Division and Unit Overview

The American Chemical Society is the world’s largest scientific membership association and one of the top ten science publishers in the world. The Publications Division of the American Chemical Society provides to its members and the worldwide scientific community a comprehensive collection of high quality information products and services for the practice and advancement of the chemical sciences. The Division publishes a weekly magazine, and over 50 high-quality scholarly journals focused on chemistry and chemistry-related topics.

The Editorial Development Department is focused on maintaining and improving the editorial performance of existing titles and the development of new products. The unit is responsible for reporting to staff, external editors, and governance committees on performance of journals; collaborating with external editors to ensure they have the appropriate resources to help their journals perform ably; collaborate with staff and editors create and implement strategic plans for journals; and for a number of titles, work directly with editors on the day to day management of peer review, author/reviewer outreach, and journal issue management.

The Journal of the American Chemical Society, the flagship journal of the ACS, serves the global community of researchers in chemistry and interfacing areas of science.

Position Summary

The Development Editor will be responsible for supporting the editorial peer-review processes and coordinating the communication of editorial decisions for the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). S/he will support and manage editorial decisions related to peer-review, transfers, and appeals. The Development Editor will be required to communicate with Editors on a routine basis and building a strong rapport to ensure consistency across editorial decision making. A high degree of professionalism in both written and oral communications and in-depth technical knowledge of the field to answer technical questions are essential.

The qualified candidate will be comfortable working with editors and authors. S/he should also be willing to learn about new scientific fields, to understand the breadth of research published in the journal. The incumbent will assist the Senior Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief in improving the peer-review process for the journal and the author’s peer review experience. The individual must be a self-starter, should have a strong track record in scientific research in chemistry, be familiar with the chemical research communities, be well-versed in the peer-review process, and be able to juggle multiple tasks to meet deadlines.

In this role, the incumbent will have the opportunity to collaborate with an exceptional team of internationally respected editors and journal staff. The position reports to the Senior Managing Editor, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Work design: Works under general managerial supervision direction on journal goals and objectives. Work involves creative and adaptive thinking. Resolves non-routine problems by applying general policies, practices, procedures, and principles. Performs in-depth analyses of standard problems and recommends resolutions.

Position Accountabilities

• Assist the Editor, Associate Editors, Editorial Advisory Board members, and Senior Managing Editor with
• Regular distribution of submitted manuscripts to Associate Editor offices.
• Development, organization, and dissemination of internal documents to facilitate peer review process (criteria for decisions, decision messages, communicate/collaborate with editorial offices).
• Refinement of the editorial peer-review processes for JACS, in collaboration with the editorial team and journal staff.

• Facilitate the workflow for consultation and transfer of declined manuscripts to other ACS journals; requires understanding of journal scopes across the ACS Publications portfolio as well as establishing relationships with the editorial teams of sister ACS journals.

• Coordinate appeals of decisions made by the Editors.

• Compile and distribute regular reports on manuscript processing with the goal of tracking and analyzing related metrics, to demonstrate success and/or inform improvements to processes.

• Maintain contact with authors, reviewers, and outside experts.

• Maintain a deep understanding of the chemical sciences and developments in the field.

Combined 5+ years of relevant training and experience in an academic or industrial chemistry setting. Advanced degree (Ph.D.) in the chemistry preferred; experience in STM publishing a plus. Excellent written and verbal communication with both technical and nontechnical audiences, decision making, leadership, and analytical skills required. Limited travel.

The Development Editor will be located in the Editor’s journal office at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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