Working for us
You will have the opportunity to manage the production of journals, reports, books and other publications, in both print and digital form, for leading publishers and public sector organisations throughout Europe.
You will have direct contact with clients and the opportunity to develop a strong personal reputation for quality, reliability and delivering results. Note that we are a specialist publishing services company: our clients are publishers, but we are not.
The skills you bring to us will determine which team you work in and which clients you work for. We generally look for people with demonstrable experience of one or more of the following:
- editorial office management
- writing
- substantive editing or rewriting
- copy-editing
- proofreading
- publishing project management.
First-class technical skills are important as well (see separate panel).
Important information
- Unless otherwise stated, all posts advertised here are full-time and are based in our office in Perth. Full-time means working 37.5 hours weekly during Monday to Friday inclusive (there is a flexible working scheme).
- All employees, unless they opt out, are automatically enrolled in a contributory pension plan (to which the company currently also contributes 5% of qualifying earnings).
- There is a scheme for providing financial support for long-term distance learning courses.
- Holiday entitlement is 29 days annually, including four company fixed days (two at Christmas and two at New Year), rising to 34 days after 3 years’ service.
- Occasional travel may be required, e.g. for training or to conferences or to clients’ offices in the UK or abroad (typically mainland Europe). This is a key requirement for all posts.
- An ideal background is a degree in science or humanities and either relevant publishing experience or a postgraduate publishing qualification. Relevant experience means experience gained in an editorial, design, production or technology environment, preferably with an STM or humanities publisher.
- We are an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership status, or pregnancy or maternity status.
- We do not accept applications submitted by or sent via recruitment agencies.
- All applicants must be eligible to work in the UK and supply proof of this.
- We work on confidential and sensitive material. All employees must be able to pass a Disclosure Scotland background check (or other check as required by our clients).
Current vacancies
Please use the tabs below to navigate to particular jobs. We recommend that all applicants review our lists of things to do and things not to do when applying.
Recruitment update
Some interviews will take place during August although appointments will not be made until social distancing has been reduced to allow hiring and we are able to return our office.
Summer internships. We may offer one internship for a period of 2 to 3 months in the autumn.
Project editor. Some applicants who applied for the position advertised before lockdown have been invited to interview. We are recruiting further for an additional project editor: see below.
Outlook. Although we hope to start returning to our offices during September, social distancing requirements will allow only some of us to return. Only after office-based staff can be accommodated safely will we feel able to offer positions to successful candidates.
This vacancy is now closed. We received 71 applications. Thank you to all who applied.
Interviews will be arranged over the next few weeks. If you are not invited to interview, we wish you luck in your future search.
We are now seeking a full-time project editor to work in one of our teams providing editing and other services to publishers and public sector organisations. This is a permanent role with a 6-month probationary period.
About the job
You will join one of our production teams and will work on documents such as research articles, policy documents and long-form reports in the fields of science, medicine, public health, the environment, law, international affairs, and finance and banking, among others.
You will have contact with authors, academic editors, clients and suppliers (e.g. typesetters, technologists) to ensure that quality and production schedules are maintained. A substantial part of the work will involve copy-editing and rewriting and, therefore, an excellent command of English is required along with the ability to understand complex text written by non-native English speakers and turn this into clear, readily understandable English. Some assignments must be carried out to short deadlines, so speed is as important as high quality and teamwork.
The salary for this post will be in the range £20,000 to £27,500. Successful applicants with little or no relevant publishing experience will start at the bottom of the grade. A relevant postgraduate qualification, e.g. PhD or MSc in publishing, will also be taken into consideration when determining starting salary.
If you have significant experience of publishing, including substantial copy-editing, proofreading and project management experience, we may consider you for the post of project leader, for which the salary scale is £27,500 to £35,000. Project leaders also guide the work of, and give feedback to, less experienced members of staff, prepare budgets and quotations and, on occasion, travel to represent the company to potential and existing clients.
About you
For this post you must have a good degree in an academic subject and understand the academic publishing process. Preference will be given to candidates with previous experience of publishing, but this is not essential.
Knowledge of science, medical or humanities copy-editing and/or writing will be advantageous, but enthusiasm, resourcefulness and ability are also important, and excellent spelling and grammar are essential. You must also be completely at ease with new technology and be able to make advanced use of software packages such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
You will need to be well organised, meticulous and resourceful, and able to solve problems on your own. You will have sound communication skills, and be able to communicate appropriately with authors, academic editors, clients and suppliers. You will be happy working alone and with colleagues as part of a team.
You must be eligible to work in the UK.
How to apply
If you are interested, here is what to do:
- describe your publishing career and experience and explain why you are suitable for this post
- attach a full CV in MS Word or PDF format
- include your current salary and/or salary expectations.
Send your application to Dr Lucy Harrier using our application form. Please let us know where you first saw this vacancy. Applications close at noon on Wednesday 12 August 2020. Note, however, that we may call applicants to interview before this.
While we are able to hold interviews, the successful applicant will not be able to start work until government guidelines allow social distancing of 1 metre in our office.
