Head of Open Research, EMENA

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.

At Taylor & Francis we care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. You will be joining a thriving business, working alongside an exceptional group of people. We believe that 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 which you are passionate about.

What we offer in return

• 25 days annual leave (3 additional discretionary days at Christmas)
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Employee assistance programme – offering 24/7 well-being support
• compeitive annual sales bonus
• Share Match – Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares.
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care.

We have an exciting new opportunity for a Director of Open Research, EMENA to lead on business development in open research across the UK, Europe and Middle East region. The role will work across our rapidly growing open research programme to help drive new propositions for a wide range of customers and deliver sustainable revenue growth. It covers Taylor & Francis’ full range of offerings in this area, including open access journals, books, and F1000.

The role is part of the EMENA Senior Management Team and works in close collaboration with our global Open Research Channel team, as well as key stakeholders across other departments. With responsibility to ensure the business’ commercial goals for open research are delivered in the region, and to ensure our global open research strategy is executed with regional expertise.

This role is open to candidates based in the UK, and will be recruited on a hybrid basis with the opportunity to work remotely from home as well as travelling to our office in Milton Park, Oxfordshire, as required. International travel throughout the region will also be involved, up to a maximum of 1-2 trips per month depending on the season.

Closing date for applications: 4 April 2023.

The role involves:

• Leading on business development in the research performing organisation sector for Taylor & Francis’ Open Research programme, including F1000, open access journals and open books; driving revenue growth through developing centralised agreements with HE institutions, funders and other research organisations.
• Tracking the progress and impact of our commercial activity in open research across EMENA.
• Driving value for open research customers, and providing support, best practice, and actionable data for open research business development activities the region.
• Achieving and exceeding annual targets, delivering revenue objectives for the open research programme, including the F1000 Research business unit.
• Designing a 3-year business plan for the EMENA region, ensuring that activity is both relevant and flexible to the evolving sector landscape over time, as well as in line with our global approach.
• Reporting monthly to key stakeholders on sales progress and the business environment, enabling responsiveness to both the micro and macro trading conditions.
• Actively liaising with other stakeholder departments or groups within the business to enhance T&F’s footprint in open research partnerships.
• Representing the business externally e.g. on working party groups or through networks, maintaining a presence and information gathering role on the scholarly environment.
• Working closely with the VP EMENA on budgeting, planning, forecasting and reporting on open research revenue, including regular update meetings to Senior Leadership Team.

What we’re looking for:

• Significant experience working in a business development environment, with an understanding of the role of business development and customer relationship building for long-term success.
• Significant knowledge of the Open Research space; funding organisations, the academic publishing industry and the wider scholarly eco-system.
• An existing network of senior contacts and established relationships with scholarly institutions and funders.
• Experience of taking a lead on commercial projects to deliver against objectives, including a focus on driving new business.
• Familiarity with key business models and customer needs in open research.
• Excellent networking skills to keep internal stakeholders involved in all areas of planning, as well as building external relationships for a strong commercial pipeline.
• The ability to influence, drive for results and establish a clear agenda for their function.
• Resilience to pursue negotiations over an extended period with applicable committees and negotiating bodies.
• Strong ability to communicate appropriately and with enthusiasm, both upstream and downstream within the organisation, and externally with key customers.
• The ability to work independently and pro-actively, with awareness of when to make use of the wider infrastructure around them.
• Target driven approach and the skills to manage and deliver on sales plans.
• A knowledge/understanding of the research funding landscape would also be advantageous.

This role is open to candidates based in the UK, and will be recruited on a hybrid basis with the opportunity to work remotely from home as well as travelling to our office in Milton Park, Oxfordshire, as required. International travel throughout the region will also be involved, up to a maximum of 1-2 trips per month depending on the season. You must have the right to live and work in the UK.

Training And Professional Development:

We’re passionate about ensuring you have all the tools and resources at your fingertips to reach your short and long-term career goals. We’ll support you in your journey by working together on your own bespoke Taylor & Francis Development Plan, ensuring you have the resources, tools, support and coaching that will get you where you want to be.

Interview process:

Once you have submitted your application, we may get in touch with you for an initial screening conversation or ask you to complete a short video interview to enable us to better understand your skills, experience, and motivation. Following this, you will be invited to attend a competency-based interview, either virtually or in person. Typically, we’d then finish the interview process with a final, 2nd stage interview before extending an offer to the successful applicant.

Taylor & Francis Group an Informa Business

We want all our candidates to shine in our recruitment process. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to ensure you are able to show us your best self. This could include having the application form in a different format, more time for questions, or anything else – please ask us, we are happy to be flexible! Please contact recruitment@tandf.co.uk

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 make a contribution 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 to 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, develops, 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, wellbeing, and flexible working. We believe that 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 which you are passionate about. 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 of meeting our recruitment team, who will be happy to advise you on your journey here at T&F.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/taylor-&-francis-group/life/79e0c27c-afdf-4bbb-84e6-5f8ed5e10bb8/