Director, Electronic Publishing

Job Category:  Management/Exempt

Department:  Publishing and Product Development

Reports To:  Publisher

Organization:

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes nearly 34,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and in more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs.

The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Conferences and workshops throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care.

Publishing Program:
 
The Publishing and Product Development Division is AACR’s internal publisher of scholarly content. The division includes the editorial, production, electronic publishing and sales and marketing departments. It is responsible for all aspects of the business of scientific publications, including developing, producing and marketing/selling publications and additional information products to scientists, physicians and others interested in AACR’s content.

The mission of the publications program is to be the preferred information source for scientists and health care professionals working in cancer research and related areas. The division’s products include the journals Cancer Discovery, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Molecular Cancer Research, and Cancer Prevention Research; three meeting-related books and the co-marketed book Cancer Medicine, 8th edition; and two online portals, Cancer Reviews Online and Cancer Prevention Journals Portal. Annually, the journals receive more than 11,500 submissions, publish more than 2,600 articles in 26,000 pages, have Impact Factors ranging from 4 to 8, and receive more than 42 million online accesses.

Position Summary:

The director of electronic publishing is a key member of the senior leadership team of the AACR Publishing and Product Development Division. The director reports to the publisher and supervises three staff members. S/he has responsibility for heading the development and implementation of electronic publishing strategy and online implementation of its information products for AACR’s scholarly community. S/he is responsible for creating electronic products and overseeing them through their life cycle; negotiating contracts and managing expense budgets; producing electronic products consistent with industry standards that address user, content and business needs; collaborating with the production, sales and marketing, and editorial departments for all processes and/or systems that support their work, as well as AACR’s IT and communications departments; serving as the relationship manager with the online hosting vendor and other organizations engaged in electronic publishing; monitoring trends and changes in the electronic publishing marketplace, including advances in technology, dissemination, usability and archiving; benchmarking electronic products against others; and driving delivery of publishing products with features and functionality to maintain a competitive advantage.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develops and maintains the electronic publishing products, working with all internal stakeholders (e.g., editorial department, production department, sales and marketing, AACR IT and communications departments) and external vendors to ensure that data and workflows support quality and effective scholarly electronic publications;
• Works with publishing program colleagues to develop new electronic products and services. Develops and monitors business plans, schedules and product production mechanisms;
• Oversees and updates journal sites, collections and Web pages;
• Creates RFPs and negotiates contracts for outside electronic product support services;
• Establishes functional specifications and oversight for in-house systems;
• Manages and stays within approved expense budgets;
• Hires, trains and manages three electronic publishing staff members who perform a variety of functions, such as maintaining site pages, posting articles/issues, performing quality control checks, monitoring use, setting up accounts and responding to user queries;
• Proactively monitors and reports on electronic publishing product performance such as usage data and alert activity;
• Collaborates and manages the relationships noted below:
   o Serving as principal relationship manager to online hosting vendors and other electronic publishing service providers;
   o Working with the sales and marketing and editorial departments to expand audiences and drive usage;
   o Serving as a liaison with the AACR IT department for interactions and system handshakes and participating in cross-departmental meetings related to AACR online initiatives;
   o Representing AACR publications at AACR meetings and publishing industry events.
• Demonstrates and provides detailed product information on specific features and functionality for both internal and external users and creation of marketing collateral;
• Works closely with editors and/or editorial staff to develop and maintain new scholarly content in electronic form;
• Develops and oversees continuous quality improvement, as well as efficiencies in format and deliverability.

Essential Skills and Knowledge:

• Knowledge of electronic publishing technologies and online systems, including XML, content management systems and database management;
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office;
• Demonstrated success delivering high-quality services in a timely manner and within budget;
• Strong management skills with the ability to maneuver and adapt practices in response to an ever-changing environment;
• Outstanding interpersonal and communications skills, both verbal and written;
• Excellent analytical skills with ability to assess complex situations and communicate them effectively;
• Strong project management skills and ability to manage, set and oversee multiple priorities;
• Ability to work within a team environment and collaborate within the organization and externally.

Education and Training:

• Bachelor’s degree required; graduate degree preferred.

Work Experience:

• Minimum of seven years of electronic journal publishing experience, with STM or other scholarly publications preferred.

How to Apply

Please submit your cover letter and resume (including salary history) to:
Human Resources, P.O. Box 40138, Philadelphia, PA 19106,
Email: humanresources@aacr.org
Fax: (215) 440-1045
Equal Opportunity Employer