Editorial Administrator

We’re looking for an administrative assistant to join our editorial team at Urban Studies Journal. This is a full-time position for 5 days (35 hours) per week (job-share will be considered). The work is remote and home-based. The starting salary will be £33,000 per annum. 

Applications should include a 1-2 page cover letter outlining how they meet the essential and desirable criteria as outlined in the Job Description, along with a current CV. The successful candidate will be provided with training reflective of the specialist nature of the role.

PLEASE DO NOT APPLY ON LINKEDIN.

Applications should be submitted to Ruth Harkin (ruth.harkin@glasgow.ac.uk) by 2 June 2025.Job Title:

Editorial Administrator

Reporting To:

Editor in Chief of the Journal

Job Purpose:

To provide comprehensive professional and administrative support to the Editor in Chief, Managing Editors and Editors of Urban Studies Journal. This will involve a significant amount of independence and initiative as members of the editorial team do not have a full-time presence with the Journal. The work is remote and home-based with occasional meetings virtually.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1.    Supporting the Editorial Assistant in managing the editorial process and production schedule of a monthly specialist journal. This entails liaising with the publisher, editors, academic contributors and referees, and prioritising the flow and content of material for publication according to production deadlines and the operating principles of the journal.

2.    Using a web-based peer review management system (ScholarOne Manuscripts) to facilitate the peer review process; and providing support to editors in using the system. Monitoring the system to ensure timely review of papers and providing editors with regular updates.

3.    Performing administrative and production checks on submitted and accepted manuscripts.

4.    Assisting the admin team in providing support for Special Issues and Calls for Papers, from proposal stage, through review of articles, to publication. Liaising with journal and guest editors to ensure publication deadlines are met.

5.    Independently providing advice and guidance to authors, referees and editors on all aspects of the production process, identifying and resolving any problems as they arise and recommending alternatives as appropriate.

6.    Supporting journal activities such as editorial meetings and conferences/events. For meetings, this may involve preparation of papers, recording of meetings and minute taking.

7.    Providing administrative support to the Reviews Editor for the book review section of the journal.

8.    Responsible for the administration of the journal’s own website and social media platforms. This involves posting content to the website (e.g. news, blog posts and podcast episodes), creating and selecting promotional material, scheduling posts on X and Bluesky, content management of the website and providing social media usage data for editorial meetings.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and ExperienceKnowledge/QualificationsDesirable:

A1 An undergraduate degree

A2 Knowledge and understanding of the academic peer-review and commercial publishing processes

SkillsEssential:

B1 Excellent IT skills, covering the Microsoft Office suite and ideally knowledge of LaTex and the ScholarOne system.

B2 Excellent communication skills

B3 Excellent administrative skills

B4 The ability to work as a member of a team and to lead by example

B5 The ability to work proactively, multi-task and to use initiative

B6 Excellent attention to detail

B7 Proven ability to work successfully to extremely tight deadlines

B8 Ability to develop dissemination materials

Desirable:

C1 Knowledge or experience of budget management and bookkeeping.

C2 Familiarity with LinkedIn, Podbean, X, Bluesky, Buffer, WordPress, Klaviyo and Canva

ExperienceEssential:

D1 Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills through personal development and progression in a similar related role(s).

Desirable:

E1 Supervisory experience

E2 Experience with podcast production (transcripts, metadata, platform distribution)

E3 Experience of the academic peer-review and commercial publishing processes.

E4 Experience in content management of websites.

Job FeaturesDimensions

Provide specialist and generic administrative support relevant to the publication and research of a world-class international journal of approximately 240 printed pages per issue and 16 editions a year.

Administering over 1000 articles and 12 book review forums a year from various international contributors.

Planning and Organising

Planning and organising the production schedule of the Journal, both on a long term and short term basis, in conjunction with the Journal Administrator.

Organising the editorial and publishing forum to support these tasks.

Planning and organising of editorial meetings and international conferences.

Planning and organising the scheduling of social media and website content.

Decision Making

To make decisions with regard to the maintenance of the production values of the Journal, within editorially agreed guidelines.

Continuously making decisions with regard to the processing of individual articles through the Journal system.

To make decisions with regard to the effective administration and moderation of our social media platforms.

Internal & External Relationships

To work closely with the Editors (who are located on a worldwide basis) to ensure that the journal remains as the most successful journal in its subject area in the world.

To communicate with the other members of the administrative team to ensure the smooth running of the Journal.

To liaise with the commercial publisher to ensure high quality production values and the widespread dissemination of the journal.

To provide an effective liaison between Editors and Publishers, to ensure that the journal remains a vibrant product, with commercial standards.

To ensure efficient communication between Guest Editors and Journal Editors.

To maintain a positive relationship with our web developers.

To liaise effectively with a wide range of academic authors and reviewers internationally.

To liaise and work closely with sponsors of conferences and events.

Problem Solving

To identify and resolve any problems in the production process of the Journal (inclusive of the individual concerns of authors and referee as well as the production schedule of the Journal).

To investigate website issues and liaise with the website maintenance team to ensure problems are resolved as quickly as possible.

To respond to enquiries and problems from authors and reviewers.

Other

This post is a key post to ensure that the Journal remains the world-class academic publication dedicated to publishing scholarly articles concerned with urban and regional issues. It is published 16 times a year and receives in excess of 1000 articles annually and works to very tight deadlines. Each issue of the Journal is approximately 240 printed pages long.