Publications Lead

Institution of Environmental Sciences
£31-36k, based on experience
London (hybrid working options)
10 October 2022

Adam Donnan, 020 3862 7484

The IES is a professional body with its membership representing the full spectrum of environmental sciences, spanning fields as diverse as air quality, land condition and marine and coastal science –wherever you find environmental work underpinned by science.

We aim to unite science and people to resolve environmental challenges and to create and sustain a knowledgeable, skilled, diverse, and trusted environmental profession engaged in the transformation to a sustainable society.

Main Purpose of the Post
The Publications Lead is responsible for managing the publication process and leading the production and distribution of key publications and outputs for the IES and its sister organisations. They will take a strategic approach to publications, ensuring that these reflect organisational objectives, as well as advancing accessibility and reach.

You will have strong writing or editorial skills and a keen eye for layout and design. Relishing a varied workday and the chance to engage with a wide range of environmental topics, you should be highly organised, motivated and able to fit into the collaborative culture of the office. You will be an individual who takes pride in your work and can deliver projects to tight deadlines.


Job role

  • Work with the Senior Management Team and relevant committees to create an annual publications plan that ensures a steady flow of high-quality journals, reports and guidance throughout the year.
  • Manage the production and delivery of publications, ensuring efficient processes and detailed production schedules are in place to enable timely delivery within agreed budgets.
  • Liaise with appropriate committees, technical panels, experts and contributors to identify opportunities for new publications, topics of interest and suitable guest editors and contributors.
  • Develop processes to engage members in suggesting themes and contributing to publications.
  • Manage relationships with external suppliers such as graphic designers, copyeditors and printers.
  • Act as the primary guardian of the IES journal style guide and ensure that all publications adhere to brand and editorial guidelines, reflect organisational values and achieve high levels of accuracy and scientific integrity.
  • Manage and contribute to the IES web presence, e-newsletters, and social media channels, originating novel approaches to communicating with members and the public.
  • Curate a diversity of articles for the analysis pages of the IES and sister organisations’ websites that adequately reflect the make-up and interests of members and actively engage with emerging topics.
  • Strive for high levels of creativity and new ways to engage members, seeking appropriate methods and technologies for communicating information.
  • Target new audiences (both within and outside of our membership) and devise appropriate mediums and messages to reach them.
  • Adopt appropriate feedback mechanisms to ensure that publications are relevant to members’ and stakeholders’ interests.
  • Work with other staff to ensure that they are aware of and engaged with upcoming publications and that appropriate links are maintained and built between your work and the marketing, policy and events functions.
  • Line manage the Publications Officer and other hires as required.

Person Specification
This is a multi-skilled position and we recognise that no candidate is likely to have all the desirable skills.

Essential (all IES roles) Desirable (all IES roles)
  • Undergraduate degree or equivalent professional experience
  • Demonstrable ability to quickly pick up new tasks and communicate complex or technical concepts effectively
  • Flexible approach with the ability to use own initiative and rapidly respond to varying stakeholder needs
  • Comfortable working within a small team as well as autonomously
  • Recognition of the importance of diversity and inclusion
  • Interest in the environment, sustainability and/or science
  • Experience in the environmental or NGO/charity sector
  • Masters degree (or equivalent experience)
Essential (role-specific) Desirable (role-specific)
  • A degree in environmental science, journalism, science communication or similar, or equivalent professional experience
  • At least four year’s professional experience in a publications or communications-focused role
  • Ability to write engaging copy for a variety of audiences
  • Experience writing and communicating scientific topics to diverse audiences and evaluating impact
  • Strong organisation and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects to tight deadlines
  • Experience working with a house style to ensure publications are clear, consistent and professional
  • A thorough understanding of recent trends and developments in the environmental field
  • Significant editorial or journalism experience
  • Line management experience
  • Experience of working with experts to produce reports or guidance
  • Strong understanding of effective design and experience using design software such as Adobe InDesign and Illustrator

About the Role
This position is full-time. Interviews will take place in in the 2nd week of October, with a view to the successful candidate starting as soon as possible.
 

How to apply
If you wish to apply for this role, please submit a CV and short Covering Letter explaining your motivation for applying and briefly addressing the essential and applicable desirable criteria for the role (up to 500 words) to adam@the-ies.org. We also ask you to complete an optional Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Monitoring form (docx); this does not form any part of the selection process but is used to help us monitor the effectiveness of our policy. Please specify in the email subject the job title you are applying for and submit before Noon on Monday 10th October.

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.
 

Why work for us?
At the IES, we know that the secret of a successful professional body is the quality of the people behind the membership services.

Our small, inclusive team work collaboratively with one another, as well as our fantastic trustees, members and partner organisations, to fulfil our mission of advocating for science and the environment.

With an inclusive and intellectually stimulating workplace, we are sure you will enjoy the culture of working at the IES. We care about nurturing your career development with individualised professional development plans.

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