Vendor Manager, Publishing Operations

*This position is fully remote/home based. Applications will be accepted from candidates based in the UK and the following US states: FL, IL, MA, MD, NY, PA, TX, VA.

Role Summary

PLOS is a nonprofit, Open Access publisher empowering researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication.

As the Publishing Operations Vendor Manager, you will play a critical role in ensuring PLOS’s publishing workflows are supported by a diverse, high-performing network of external partners. You will lead vendor strategy across the publishing lifecycle, ensuring supplier capabilities align with organizational needs. With a focus on quality, scalability, and continuous improvement, you will foster strong partnerships, oversee procurement and contracting processes, drive best practices in vendor management, and support long-term operational resilience.

Supervisory Responsibilities

N/A- This role will involve management of vendors but will be on the individual contributor track and will not have direct line reports.

Responsibilities

Oversight of vendor use in end-to-end workflows, ensuring a joined-up and efficient approach

Seek continuous improvement in removing departmental silos and promoting cross-functional vendor scoping (e.g. take steps to move vendors to operating across the workflow from submission to publication, rather than siloing on the basis of department).

Limit risk to PLOS by ensuring a healthy diversity in the suppliers that support our work, while maximising efficiency and quality

Maintain awareness of relative strengths offered by suppliers that offer publishing support, and develop risk-reward scenarios for changing suppliers/opening requests for proposals (RFPs)

Management of vendor contract renewal

Serve as primary point of contact with suppliers/vendors in contract negotiations (cascading to relevant teams/legal where needed)

Track contract end dates and alert teams to pending end of contract three months before renewal date

Work with internal stakeholders to review and update tasks, volumes and quantifiable and reportable SLAs based on forecast submission and publication volume.

Develop forecast of supplier-side headcount (including optimal seniority of roles, where options exist) likely needed to support outsourced work

If needed, support negotiation between in-house teams and suppliers to finalise headcount and budget

Work with legal to update contracts

Management of RFP process

Serve as primary point of contact with suppliers/vendors in RFP process (cascading to relevant teams/legal where needed)

Support Director of Publishing Operations & Customer Care and Director of Editorial in pricing negotiations and budget requirements.

Work with external consultant to develop short list of suppliers to approach for RFP

Support internal stakeholders in drafting RFP documentation and setting success criteria

Serve as primary point of contact with suppliers who are submitting proposals

Support internal stakeholders in reviewing proposals and interviewing suppliers

With external consultant, support internal stakeholders in selecting supplier who is best placed to deliver services to meet PLOS’ needs and within budget

Work with internal stakeholders and legal to develop contract (process as outlined above in contract renewal process)

Vendor onboarding

Serve as primary point of contact with new suppliers/vendors in onboarding process

Establish onboarding best practice guidance, including a rollout plan and communications templates

Work with internal teams to establish KPIs, service level agreements (SLAs) and auditing framework

As part of new contract or contract renewal process, work with internal stakeholders to develop/review plans for monthly quality assurance audits to track adherence to SLAs

Serve as primary point of contact with suppliers/vendors in sharing auditing results and developing remedial plans where service falls below agreed levels

Where service falls below expected standards, support in-house teams in remediation and review vendor plans to improve performance

Work with the Engineering and Product teams to prioritise development of data, reports, and other tools needed to track accountability via auditing process

Proactively identify opportunities to reduce in-house time spent auditing

Maintain PLOS-side feedback tracker, and coordinate the sending of feedback to suppliers

Escalate contract breaches to legal for advice

Establish a culture of excellence in vendor relationships

Develop, maintain and share resources and best practices for vendor management, including how to set appropriate SLAs and audit levels, and how to collect and share feedback

Lead training sessions for PLOS staff to share best practices for engagement with vendors

Support regular site visits both with external consultant and key contacts from relevant teams.

Capacity planning

Regularly review number of tasks sent to suppliers to ensure volume is as outlined in contract

Work with teams to amend contract and headcount as needed

Confirm appropriateness of vendor-side headcount once forecasts and reforecasts of submission and publication numbers are available

Maintain awareness of new supplier-side tools and technologies

Regularly meet with suppliers to review tools and technologies that they are developing to support efficient peer review

Regularly meet with journal teams (publishing, operations, editorial, production, R&R, publication ethics, customer care) to understand what technologies might be most helpful in supporting efficient peer review and publication

Liaise with Digital teams to ensure cross-functional alignment

Support demonstrations of potentially useful tools to PLOS teams

Knowledge and Skills

Vendor Procurement and Relationship Management

Experience in sourcing vendors and managing RFI/RFP processes and onboarding

Experience in developing and maintaining long-term, collaborative relationships with vendors such as editorial service providers, production partners or copyediting/typesetting vendors.

Experience in drafting and enforcing service level agreements (SLAs); auditing and analyzing vendor KPIs such as turnaround times, quality scores, and author/editor satisfaction; and managing budget.

Demonstrated experience in managing multiple vendors across global time zones and high-volume journal portfolios

Publishing Workflow Knowledge

Understanding of end-to-end publishing workflows including manuscript submission, peer review, production, copyediting, typesetting, and online publication. Familiarity with publishing standards (e.g., JATS XML, DOI registration, ORCID integration), ethical publishing guidelines (e.g., COPE, ICMJE) and compliance issues (e.g., data privacy, accessibility)

Technology and Systems Proficiency

Familiarity with manuscript tracking systems (e.g. Editorial Manager), production platforms, and content management systems

Familiarity with tools to increase the accuracy and efficiency of editorial processes and technical checks

Experience with tools for data tracking and reporting (e.g. Tableau)

Cross-functional and Cross-cultural Collaboration

Proven ability to collaborate with editorial, production, product and legal teams to align vendor operations with business needs

Skilled in working across cultures and time zones, with experience managing diverse vendor and stakeholder relationships

Communication and Reporting

Clear, professional communication style suited to managing both internal stakeholders and external partners

Strong documentation and reporting skills to track vendor activities and support audits or reviews

Qualifications

Extensive experience in developing and maintaining productive relationships with editorial and/or publishing services providers

Advanced degree or certificatio