Applications are invited for the position of Project Manager. Closing date for applications is 8 December 2022.
Overview
Applications are invited for the position of Project Manager based at the Royal Irish Academy (RIA). The RIA is a predominantly publicly funded institution established for the promotion of learning in the sciences and humanities across the island of Ireland. The Academy’s latest strategic plan for 2019–23 is available here
The RIA publishes six journals, the outcome of many of its research projects, landmark series and books.
The RIA, and its executive partner Trinity College Dublin, has been granted funding to undertake a feasibility study for an editorial management system and publishing platform to support Diamond open access publishing of journals and books in Ireland in partnership with other organisations. Seventy-five percent of the funding for this role has been granted by the National Open Research Forum and further details are available below.
Twenty-five percent of the funding for this role has been provided by the Royal Irish Academy to develop a sustainable business model to transition its six journals fully to open access.
Key purpose of role
Your job will be to lead these two complementary projects with the full support of the RIA publishing team and our partners. It is an opportunity to create the case for a piece of national infrastructure that will help authors and publishers make more research freely available to all readers. First, you will organise a research exercise to map Irish academic publishing. You will co-ordinate international benchmarking and oversee the piloting of a national publishing platform. You will draft a final report. All this work will be conducted in collaboration with and led by our working groups drawn from twenty expert partners. The final report will include a summary of the research undertaken and recommendations for how to create a sustainable, fit-for-purpose, community-led editorial management system that supports a range of types of publishing.
Key accountabilities
The Project Manager responsibilities are to:
- Convene and co-ordinate project working groups
- Plan, deliver and report on the project milestones in collaboration with the working groups
- Support the working groups and contribute to the following tasks:
- Research and map the landscape of scholarly publishing across all disciplines on the island of Ireland
- Benchmark Irish scholarly publishing against international good practice in Diamond OA standards, processes and infrastructures
- Conduct a feasibility study for a publicly owned, centralised national platform for Diamond OA publication of journals and books. The feasibility study, conducted in collaboration with a platform provider, partner publishers and scholarly authors, should consider the requirements for designing, building, testing and implementing a pilot publishing platform,
- Draft the final report
- Co-ordinate and conduct research to build a technical requirements specification for a publishing platform, using mixed methods such as surveys, one-to-one meetings, focus groups, data analysis and harnessing the expertise of the partners and the advisory group
- Create and implement a robust communication plan
- Organise events, including discussion forums, workshops and roundtables as required by the project plan
- Deliver timely and accurate reporting to the working groups, funders and the RIA
- Develop a sustainable business model and implement the practical steps needed to move the RIA journals fully to open access
- Increase the impact of the RIA journals
- Other duties within the scope of the role as may be assigned by the Managing Editor
Person specification
Essential qualifications
- A relevant third-level degree or equivalent qualification
- A minimum of two years’ research, publishing, open access or project management experience
- Strong organisational, analytical, project management and technical skills
- Evidence of a high level of oral and written communication skills
- Evidence of an ability to build relationships and work effectively with a wide range of partners and individuals
Desirable qualifications
- Hold a relevant postgraduate qualification
- Experience of using or developing or procuring publishing platforms
- Have an excellent knowledge of publishing on the island of Ireland
- Have an excellent knowledge of international open access best practice
Further Information
Salary: Salary is on the Admin Officer Scale €39,195 – €51,090. Candidates should note that entry will be at the minimum of the scale and the rate of remuneration may be adjusted from time to time in line with government pay policy. Candidates should note that different pay and conditions may apply if, immediately prior to appointment, the appointee is a serving civil or public servant.
Hours of Work: The normal hours of work are 35 hours per week.
Overtime is not paid in respect of excess attendance which, should it arise, is discharged by time off in lieu at times agreed in advance with the Executive Director.
This role is suitable for hybrid working.
Application Process
Completed applications consisting of one electronic copy (with all documents contained in one Word document) must be submitted to recruitment@ria.ie(link sends e-mail) in the order as set out below:
- A brief cover letter demonstrating how you meet the qualifications and experience for the position (max. 700 words)
- A curriculum vitae summarising your qualifications and relevant experience (max. 4 pages)
Applicants will be shortlisted based on information provided in their application.
Please note: failure to fulfil the application requisites will deem the application invalid.
Closing date: Thursday 8 December 2022. Late applications will not be considered.
It is anticipated that interviews will be held week commencing 12 December 2022.
Please note this interview will include competency-based interview questions.
The Royal Irish Academy is an equal opportunities employer