Departments
In this section
As we continue to develop and expand our portfolio, job opportunities arise in all departments. These descriptions of departments around NPG provide a snapshot of what different departments are responsible for and what your role might involve if you become part of the team.
Administration/Office Services
The administration and office services teams keep NPG's offices running smoothly and ensure that employees have a comfortable, safe and productive working environment. This team has a wide-reaching set of responsibilities including catering, building maintenance and office moves, telephones, phones, photocopiers and printers, meeting rooms, reception and front of house, as well as first aid, health and safety, security, cleaning and the postroom.
Advertising
The display advertising department is responsible for selling print and online advertising, in all of NPG’s journals, products, and services, to companies who supply products, equipment and services to research laboratories. The advertising department is staffed by Regional Account Managers and Regional Account Executives.
Regional Account Managers look after and grow NPG’s business from key customers. NPG offers a variety of options for advertisers to promote their products; display advertising pages, 3rd party emails, e-toc alerts, standard and rich media banners, and sponsorships.
Regional Account Managers are comfortable dealing with senior decision makers who have direct influence and involvement on the allocation of their company's marketing communications budget. They are team players who work well with others in print and online sales/operational support as well as marketing, production and finance.
Regional Account Executives, who are paired up with Regional Account Managers, work in the same regional territories as their Account Managers. Regional Account Executives enable their Account Managers to spend more time with key accounts, by managing much of the day to day account activities associated with their clients’ print and online campaigns. Regional Account Executives provide grass roots help and help seek out growth opportunities from potential new accounts in their allocated regions. The advertising team is based in San Francisco, Boston, New York, London, Zurich and Tokyo.
Customer Services
NPG Customer Services play a key role in customer retention, and in supporting all of NPG's products and services. Customer Service stands as a single point of contact, aiming to be comprehensive, accessible and accountable to customers and staff alike. The customer services team is based in the London, New York or Tokyo offices.
Editorial
NPG offers many opportunities for people with a scientific background to pursue editorial careers at the cutting edge of scientific research, while working outside the laboratory environment. In the case of the Nature titles, there are no external academic editorial boards, and the in-house editors are fully responsible for all aspects of editorial content. Those interested in finding out more about the editors' roles can ask questions at Nature Network, in the Ask the Editor group.
- Research editors: Editors' responsibilities include selecting manuscripts for publication, commissioning and editing reviews, News and Views, and other feature material, writing editorials, and maintaining links with the scientific community through regular attendance at scientific meetings and visits to research institutions worldwide.
- News editors and correspondents: The Nature News staff are responsible for writing news stories; commissioning and editing material from freelance contributors; and maintaining links to the research and science policy communities. Like the research editors, news staff are encouraged to attend scientific meetings and visit research institutions on a regular basis.
- Copy and sub editors: Our publications place strong emphasis on clarity of presentation, and each title has at least one full-time copy or sub editor. The copy or sub editors work closely with editors, authors and production staff, to ensure that the authors' intended message is communicated as clearly as possible to a broad readership.
- Freelance and short-term opportunities: There are opportunities for freelance work for journalists for Nature News; for copy and sub editors; and for commissioning editors. Those interested in being considered should contact the relevant journal office. There are also regular locum editorial appointments (to cover staff maternity leave, for example) and editorial internships, both of which are advertised as positions arise. Editorial locums and internships are particularly suitable for academic researchers who wish to spend a short sabbatical working for a scientific journal, but who wish to return to research for their long-term career.
- NPG Academic & Society Journals The Academic journals division comprises more than 30 titles in a variety of basic research and clinical disciplines. The in-house team work to ensure the smooth day-to-day running of each title and liaise regularly with the external academic editors of each journal. They are responsible for overseeing the journal's growth and development.
Further details about editorial opportunities can be found at the Nature Network Ask the Editor group.
Fulfilment
The fulfilment department is responsible for coordinating the distribution of all NPG journals in print. Distribution Coordinators are responsible for providing instructions for subscriber copies, office copies, newsstand shipments, inserts, circulation and postal audits and coordinate Statements of Ownership and BPA circulation statements. The team also works closely with marketing to organize the distribution of the NPG journals and special supplements to conferences worldwide and handles backcopy requests for these journals. The fulfilment department is based in Basingstoke and New York.
Human Resources/Personnel
The Human Resources and Personnel departments look after recruitment, interviews and training as well as employee benefits, including health and welfare of employees, and employee relations.
IT
The IT department is a service and support team responsible for providing computer network infrastructure, operations, technical support and services and training within NPG. In addition, the department provides IT representation on business projects, including project management, systems analysis and design, application development, hosting and support.
Marketing
The marketing department includes the Site License Business Unit, Public Relations and Studio (graphic design). Marketing Managers, Executives and Coordinators work on a specific journal, series of journals or the NPG brand. Members of the marketing department research develop and execute integrated marketing campaigns to support subscribers, online users, librarians, society members, advertisers, or any other customer group. The Site License Business Unit works with the institutional market developing NPG’s online subscription (site license) services and includes business development, tele-sales and marketing communications. The marketing department is primarily based in London and New York.
Online Advertising Operations
The Online Advertising Operations department (Ad Ops) is responsible for the efficient processing of all paid assets on behalf of advertisers. The team deals with online campaigns that vary from traditional or rich media banners booked across nature.com, to targeted email advertising, eToC adverts, and other emerging ad technologies. Online Advertising Operations is based in New York, London and San Francisco.
Nature Press Office
The Nature Press Office provides a service for science journalists and science writers. The press office promotes the content of NPG’s journals. This could be through journalist, Public Information Officer (PIO) and author liaison, press releases or media briefings. The press office’s goal is to maximize the global impact of research published in NPG journals. The Nature Press Office is based in London and New York.
Production
The production department is responsible for handling all stages of production for NPG journals in print. Production Editors and Art Editors in Editorial Production are responsible for the design and layout of editorial pages, preparing and checking artwork and liaising with editors and authors. Production Controller/Coordinators in Manufacturing Production are responsible for tasks ranging from chasing advertising copy, issue planning, checking digital files and handling all aspects of the printing of our journals. Production Controller/Coordinators in Academic Journals Production are responsible for checking author proofs and liaising with society editorial offices as well as managing all aspects of production with typesetters and printers. The production department is based in London, Basingstoke and New York.
Web Publishing
The Web Publishing team develops new, online services for scientists and clinicians, usually in close collaboration with other NPG departments. Web Publishing aims to ensure that NPG stays in touch with the latest web developments and makes the most of the web as a global communication medium. Areas include scientific databases social software and rich media (e.g. podcasts).
According to Outsell Insights, "Nature Publishing Group has now launched so many innovative Web 2.0-style initiatives that the development floor of its London offices is being referred to as "the Natureplex.""
Go to launchpad for an overview of Web Publishing's latest projects.
Web Technology and Production
The web technology and production departments are responsible for the design, development and maintenance of the company websites including nature.com, gateways and databases. The web technology and production staff are based in New York, US; London and Basingstoke, UK; and Bangalore and Gurgaon, India.
- Internal Systems Development: Internal Systems Development is responsible for the end-to-end development and maintenance of all internal online publishing tools and systems with a focus on automation. Staff includes technical project managers, web designers, and developers.
- New Product Development: The New Product Development team focuses on the end-to-end development and maintenance of all new and bespoke projects. Staff includes project managers, web designers, developers, and web production.
- Platform Development: The Platform Development team focuses on the end-to-end development and the maintenance of all of our standard products, such as journals and reports, on our mature platforms (e.g., nature.com, Palgrave Macmillan, etc.) Staff includes project managers, web designers, developers, web production, and data services. Web Production Services and Web Design are also included in Platform Development.
- Software Services: Software Services are the central resource for Platform Development, New Product Development and Internal Systems Development. Responsibilities include software architecture, overseeing development workflows, code reviews, information architecture, technical writing, standards and quality assurance.