward exceptional performance exceptionally. To do that, we provide a standard increase to all HK staff, and we award merit increases and bonuses to people who make extraordinary contributions to the work we do.

Job Summary

The Journal Managing Editor I (JME I) plays a critical role in overseeing the editorial, operational, and strategic aspects of an assigned portfolio of scholarly journals. This position involves a mix of project management, editorial oversight, and coordination with various stakeholders to ensure the smooth and timely production of journal content. This position also collaborates with the Editors/Editorial Boards to recommend and support strategic development of the titles. Strategic development includes, but is not limited to, increasing journal visibility and expanding geographical reach; improving journal citation metrics; exploring strategic partnerships; and aligning editorial operations with strategic vision. This position requires strong organizational, communication, and leadership skills.

The JME I acts as a front-facing representative of the division by engaging directly with customers, Board Members, vendors, and production partners and ensuring professional customer service and collaboration to all these parties.

The JME I functions at the Proficient level in all aspects of the position. See the JME job leveling document for more details.

Essential Functions

1. Establish and maintain professional and responsive relationships with all parties; this includes authors, editors, reviewers, editorial boards, associated organizations, production partners, subscribers, in-house HK staff, and others.
2. Support the Editor of each assigned journal, as the primary contact, by being the key operational and administrative partner in overseeing the journal's daily operations. This includes managing the logistics and coordination of the production workflow, as well as supporting and guiding the Editor's strategic goals of growing the journal and improving its metrics.
3. Support the Editor's strategic goals which include but are not limited to the following:
   a. Ensure the editorial policies and content align with strategic goals.
   b. Increase submissions and diversity of content.
   c. Monitor key performance metrics, such as submission numbers, acceptance rates, time to publication, and citation impact.
   d. Support social media managers and/or social media teams.
   e. Explore and embrace new technologies to grow journal efficiency.
   f. Increase author and reviewer engagement and retention.
   g. Support logistics needed when special issues or sections are identified by the Editor.
4. Support the Editorial Boards and their initiatives. Support includes but is not limited to preparing key performance information and annual reports for board meetings; coordinating promotion of selected content; coordinating publication of supplements or special issues; and maintaining regular communication with Editors and board members to ensure needs are met.
5. Liaise with journals' partnering societies and organizations to grow and expand these professional relationships and raise the visibility of the journal to these groups.
6. Work closely with the production team to efficiently manage the workflow of ahead-of-print articles and regularly scheduled journal issues to ensure their timely and accurate publication, following established timelines and standards.
7. Ensure journal content meets editorial standards and expectations by monitoring the content through the production process on time. Monitoring the content through the production process includes, but is not limited, to updating tracking spreadsheets, confirming the table of contents, proofreading content, and providing accurate documentation for issue completion.
8. Work with social media managers and/or the in-house marketing team to identify and liaise with them on marketing opportunities (e.g., special issues, trending articles, well-received authors, editorial office changes, etc.).
9. Continuously review the online presentation of articles and issues of the titles within the assigned journal portfolio, identifying potential areas of improvement or new content creation and discussing them with the Journals Digital Publishing Manager.
10. Accurately perform prepress duties, including updating journal covers; compiling information about special issues; and preparing and implementing updates and changes to front and back matter, masthead pages, and ads.
11. Create and maintain Need-to-Know documentation for each assigned journal.
12. Assist colleagues with reviewing and finalizing additional article proofs.
13. Contribute to HK's profitability by working productively and ensuring project budgets and schedules are met. Suggest improvements to editorial processes or systems to increase efficiency and promote innovation.

Secondary Functions

1. Assist with new business development, when appropriate.
   

Job Qualifications

Minimally Required Education: Bachelor's degree.

Required Experience: 

• 2–3 years of project management experience and/or other job-related experience that shows skilled attention to detail.
• Proficiency with publishing technology, tools, and platforms.
• Proficiency with the complete Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Outlook), including accuracy in data entry.
• Proficiency with Adobe Acrobat DC.

Preferred Experience: 

• 4 years of project management experience.
• 1-2 years of proven editorial or publishing experience, preferably in scholarly publishing.

Required Competencies

Integrity

Resourcefulness

Effort

Respect

Teamwork

Stewardship

Accountability

Attention to detail

Computer literacy

Customer focus

Interpersonal understanding

Negotiating

Oral communication

Organizational awareness

Planning and organizing

Self-confidence

Stress tolerance

Written communication

Preferred Competencies

Adaptability

Continuous learning

Decision making

Initiative

Persuasiveness

Results orientation

Strategic thinking

Job Demands

Office Equipment: Frequent Windows computer use. Occasional phone use or TEAMS calls. Rare use of a copier/scanner/printer.

Mental Demands: Frequent problem-solving, decision-making, organization, time management, and reading/writing skills. Occasional data-interpretation and supervisory skills required.

Working Conditions: Indoor, office environment.

Physical Demands: Frequent sitting, seeing, and typing are needed. Occasional standing, talking, and hearing are needed. Rarely walking, driving, lifting, carrying, or airline travel are needed.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

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