Oxford University Press is hiring: Content Development Editor in Cary

Oxford University Press
Commissioning/Acquisitions
Posted: Sep 23, 2025
Full Time
Cary, NC (Hybrid) In office 2 days a week

Description

We are the world’s largest university press.

We have both a worldwide reach and a personal understanding of local needs, partnering on the ground to adapt publications and resources to meet the individual needs of communities, societies, and countries.

We partner with researchers, educators, and technology partners to stay ahead of the changing ways people around the world are accessing and sharing knowledge.

With a presence in more than 50 countries and millions of customers around the world, an idea launched at OUP can have a global impact.

Advancing Knowledge and Learning

About the Role

Responsible for project managing a portfolio of strategically important projects, and ensuring that they maximise student outcomes.

Create products that are distinctive, innovative, and compelling, and which drive digital penetration by being designed to have most impact when used digitally.

In close collaboration with authors, thoughtfully enrich and curate both text and non-text content in line with best practice as it relates to learning design and pedagogy.

Under the guidance of the Content Development Manager, ensure that budgets are met, and costs incurred are in line with the agreed P & L.

Create and share clear, compelling value propositions which speak to clearly-identified market needs.

Key Accountabilities include:

1. Market and HE ecosystem expertise: Maintain an accurate and dynamic understanding of the competitive environment and customer needs by interacting directly with our customers, through reviews, surveys, direct engagement, and Voice of the Customer; by completing detailed analyses of our competitors products; and by analyzing third-party data on the markets in which we compete.
2. Content enrichment and curation: In collaboration with authors and reviewers, work to meet instructor and student needs as fully as possible by creating products that are distinctive, innovative, and compelling.
3. Manage the development of all content – including textual and non-textual assets – such that it is originated to brief, schedule, budget, and in line with available resources.
4. Employ line-editing, structural editing, and content curation to guide and inform author activity.
5. Develop best in class assessments to optimize learning outcomes.
6. Under the guidance of the Content Development Manager, define the nature and scope of non-text assets that enrich our content (figures, photos, video, audio) and curate these assets so that they adhere to best practices (pedagogical and accessibility) and make optimal use of existing OUP assets.
7. Project management: Manage projects, including the origination and curation of both text and non-text assets, to ensure their completion to brief, schedule, budget, as set by the Portfolio Manager, and in line with available resource.
   
   Maintain awareness of projected P & L during content development through to market launch, and manage costs and profitability to ensure that development work is in line with budget profile.
   
   Manage the author relationship prior to submission of their content to ensure their work fully meets the agreed specification and contractual requirements.
   
   Draw up clear and comprehensive author, subject matter expert, and contributor guidance, and adopt working practices that ensure authors, subject matter experts, and contributors adhere to this guidance, including onboarding and training subject matter experts and contributors on digital platforms such as Oxford Insight.
   
   Prepare all manuscript materials and digital resources for their respective production teams, including file preparation, process management, and quality assurance checks.
8. Project data maintenance: Ensure project tracking systems, particularly Oxford Publish, are up to date with accurate data.
   
   Regularly review project status, including reaching out to authors as necessary to confirm their progress, and update schedules in systems.
   
   Ensure that book metadata is optimised, accurate, and kept up to date, and ensure changes are communicated to appropriate stakeholders.
9. Market validation of content: Design online questionnaires to facilitate external peer review of value propositions and sample materials to ensure content meets market needs.
   
   Review the work in progress throughout the development stage to enable ongoing assessment, shaping, and curation of the material in order to maximize the success of the final product.
   
   Analyze market feedback to identify clear points of action.
   
   Under the guidance of the Content Development Manager and the Portfolio Manager, leverage and build on the product reviews to seed market development activities and adoptions upon market launch.
   
   Partner with marketing to establish class test and pilot strategies and to collaborate on approaches and implementation of impact studies that can be shared with customers and inform future product development.
10. Content positioning: Collaborate with Portfolio Managers and marketing in creating and sharing clear, compelling value propositions, marketing copy, NBAs and NOPAs for all products.
    
    Determine cover design direction, balancing author preference and expectations, competitive environment, and cost management.
11. Brand advocacy: Identify and cultivate strong faculty advocates to inform product and market development.

About You

• Demonstrable experience of effective project management, cost/budget management, successful innovation, and consistent delivery of goals.
• Strong organizational, time management, and prioritization skills.
• Ability to work well on your own initiative and to be proactive in solving problems.
• Able to demonstrate excellent attention to detail at all times.
• In-depth knowledge of Higher Education publishing and the Higher Education ecosystem.
• Demonstrable understanding of learning design principles and how they apply to the shaping of educational content.
• Demonstrable interest in editorial intervention to enhance the quality of content.

Benefits

We care about work/life balance at OUP.

We offer 15 days’ vacation time that rises with service, 8 sick days, plus floating holidays, personal days, company holidays, and a 35-hour working week.

We are open to discussing flexibility in respect of working hours and the use of technology to support regular remote working, dependent on role.

We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.

We care for you and your dependents by offering health, dental, and vision insurance plans to our full-time employees.

Each plan has multiple levels of coverage to fit your needs and has a high level of contribution made by OUP.

In addition, we offer Employee Assistant Programs for all full-time employees, regardless of whether you elect in health insurance.

We also offer life insurance and disability insurance.

We help make your money go further by providing a non-elective contribution on your behalf to your retirement plan of 7% of your salary and a matching contribution to the retirement plan of 50% on the first 6% of employee contributions on based earnings.

This role is part of the OUP USA News Guild Bargaining Unit.

Position Location: This role can be hybrid, based out of New York, NY or Cary, NC (2 days a week in office) or remote in the United States.

Salary: This position offers a salary range of $56,537 - $58,500 depending on skills and experience.

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive.

We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities.

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.

For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.

PI278332494