Director, Academic Affairs

Job Title:    Director, Academic Affairs

Location:    Shanghai, Beijing, China

About Springer Nature

Springer Nature is one of the leading publishers of research in the world. We publish the largest number of journals and books and are a pioneer in open research. Through our leading brands, trusted for more than 180 years, we provide technology-enabled products, platforms and services that help researchers to uncover new ideas and share their discoveries, health professionals to stay at the forefront of medical science, and educators to advance learning. We are proud to be part of progress, working together with the communities we serve to share knowledge and bring greater understanding to the world. For more information, please visit about.springernature.com and @SpringerNature. 

About the Role  

Government and Academic Affairs is a critical function in Greater China, a key market and the largest producer of OA content. The role of Director Academic Affairs is created to lead engagement with universities and researchers, crucial to the company’s success, including at the senior leadership level. The role exists not just to create early awareness of policy trends, but to actively influence them through partnerships and jointly conducted research. The director should be accepted as a thought leader, both by key opinion leaders, as by the broader community, and have high visibility at events, and in relevant media.

In addition, the director will lead the efforts to maximize our OA share in China by participating in regular meetings with global leadership; providing analysis, intelligence, and publishing recommendations. To achieve this, the person will need the ability to lead complex projects across divisions with senior decision makers.

An essential partner to the MD Greater China, the director will lead the academic activities in Greater China, establish new relationships, tracking as well as influencing policies and ensuring information collated from academic touchpoints is used in decision making across SN.

Key tasks include:

• Work with the community (researchers, universities, institutions, labs, partners and others) on issues of common interest, including Open Science, transformative agreements, research integrity, research/researcher assessment, achieving improved DEI in academia, international collaborative research and SDGs, and initiatives that contribute to improving the research environment.
• Create a community-wide understanding of SN commitment to its role in delivering such improvements.
• Lead in making Springer Nature into a recognized contributor to an improved research environment by working with others across Springer Nature (journals, books, solutions, editorial, marketing, comms, with a special focus on proprietary OA journals) bringing together different relevant threads (policy, processes etc), to develop a joined-up understanding of essential trends across the group and outside in the community.  Connect the internal and external pictures to weave a clear narrative and identify areas of future development to ensure what we do is driven by market needs.  

Responsibilities 

Outreach and Strategic Partnership

• Own relations with target organizations in China, including at leadership level  
• Identify key stakeholders and initiatives where Springer Nature should engage to further improvement of the research environment. Work closely with editorial teams to build relationships and co-operative arrangements with universities, research institutes and other key stakeholders.
• Actively represent Springer Nature externally as the “face” of our commitment to improving the research environment, through keynote speeches, conferences, seminars, thought pieces, cross-collaboration working groups and other initiatives
• Orchestrate inclusive, multi-divisions’ solution approach to optimal interactions with academic partners in the region along with internal stakeholders
• Initiate and own strategic analyses of policy trends and make recommendations based on these for academic affairs priorities and broader company strategies
• Lead dissemination of key findings from academic interactions to stakeholders across SN, potentially including but not limited to a Hive group, newsletter and ad hoc webinars/ blogposts.

Internal Contributions

• Be a key contributor to strategies for systematically establishing and sharing connections between research institutions and relevant parts of the SN organization, including Institutional Sales, E&P, Researcher Services and Institutional Partnerships. Identify and facilitate initiatives that leverage SN expertise and capabilities
• Bring community insights, needs and opportunities back to Springer Nature colleagues and champion proposed collaborations, particularly with the Journals, Books, and CCO area (incl. OA team) and Research Solutions.
• Map Springer Nature’s relevant activities internally and establish mechanism to keep updated.
• Work with different teams as the advisor to screen, qualify and manage potential academic partnerships, and potential deeper collaborations.
• Run the Team’s Hive postings and blog

Experience, Skills & Qualifications

Experience:

• Must have a large and powerful network in the academic community
• Significant experience working in journals publishing and/or academic communication
• Respected as a thought leader in the community
• Extensive knowledge of and experience with the research landscape
• Experience and understanding of the strategic imperatives in scholarly publishing
• Proven experience in successfully managing and influencing people
• Experience in developing, leading and implementing strategy

Skills/Knowledge:

• A strong passion for the role of science and research in wider society
• Ability to bring both international and Chinese perspective
• Strong leadership skills: Cross department outreach; within China and internationally; Ability to actively influence policy, perceptions
• Collaborative; team player; non-territorial
• A thorough understanding of the scientific and research process
• Ability to work with others to influence, define, develop policy and initiatives related to improving the research environment internally and externally (esp. relating to Open Science)
• A track record in working constructively with external partners
• Good listening, advocacy, analysis and relationship management skills
• Proven experience of working in a complex global matrix
• Proven strategic abilities and ability to adapt tactical implementation to changing circumstances/priorities
• Thorough understanding of the needs of organizations, institutions and other key external stakeholders
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong presentation skills
• Highly self-motivated, resourceful and achievement oriented

Qualifications      

• Highly Desired: A higher degree and research experience
• Highly Desired: journals publishing experience

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 https://group.springernature.com/gp/group/taking-responsibility/diversity-equity-inclusion

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

For more information about career opportunities in Springer Nature please visit https://springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatureCareers/

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