Managing Editor

The Center for Open Science (COS) is seeking a founding Managing Editor for a new model of scholarly communication called Lifecycle Journals. COS has received funds to conduct a 3-year research and development project on this new model to evaluate its suitability for transition into a scalable and sustainable solution.

With the Open Science Framework (OSF), COS provides a solution for research producers to open up their research from conception through completion to promote transparency, sharing, and rigor. Lifecycle Journals will complement OSF to facilitate the interaction between researchers as producers and consumers to promote credibility assessment, reproducibility, reuse, and self-correction. The combination of OSF and Lifecycle journals will align scholarly communication with scholarly values and accelerate knowledge production.

Lifecycle Journals will meet authors’ existing needs of the current reward system for publication, and will create pathways to realign that reward system with values of rigor, transparency, and integrity. Lifecycle Journals will include rigorous peer review with highly credible editorial leadership. It will also incorporate innovations that are improving scholarly publishing including Diamond Open Access; Publish-then-Review; Transparent and Open Peer Review; Open and FAIR data, materials, and code; CRediT taxonomy; and, Registered Reports. Lifecycle Journals will introduce innovations that will transform the vision and value of journals into true facilitators of knowledge production. These innovations will include incorporating novel human, machine, and empirical evaluations into a dynamic marketplace of credibility assessments; versioning and updated review of published papers; treating data, materials, and code as first-class scholarly outputs; and, publication beginning at any stage of the research lifecycle. Finally, Lifecycle Journals will put the operation and innovation in publishing and the reward system in the control of the scholarly community itself with community-based governance, scholar-led editorial teams, public goods infrastructure, and integrated metascience for continuous experimentation, evaluation, and improvement. 

The Managing Editor will play a central role in coordinating the implementation and operation of Lifecycle Journals as a collaborative project among a community of scholars and service providers. The Managing Editor will also have key responsibility for positioning the service for scalable implementation across scholarly domains following the R&D project period. If you have always wanted an opportunity to push the innovation envelope to develop and test a scalable, transformational model for scholarly publishing, then this is the opportunity you have been waiting for.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Coordinate collaboration of internal staff and external partners for operational excellence and inclusive co-development with the scholarly community.
• Work closely with the Senior Director of Research and Executive Director in setting and driving vision, operations strategy, and resourcing levels.
• Work closely with the Chief Product Officer and Chief Operating Officer & Managing Director for assessment of the project’s potential for becoming a scalable, sustainable solution for improving scholarly communication.
• Work closely with participating partners to ensure alignment on vision and strategy, and clarity on roles and responsibilities.
• Translate strategy into actionable steps for implementation.
• Establish and track progress towards project goalsImplement strong documentation practices for all project activities to ensure transparency and reproducibility.
• Assess and improve processes, with the aim of facilitating community contribution and automation where possible.
• Manage the publication and evaluation workflows, including peer review and a marketplace of human, machine, and empirical assessment.

Required Skills

• Deep experience with journal operations and workflows, and enthusiastic approach orientation to reinventing the conception and operation of scholarly communication.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills for personnel management and external engagement.
• Attention to detail and very strong documentation and workflow management skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and ability to work independently and in coordination with a team for advancing shared objectives on an assertive timeline.
• Strong practical experience in project management.
• Experience with highly collaborative projects.
• Demonstrated commitment to transparency, rigor, and reproducibility in research.
• Willingness to experiment and take risks.
• Pragmatic idealism: Dealing effectively with the here-and-now without losing alignment with the project’s aspirations

Required Experience and/or Education

• Bachelor’s or equivalent experience (substantive experience or academic training as a researcher a plus).
• 10 years of experience in journal leadership, management, or operations.
• Experience with personnel and stakeholder management

This is a fully remote position with a requirement to attend up to 4 in person meetings per year. 

COS supports flexibility in work scheduling. Individuals who would like to work outside a 9am - 5pm Eastern Time (ET) schedule must work with their managers to establish core hours of availability. Position requires some flexibility to work across time zones.

Applicants should note that this position is associated with an exploratory project and will be grant-funded for a period of through and including December 31, 2026. Extensions of this period may be possible depending upon project evolution and business needs, as determined in COS’s sole discretion. Applicants are advised that the position may be eliminated at the conclusion of the initial grant period. Applicants are further advised that all employment with COS, including this position, is at-will, meaning that it may be ended at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice by either COS or the employee. Due to the temporary nature of this position, elimination of this position is not subject to COS’ Reduction in Force policy and associated severance.

For information on COS, including more information on employee benefits and our company culture, visit our website at https://www.cos.io/careers.

Please note, in order to be considered for this position you must be authorized to work in the United States and have a U.S. address and bank account. Remote workers must be located within the U.S.

This position will remain open for applications until April 8, 2024.

COS is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also strongly encourage applications from members of groups underrepresented in science and technology industries.