Founded in 1922, the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is the UK based and internationally recognised qualifying body and learned society for chemical, biochemical and process engineers. We exist to advance chemical engineering’s contribution for the benefit of society.
Chemical and process engineers are uniquely placed to contribute to the delivery of a sustainable future for us all. The world's ambition to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) needs chemical engineers. Leading the practical application of new and emerging technologies, chemical engineers play a vital role in addressing the energy transition towards a net zero future, the need for sustainable food and water supplies, and the provision of global healthcare solutions.
Position:
The Managing Editor (Journals) leads the development of IChemE’s portfolio of journals, which includes ambitious plans to identify new opportunities to expand the portfolio with new launches. They will drive forward the reach, impact, visibility and effectiveness of IChemE’s wholly-owned academic peer-reviewed journals, ensuring they remain at the cutting edge of chemical engineering research and have global impact in the chemical engineering community. The role holder also liaises with staff at the Royal Society of Chemistry to achieve the same with our jointly published journal.
A key responsibility of this role is spearheading innovative product development to expand IChemE's profitable portfolio of journals. The post holder will conduct market research and horizon scanning to identify emerging niches and opportunities, developing proposals for new journals to be considered by IChemE and its publishing partner, Elsevier.
Collaborating with the publishing partner, the Managing Editor (Journals) will drive the success of recently-launched journals by ensuring they have a technically leading editorial board that attracts strong submissions, in order to ensure the journals are recognised as world-leading in their respective fields. They will engage in appropriate activities to ensure these new journals thrive, aligning with key performance indicators (KPIs).
The Managing Editor will also ensure the existing portfolio of journals remains impactful, relevant, and appealing. This involves driving forward the journals’ quality, relevance, reputation, and influence. The role requires a forward-thinking individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment. They need to stay abreast of trends and developments in publishing, chemical engineering research, volunteer management, and other relevant areas to enable them to sharpen and dynamically adjust the aims and scope of the journals to ensure that they at all times cover the breadth of relevant topics for chemical engineers.
Working with our publishing partners and the Director, Learned Society, the Managing Editor (Journals) will assess and mitigate the risks the ongoing shift towards open access publishing entails. They will ensure that IChemE’s journals portfolio offers publishing opportunities for those wishing to publish in traditional subscription-based journals as well as open access, while safeguarding the income derived by the Institution.
The success of IChemE’s journals hinges on the dedication and professionalism of the editor-in-chief and editorial board members, who work on a voluntary basis. The Managing Editor will be the primary contact and support for these volunteers, ensuring an excellent volunteer experience while maintaining the quality and impact of the journals.
The Managing Editor will develop two Editorial Assistants who support the day-to-day running of the journals and deputize for the Managing Editor as needed. They also need to maintain close working engagement with production, editorial, and marketing staff at Elsevier, IChemE’s main publishing partner, which is crucial for the smooth running of the journals.
Additionally, the Managing Editor will take charge of IChemE publication medals. They will be invited to review the current medals and recommend changes to the process to ensure efficiency and impact.
The role involves working as part of a small internal team and a large extended external team. Daily communication with key stakeholders, including external publishing staff, journal editors, authors, and reviewers, is essential for the success of the journals.
Beyond the listed duties and responsibilities, the employee may be required to perform other tasks assigned by their line manager from time to time.
As IChemE is an international membership organisation, activities often take place outside of normal working hours. The job holder must be willing to attend and participate in such activities and associated travel. Additionally, the job holder will need to liaise with colleagues in different time zones on an ad hoc basis to meet business needs.
Requirements:
Peer-reviewed journals development
- Monitoring publishing trends to identify opportunities for new journals
- Developing detailed proposals for potential new journals
- Supporting recently-launched journals by forming a strong editorial board, proposing and managing special issues, and helping with promotional activities
- Ongoing development of editorial boards – recruiting and retiring editors in consultation with the journals’ Editors-in-Chief
- Development of topics covered by the journals
- Monitoring of relevant conferences taking place to identify possible partnership opportunities for publication of special issues and raising awareness of journal
- Development of journal procedures and targets designed to realise strategic direction
- Organisation and running of editorial board meetings
- Liaise with Elsevier on journals development matters
- Liaise with Elsevier on implementation of new systems and procedures
- Identify promotional opportunities
- Establish journal presence on social media through creation and supply of news for various platforms as appropriate
- Monitoring competition
- Attend relevant international conferences and meetings to keep abreast of developments in academic publishing, chemical engineering, and network with members of the editorial boards & wider academic community
Peer-reviewed journals day-to-day running
- Development of editorial boards – recruiting and retiring editors in consultation with the jour