Process Excellence Manager - London, United Kingdom - Springer Nature Group

Description

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About Springer Nature Group

Springer Nature opens the doors to discovery for researchers, educators, clinicians and other professionals. Every day, around the globe, our imprints, books, journals, platforms and technology solutions reach millions of people. For over 180 years our brands and imprints have been a trusted source of knowledge to these communities and today, more than ever, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that fundamental knowledge can be found, verified, understood and used by our communities - enabling them to improve outcomes, make progress, and benefit the generations that follow. Visit and follow @SpringerNature / @SpringerNatureGroup

J ob Title: Process Excellence Manager - Publishing

L ocation: London or Dordrecht

Closing date: 11th May 2024

B usiness Area and Mission

T he goal of the Publishing Performance and Intelligence Group (PP&I) is to help deliver next generation digital publishing at Springer Nature and as a result, grow the number of published articles especially in open access (OA). Working closely with the Journals Group, Production, IT, Marketing and Customer Service, PP&I support increasing the number of transfers of articles between journals, commissioning new collections, enforcing research integrity, strengthening editor engagement and delivering enhancements to the end-to-end journal publishing process.

T he Centre of Excellence (CoE) team within PP&I creates and drives continuous improvement in PP&I and Journal Publishing teams with their respective stakeholders in order to achieve their strategic goals. With this purpose in mind, we initiate and run several tactical and strategic projects with specific business outcomes. We are a team of professionals who embrace and apply best practice Project Management, Business Analysis, Continuous Improvement and Change Management.

P urpose of the Role

A s part of the CoE team, the Process Excellence Manager will contribute to the delivery of projects across the Research Publishing Business Unit to bring efficiency and effectiveness in any workflow-related aspect of the business. In this role you will be working with key SN journals and PP&I stakeholders as well as Operations, Technology, Customer Services, Research Sales & Marketing, Finance, and others to align, agree, plan and drive improvement of (parts of) the end-to-end Publishing process. You will ensure that all stakeholders are informed of project progress and workflow changes and will coordinate stakeholder engagement as needed.

T he Process Excellence Manager develops a deep understanding of a specific publishing area with the aim of becoming a trusted partner of such area, offering both support and consulting to any initiative reflecting their strategic priorities. Ultimately the role owns and manages a selection of projects associated with the publishing area.

Responsibilities

• U nderstand the strategic goals of the assigned business area and contribute to the activities to achieve them. Help coordinate the project portfolio related to the assigned publishing area. Act as a CoE point of contact in the assigned publishing area.
• F or those business needs that cannot be addressed by the area itself and that are of tactical or strategic importance, explore the actual problem to solve, map relevant processes and data, identify inefficiencies and sources of errors, identify improvement opportunities, gather and prioritise requirements, define the improved future state and generate solution options to achieve it; ultimately, contribute to the implementation of the recommended solution.
• C apture and validate publishing requirements from internal stakeholders and translate these into prioritised functional, non-functional, integration and transitional requirements and ensure they are coherent with SN business strategy.
• P erform request-specific tasks such as, for example, produce/update documentation and reports, consolidate or analyse data, enable data consistency and integrity, unify different workflows, build and improve workflow automation solutions, roll out regulatory/compliance requirements, write test scripts, give training on new processes/solutions.
• W ork with Technology colleagues and/or external technology third-parties to support delivery of technological solutions in selected activities such as user stories/use cases writing and validation, product roadmapping, testing, training and roll out.
• C oordinate project execution with relevant stakeholders for initiative of tactical/operational nature.
• C ontribute to business case / project initiation documentation, ensuring that outcomes are in line with SN business strategies. Actively promote and monitor adherence throughout the project lifecycle.
• I n conjunction with Technology colleagues, engage with technology third-parties during the software selection process to ensure relevant business requirements are met. Facilitate and coordinate the review of contractual T&C's and SLA's with the relevant teams to protect the SN's best interests.
• I dentify risks and issues, communicate them clearly to the project management teams and be actively involved in their mitigation.
• E ngage editorial, marketing and production teams as necessary to adopt new workflows and processes associated with transitioning journals onto platform(s) and systems.
• B uild close working relationships with key stakeholders in other internal divisions that control and/or develop the processes and systems we rely on, including: the Journal Editorial Office, the Production and Emerging Technology team, the Content Acquisition team and the Product and Platform Group (PPG).
• C ontribute to change management planning and execution and take an active role in the successful adoption of change processes, products, and technologies in the organisation. Advocate the need for robust change management across all activities.
• C ontribute to measuring the success of projects by establishing key performance indicators (KPI's), analysing data, and ensuring that the delivered solutions align with business objectives, thereby maximising the value derived from the initiative undertaken.
• S erve as a key CoE spokesperson for initiatives being managed, clearly and convincingly communicating the aims to the wider business.
• A ssist with the management of the demand pipeline, conducting demand assessments and positioning demands within the prioritisation framework. Contribute to an overall project status tracker for all CoE activities.
• A ctively support CoE Heads to promote excellent teamwork and cross-collaboration.

Experience, Skills & Qualifications

Experience

• E xcellent understanding of the research publishing landscape and how journals and journal publishers serve the research community.
• A n understanding of all our core brand values e.g., Springer, Nature and other key brands across the Research Publishing business.
• P revious roles must include process optimisation, continuous improvement, process excellence or business analysis.
• A good understanding of the workflows and processes that underpin the submission-to-publication journey.
• E xcellent understanding of best practice project and programme management as a result of previous contributions to several projects with strategic impact.
• E xperience in the successful transition of new technologies and workflows in a commercial environment.
• E xperience of negotiation; experience of successfully integrating customer and operational requirements.
• F amiliar with change management concepts and techniques.
• W illingness, flexibility, creativity, and ambition to improve processes and workflows.

Skills

• D emonstrate a highly analytical and logical approach and can articulate complex concepts in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner
• A ble to inspire confidence and to maintain a professional attitude in all interactions with colleagues and external partners.
• E xcellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders.
• S trong time-management and organisational skills.
• F amiliar with corporate IT infrastructure and system architecture.

Qualifications

• Y ellow-belt Lean certification or Business Analysis certification - essential.
• D egree: minimum of BSc level or higher (preferably in a Business or Information Sciences discipline) or significant working experience in a similar role.
• P roject Management certification (such as PRINCE 2, MSP, PPM, Scrum or any Agile methodology) - desirable.
• B usiness Relationship Management certification - desirable.

Need to be Capable of:

Technical Capability

U ses technical / job knowledge and experience to meet and exceed job requirements / customer expectations. Efficiently manages workload and projects within set timelines and to agreed budget, achieving set objectives.

Customer Focus (internal and external customers)

N urtures relationships by recognising and delivering on internal and external customer's needs and opinions. Helps others to understand the implications of their decisions. Develops and sustains productive internal and external customer relationships.

Relationship Building/ Teamwork (incorporating Communication, Influencing and Trust)

B uilds effective relationships through positive communication that motivates and influences others. Honest and trustworthy; a valued team member, actively involved in achieving team objectives. Works cooperatively and flexibly with other members of the team.

Managing Complexity (incorporating change management and flexibility

I s able to work effectively in a highly complex, diverse, changing environment. Maintains a high level of performance under conditions of increased pressure, competition and adversity. Proactively pursues opportunities to drive change that add value to the business.

Problem Solving

T akes initiative to identify current and potential problems and determines the best solution. Identifies the cause of problems and key issues through investigation; identifies effective, logical and practical solutions.

We offer a competitive salary range and great employee benefits.

Please submit a CV and covering letter outlining your experience and interest for the role.

Note for candidates in the Netherlands: As per our local policy, please be aware that this role will be open only for internal candidates within the first 2 weeks. Afterwards, external applications will be progressed.

At Springer Nature, we value the diversity of our teams and work to build an inclusive culture, where people are treated fairly and can bring their differences to work and thrive. We empower our colleagues and value their diverse perspectives as we strive to attract, nurture and develop the very best talent. Springer Nature was awarded Diversity Team of the Year at the 2022 British Diversity Awards. Find out more about our DEI work here

If you have any access needs related to disability, neurodivergence or a chronic condition, please contact us so we can make all necessary accommodation.

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