Publishing Operations Content Technical Lead

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

In the US, this is a union represented position as part of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, Local 39521 of the NewsGuild-Communication Workers of America.

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 Content Technical Lead, you are a key member of the Publishing Operations team at PLOS. In addition to being responsible for providing oversight of content publication, you play a pivotal role in ensuring that the PLOS production team is equipped with technical guidance to achieve goals that contribute to the growth and mission of PLOS.

The Publishing Operations Content Technical Lead will be the primary contact for technical support of the production workflow from content composition, through publication and beyond. In this role, you are responsible for ensuring that the composition vendor(s) and the Production team understand and follow the technical specifications. You will assist with the implementation and testing of metadata enhancements and other composition/archiving/indexing quality improvements designed by the Content Metadata Strategy Lead, including corpus-wide content conversions. You will take a lead role in identifying/developing other areas of quality improvement where processes and tagging approaches could be made more efficient, reliable, or reflective of best practices.

Responsibilities

Content Management

• Manage and consult on technical aspects of the production workflow from creation of initial deliverables through publication and beyond for all research outputs.
• Develop technical quality improvements to the Production workflows.
• Resolve and troubleshoot problems related to composition and ingestion with the production vendor.
• Monitor and resolve publishing problems, syndication and indexing issues and communicate with PLOS staff about distribution and reach of PLOS content.
• Ensure that PLOS content conforms to evolving syndication partner requirements, and work with internal stakeholders on improving the syndication process by providing technical support in the creation of new workflows/APIs.
• Identify technical issues affecting journal content and other research output production and/or display.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure a quick resolution and prospective timelines.
• Train production staff on new workflows related to technical updates, as well as provide general training for new starters.
• Own end-to-end technical quality improvements across production workflows, with a deep specialization in XML-first based publishing, from issue identification through resolution, validation and sustained prevention.
• Identify systemic quality issues by analyzing recurring error reports, XML validation failures, syndication and downstream partner feedback, author-reported content or usability issues, and internally observed workflow pain points.
• Conduct root cause analysis of XML and workflow defects, distinguishing isolated errors from broader system, configuration, or process gaps.
• Design and implement preventative technical improvements, including XML structure updates, tagging guidance, validation rules, and process changes that reduce manual intervention and rework.
• Coordinate cross-functional resolution with vendors and internal teams, and ensure issues are driven through full closure.
• Document all technical decisions and improvements, updating SOPs, playbooks, and XML-related technical guidance to ensure long-term maintainability.
• Lead knowledge transfer and enablement efforts, training the broader team, including new starters, on new or updated XML-driven processes while maintaining ownership of overall workflow integrity and quality standards.

General/Technical

• Maintain and grow awareness of the wider publishing landscape, in particular as it relates to content transformation and discovery. Participate in occasional conferences related to metadata, PIDs, etc.
• Make routine recommendations to Production Manager in the implementation of new technology and tools, including potential plans for rollout and training.
• Provide technical expertise to the Digital team with planning and implementing needed system migrations and other updates that affect content and Production workflows. Serve as the primary XML subject-matter expert, ensuring schema compliance, tagging accuracy, metadata integrity, and structural consistency across all production outputs.

Vendor Management

• Maintain relationships with external archiving and indexing organizations such as PubMed, PMC, and Crossref.
• Work directly with internal and external stakeholders to document and maintain excellent quality content production workflows, including liaising directly with vendors/suppliers.
• Validate the effectiveness of implemented improvements, confirming reduced error recurrence, improved content visibility and usability, and successful downstream delivery to syndication targets.

Knowledge and Skills

• Effective time management and coaching skills
• Collaborative team player internally and externally
• Strong project management skills
• Works under tight deadlines while achieving a high standard of quality and accuracy.
• Has a growth mindset.
• Must be highly organized, detail oriented, and proactive in solving problems with the ability to set priorities and work independently.
• Effective communication skills, use of sound judgment, tact and decisiveness when working with multiple stakeholders.
• Significant publishing experience with an in-depth working knowledge of technologies used in XML-first content publication workflows.
• Substantial experience with the Journal Article Tag Suite (JATS), the ability to diagnose and confidently discuss issues and resolution, and the ability to suggest tagging solutions with internal and external stakeholders.
• A minimum of three years’ experience with archival and syndication workflows.
• Experience with Editorial Manager a plus.
• Direct experience with and knowledge of Crossref and PubMed requirements.

 Qualifications

• Bachelors Degree
• Minimum of five years’ experience managing vendors and independent contractors in different geographic locations regarding performance, monitoring and enforcement of SLAs.
• Minimum three years of direct specialist experience working in a structured data environment with mark-up language(s), preferably XML.

Physical Requirements and Work Environment

• Prolonged periods stationary at a desk and working on a computer.
• Some national and international travel may be required.
• Some flexibility to work across time zones.