Job Description
PRODUCTION MANAGER – University of London Press
The School of Advanced Study, University of London
The School of Advanced Study (SAS) within the University of London is a unique institution in UK higher education. It is the UK’s national and international centre for the support, promotion and facilitation of research in the humanities, comprising a set of renowned institutes and central academic initiatives. The University of London Press is an integral part of the School of Advanced Study, and is a predominantly open access publisher of high-quality humanities research which support the School’s strategy.
The University of London is a leading UK provider of distance and digital education internationally, offering programmes to 45,000 students in 190 countries around the world. Although proudly rooted in London, our community and impact are global. We are also a federation of 17 world class higher education institutions, with collaboration at the heart of our ethos.
The Role
The University of London Press team has a fantastic opportunity for a new Production Manager to join it at an exciting moment in its history.
We are a small, friendly team affiliated with the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, based in Senate House in Bloomsbury. We launched a new strategy in 2022 focused on ‘opening up humanities research’ and now publish c.25 new books each year, with an extensive backlist of titles across humanities disciplines which includes authors such as David Crystal and Baroness Brenda Hale. Open access publishing is core to our mission, with our titles being downloaded in over 200 countries and winning prestigious prizes including the inaugural American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) and Arcadia-sponsored Open Access Book Prize for History in 2024. We are currently expanding our publishing programme into new areas and formats, with a particular focus on digital publishing including experimental and multi-modal open access books.
The Production Manager role has a broad remit across traditional production workflows and evolving processes for publishing iterative, multi-modal open access books. Key responsibilities of the role include:
- Overseeing the production of the University of London Press’s growing academic books programme, from receipt of final manuscripts through to publication of final files;
- Working closely with external production suppliers and printers to ensure high-quality outputs;
- Working closely with editorial colleagues and authors on digital production processes for open access books published on our Manifold platform, including experimental and multi-modal books
- Managing the production budget for the Press, managing suppliers to ensure cost-effective and efficient workflows;
- Ensuring UoL Press books meet accessibility requirements for eBooks and open access editions;
- A range of other activities, including effective metadata and title management.
We are looking for someone with proven experience in academic book production or related roles and an eye for detail, ideally with demonstrable interest in the opportunities for experimentation which open access publishing offers. We are also looking for candidates who have exceptional organisational and communication skills, and experience in dealing with authors directly ideally, with a creative approach to problem-solving.
We offer staff hybrid working (with an expectation of 2 days per week in our London office), an occupational pension scheme, generous annual leave and training and development opportunities. This is being advertised as a full-time role, but we are open to discussions around flexible working patterns, where feasible.
If you would like to make your mark in our dynamic and evolving Press publishing work which advances the humanities, please get in touch!
Further Information
To be considered for this opportunity, please submit your Application and CV (by clicking ‘apply for job’ at the bottom of this page) before the closing date at midnight on 9th of June 2025.
The University will be unable to sponsor candidates for a visa for this role. Successful applicants must be able to prove their right to work in the UK for the duration of their employment.
The University reserves the right to close the vacancy earlier than the published end date should it receive sufficient applications to warrant earlier shortlisting.
The University currently operates a Hybrid Working framework involving a mix of working remotely and in the office. Typically, most employees will be able to agree to work remotely for up to 60% of their working week, role dependent, however will need to attend the office on specific days for training or team meetings etc.
The University of London is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive working environment where we can all be ourselves and succeed. We particularly encourage applications from members of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities as this group is currently under-represented at all levels within the University. All appointments will be made on merit, based on the criteria named in the job description.
Pursuing excellence in education and equal opportunities.