Publications Specialist

About the role

This role manages the editorial and publication workflow of a research department, overseeing the production of academic papers, reports and other scholarly outputs, and helping turn complex research into accessible formats for wider audiences.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and refine the end-to-end editorial and publication workflow, including submission guidelines, peer review, revision cycles and publication standards.
• Establish a Research Quality and Reputation framework covering academic rigour, referencing, peer review and publication targets.
• Give substantive editorial feedback on research papers, reports and scholarly outputs, and ensure consistent tone, style and formatting.
• Manage the full publication pipeline from draft to submission and publication, coordinating with reviewers, publishers and editors.
• Identify suitable publication venues and contribute to annual and long-term publication planning with the Research Manager.
• Translate complex research into policy briefs, executive summaries, blog articles and multimedia scripts, and work with the communications team on public engagement.
• Support relationships with publishers and journals, liaise on co-publications and edited volumes, and follow trends in academic publishing.
• Maintain the online publications section, internal catalogues and archives, and improve the digital presentation of research outputs.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; a Master's or PhD with a research focus is preferred.
• 6-8 years of full-time experience in academic publishing or editorial work, including 2 years at a supervisory level.
• Demonstrated ability to build editorial workflows and quality frameworks, and to turn complex research into public-facing content.
• Excellent writing skills and clear, concise communication.
• Arabic proficiency is required.

Required skills

• Strong knowledge of academic publishing standards, APA or Chicago citation styles, peer review and journal submission requirements.
• Proficiency in MS Office; familiarity with reference managers (Zotero, Mendeley) and document management systems is an advantage.