Sage
Program Manager, Workflow Transformation
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Program Manager, Workflow Transformation – Permanent - 66-76K GBP
Join us and be part of a mission-driven, independent publisher. You’ll work with a diverse group of people who share a passion for empowering researchers, educators, and institutions to shape the future.
About Sage:
Sage is a global academic publisher of books, journals, and library resources with a growing range of technologies to enable discovery, access, and engagement. Believing that research and education are critical in shaping society, Sara Miller McCune founded Sage in 1965. Today, we are controlled by a group of trustees charged with maintaining our independence and mission indefinitely.
Our guaranteed independence means we’re free to:
- Do more – supporting an equitable academic future, furthering disciplines that drive social change, and helping social and behavioural science make an impact
- Work together – building lasting relationships, championing diverse perspectives, and co-creating resources to transform teaching and learning
- Think long-term – experimenting, taking risks, and investing in new ideas
About Our Team:
At Sage, our Journals Open Access team is passionate about expanding access to high-quality research and supporting a more open, equitable scholarly publishing landscape. We partner with researchers, institutions, societies, and internal stakeholders around the world to deliver innovative open access publishing solutions that increase the visibility, reach, and impact of academic research. Working collaboratively in a fast-paced and evolving environment, our team is committed to helping advance knowledge and drive positive changes across the global research community.
Your New Role:
The Program Manager, Workflow Transformation is responsible for driving the successful delivery of strategic workflow, technology, and AI-enabled initiatives across the journal publishing lifecycle. This role partners across Editorial, Production, Technology, Customer Service, and external vendors to improve operational efficiency, support organizational change, and ensure transformation efforts deliver measurable business outcomes.
- Own and design the delivery of an AI-enabled workflow transformation roadmap across the end-to-end article lifecycle.
- Partner with Editorial, Production, Technology, Customer Service, and other collaborators to define priorities and achieve strategic objectives.
- Identify, prioritize, and lead initiatives that improve operational efficiency, reduce task time, increase standardization, and enhance the experience of authors, editors, reviewers, and internal teams.
- Translate strategic objectives into clear business requirements, process designs, and implementation plans that support successful delivery while minimizing operational disruption.
- Coordinate cross-functional delivery by managing dependencies, risks, resources, and competing roadmaps to maintain momentum and achieve program goals.
- Facilitate alignment across collaborators by balancing journals needs, operational considerations, technology resource, timelines, and budgets.
- Oversee the planning and execution of user acceptance testing (UAT), pilots, and phased implementation. Ensure feedback is incorporated into sustainable and actionable solutions.
- Lead change management and communication of program activities across all collaborator groups, ensuring they are informed, prepared, and supported during implementation.
- Provide regular updates to collaborators and senior leadership, clearly communicating both progress as well as risk, dependencies, and blockers. Facilitate decision-making discussions and support to maintain on-time delivery.
- Establish and monitor key performance indicators related to program outcomes.
- Evaluate program progress regularly, including collaborator feedback, market developments, emerging technologies, and new opportunities to support a strong timely roadmap of initiatives.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Can you be our new Program Manager?
- Experience in academic publishing, with strong knowledge of editorial, peer review, or production workflows.
- Demonstrated success leading projects, programs, roadmaps, or workstreams with clear delivery outcomes.
- Strong understanding of journal publishing systems, workflows, system integrations, and related technologies. ScholarOne experience strongly preferred.
- Proven ability to translate business objectives into clear requirements, process designs, and implementation plans.
- Experience partnering with technology teams, vendors, and internal collaborators to achieve successful project or program delivery.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with an ability to evaluate processes and identify opportunities for increased efficiency and standardization.
- Experience managing competing priorities, dependencies, risks, and collaborator expectations in a complex organizational environment.
- Demonstrated ability to influence and drive alignment across teams without direct authority over decision making.
- Experience with operational reporting and metrics, evaluating performance data, and translating this into digestible collaborator updates.
- Familiarity with, or strong interest in, AI-assisted workflows, workflow automation, or emerging technologies developed to solve timely process challenges in journal publishing operations.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Overview of benefits:
- 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) with 2 additional floating personal days.
- Hybrid working up to 2 days per week in office and a home working allowance.
- Life assurance, income protection, and travel insurance.
- Private medical cover and access to the company doctor.
- Tuition scheme and support for pursuing professional qualifications, including access to Sage books and journals.
- Variety of snacks and beverages available in the office.
- Healthy lifestyle reimbursement and anniversary trips.
- Access to Company loans (season ticket loan, rental deposit loan, cycle loan).
We’re a Disability Confident Employer (Level 1). If you’d like to apply under this scheme, please let us know in your application.
We’re committed to making our recruitment process accessible and inclusive. If you’d like to request reasonable adjustments, please email humanresources@sagepub.co.uk. Please note we only accept applications via email if an adjustment has been agreed.
To ensure we can give each application the attention it deserves, we may consider bringing the closing date forward. Therefore, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to ensure it is considered.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
At Sage, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and to sustaining a culture that celebrates diversity, encourages authenticity, and builds a deep sense of belonging. We encourage applications from all members of society irrespective of age, disability, sex or gender identity, sexual orientation, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, or belief as crafting value through diversity is what makes us strong.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location