Editorial Assistant Talent Pool

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge, and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers worldwide. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.  

Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s largest publishers of high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarly journals, books, e-books, and reference works. We empower learners, thinkers and doers with trusted knowledge that advances research and enriches lives. We bring together diverse people, ideas, and opinions to validate and publish the experts, theories and truths that matter. And we’ve been doing this in an unbroken arc since 1798.  

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge.  We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that’s the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we’d love to hear from you.

Are you looking to combine your love of organisation with a love of books? Are you someone with meticulous attention to detail and communication skills to match?

We are pleased to launch the first talent pool for our 2025 intake of Editorial Assistants.

Based within our Advanced Learning department, the Editorial Assistant position is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Administrator looking for a great place to work, or for someone with strong administration skills looking for their first role in Publishing.

If you are successfully shortlisted, your application will be considered for all Editorial Assistant roles that become available through 2025, across a range of different subject areas. This includes permanent opportunities, maternity cover roles and fixed-term contracts. 

Closing date for applications: Friday 3rd January 2025.

What you’ll be doing as an Editorial Assistant:

• Managing schedules for manuscripts under contract and negotiating delivery deadlines 
• Monitoring schedules and delivery dates
• Acting as the main point of contact with Authors, responding to their queries and ensuring timely submission and publication of manuscripts
• Maintaining timely and accurate records by updating internal databases, spreadsheets and project management systems. 
• Checking and preparing book manuscripts for Production and meeting handover goals 
• Arranging peer reviews of book proposals under consideration
• Sending author contracts and responding to any queries raised
• Various ad-hoc administrative tasks such as processing payments, maintaining project records, requesting copies of books, setting up vendors etc
• Liaising with internal departments to address queries related to royalties, marketing materials, and production schedules
• Supporting the Editor/Publisher achieve the agreed revenue and profitability targets for their list

Please note that this role is largely administrative in nature and will not involve copy editing or proof reading. Depending on the role you are offered, you may be involved in creating copy for book covers and promotional materials.

And these are the skills and attributes we’re looking for:

• Strong administrative skills
• Highly organised, with strong prioritisation and time management skills
• Ability to work efficiently, calmly, and to a high standard whilst maintaining a fast pace and meeting deadlines
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to communicate sensitively and professionally with both internal and external stakeholders/customers
• Team player with a flexible, positive approach to helping others and an enthusiasm for learning, but also able to work independently
• Confident use of MS Office applications and the willingness to learn other systems where needed
• A demonstrable interest in working in academic publishing. No experience is necessary, but please tell us in your covering letter why you are interested in working in publishing.

What we offer in return: 

• A salary of £29,775
• A performance related bonus of up to 5%
• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture
• 25 days annual leave per year plus a day off for your birthday 
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season at the end of the year 
• 4 paid volunteering days each year 
• Company funded single cover private medical insurance  
• Employee assistance programme – offering 24/7 well-being support 
• Share Match – Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares. 
• Pension scheme 
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care

Additional Information

This role is based in the UK and you must have the right to live and work in the UK to be considered.

The successful candidate will be able to utilise our balanced working model. We ask that candidates live within a commutable distance of our office in Milton Park, Oxfordshire, or Blackfriars, London, to ensure that as a balanced worker they can make it to our office locations to collaborate as required. Time spent in the office is likely to range from 10%-80% of working hours with an expectation for a minimum of 2 days per week spent working from an office.

Your Application

Please include a personal statement within your CV explaining why you are interested in this role and in working for Taylor & Francis. The maximum word count is 300 words. We will not be able to progress applications submitted without a personal statement.

Our Talent Pool Process: 
 

Shortlisting
We will review your application and let you know the outcome within 1 month of your application.

Video Interview
If your application is progressed, we will ask you to complete a short pre-screening video exercise which gives you the opportunity to bring your experience to life. The video can be completed on your mobile phone, tablet or laptop at a time that suits you and should only take 10-15 minutes. We will notify you of the outcome following the submission of your video.

Next Steps

If your video interview is successful, your application will be progressed to our Talent Pool whilst we wait for an Editorial Assistant vacancy to become available. When a role does become available, you will be notified if you have been selected for interview.  

It may be several months before a vacancy becomes available and the Talent Acquisition team will regularly contact you to check your continued availability and interest in remaining in the talent pool. Please note, we cannot guarantee that all candidates within the talent pool will be progressed to interview stage.

Interview
You will be invited to join an interview with one of our hiring managers. Interviews are held via Microsoft Teams and usually last for 1 hour. You will be asked to complete several short tasks ahead of the interview, full details of which will be sent to you via email in plenty of time to prepare for your interview. The interview will also include some competency-based questions designed to bring your relevant experience to life.

Offer
If successful at the interview stage you will be offered the role. Our Talent Acquisition team will work with you to arrange a suitable start date.

Talent Pool
If you interview but miss out on an offer your application will remain within the talent pool. This will fast-track you through the recruitment process for any future Editorial Assistant roles, meaning that you do not have to complete the full interview process again. Full details will be provided at this stage by our Talent Acquisition team.

Being Yourself at Taylor & Francis

If you’re excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, we invite you to apply even if your existing skills and experience don’t fit every item listed above. At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and contribute regardless of their identity or background. As a colleague, you will have the opportunity to further innovate and develop in areas that you are passionate about. Our goal is to empower you with the resources, incentives, and flexibility you need to enjoy success at work and live a healthy, balanced life.

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits develop and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non-merit-based factor.

We genuinely care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, well-being, and flexible working. We believe the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas in which you are passionate. To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: http://www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/careers

Or better yet check out our LinkedIn Life Page, highlighting our accomplishments, employees, and company culture. It’s also a good way to meet our Talent Acquisition team, who will be happy to advise you on your journey here at T&F.

Should you have any queries please contact the recruitment team on [email protected]

To find out more and to apply please visit our careers site: https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/InformaGroupPlc/taylor-and-francis