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Could you be our new admin assistant?

By Alison Fox, on 29 January 2018

We’re looking for a new admin assistant to help support the UCL Press team! Could it be you?

This is a rare opportunity to join a fantastic team who are incredibly knowledgeable, experienced and friendly, who have already made a splash in the academic publishing world. Reporting to the Publishing Manager, the postholder will mainly be responsible for assisting with the Press’s marketing and distribution activities as well as other general administrative duties to support the UCL Press team on a part-time basis.

The postholder will play a key role in the team,  supporting the Publishing Manager, Managing Editor, Commissioning Editor, Marketing and Distribution Manager and Journals Manager in a wide variety of tasks. The ideal candidate will be someone with some marketing and publicity experience, preferably in book publishing, with strong Excel and Powerpoint skills, social media and website experience, with excellent interpersonal skills who is highly organised and methodical.

The role holder will also be expected to undertake other related tasks such as updating the website, writing and commissioning blog posts, writing AIs, and other associated sales and marketing activities. This is a wonderful opportunity to play a key role in the early phases of a dynamic new university press at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Applications close at 23:59GMT on 13 February 2018.

For more information, to see a job description, or to apply, click here

People behind the press: meet our Admin Assistant

By ucyless, on 3 August 2016

elliIn a semi-regular blog series, we’ll introduce you to the people behind the press.  Today we’re introducing you to Elli Sullivan, our Admin Assistant.

What is your role and what does it involve?

My role within UCL Press is Administration Assistant.  My role involves supporting all of the UCL Press team members.

How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?

I’ve been at UCL Press since December 2015. Before landing the job at UCL Press,  I was an Administration Officer for a charity back home in Perth, Australia. Our mission was to optimise the lives of people living with disabilities.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

The working achievement I’m most proud of is getting a great job in the UK. After all the stories I’ve heard from friends/family it seemed that it would be a long and hard journey. But I did it, and within a short time frame of arriving, I’m very proud of my persistence and motivation.

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of you to-do list?

The top of my to do list at the moment is making sure that everything is in place for our new title management system.

What is your favourite album, film and novel?

Album – Watch the Throne (Jay-Z and Kanye West)

Film – this is a huge tie between the Shawshank Redemption and the Wedding Singer

Novel – The Messenger (Markus Zusak)

What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?

What’s green and has wheels? The grass, I lied about the wheels.

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

Elvis Presley

My parents (Mum & Dad cook a great BBQ!)

Kim Kardashian

Kanye West

Karl Lagerfeld

Jennifer Lawrence

Marc Jacobs

RuPaul

J.K Rowling

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t let negativity get you down, and don’t let other people’s opinion stop you.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I was a West Australian State Ice Hockey player. I’m also pianist.

What is your favourite place?

That’s a tie between New York and Coogee Beach back home in Perth.

People behind the press: meet our Managing Editor

By ucyljbi, on 11 July 2016

In a semi-regular blog series, we’ll introduce you to the people behind the press.  Today we’re shining the spotlight on Jaimee Biggins, who is our Managing Editor.

What is your role and what does it involve?

In my role as Managing Editor at UCL Press, I’m responsible for guiding books and journals through production from manuscript to publication.

I coordinate all production activities including briefing suppliers and freelancers, managing schedules and budgets, quality checking content throughout the process and leading author communication.

On a day-to-day level, I’m tracking progress of my titles, monitoring key dates and problem-solving as issues arise. I ensure that UCL Press content is ready for print and online publication.

As well as producing print copies of all our books, we also do epub/Kindle versions and enhanced digital versions of some of our books, so my role is increasingly digitally focused and involves making sure that the final file is ready for all the various outputs.

As an Open Access publisher, we also upload a downloadable PDF of all our books on UCL Discovery and disseminate the PDF to various Open Access platforms – so the process doesn’t just end at final file stage.

How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?

I joined UCL Press Jaimee Bigginstwo years ago. My previous role was Team Leader at Oxford University Press. I supervised a team of production editors working on academic and trade books.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

In my previous job, I spent five weeks in India as a short-term project manager. I visited several of our core suppliers as we rolled out important production initiatives.

It was great to be on the ground, shadowing my counterparts and learning about workflows at our suppliers. It was also a fantastic experience to be immersed in a different culture too.

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of you to-do list?

At the moment, I’m focusing on our autumn books and journals. We have a varied list and I’m busy making sure we achieve our planned publication dates.

What is your favourite album, film and novel?

Album: Madonna: Greatest Hits

Film: It’s a Wonderful Life

Novel: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?

I’m afraid I’m terrible with jokes!

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

Emily Dickinson

W. B. Yeats

Joan Didion

Sheryl Sandberg

Iris Murdoch

What advice would you give your younger self?

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I lived in New York for five years.

What is your favourite place?

Galway in the west coast of Ireland – I love the rugged coastline and the wild beauty of the landscape. As well as the stunning scenery, the people are friendly and welcoming and there are plenty of cosy pubs to hide in and escape the rain!

– See more at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/staff/staff-news/0216/10022016-spotlight-on-jaimee-biggins#sthash.MBnGjDQ3.dpuf

People behind the press: meet our Marketing and Distribution Manager

By Alison Fox, on 1 July 2016

In a semi-regular blog series, we’ll introduce you to the people behind the press.  First up is Alison Major, who is the Marketing and Distribution Manager for UCL Press.

What is your role and what does it involve?

I’m Marketing and Distribution Manager for UCL Press, UCL’s university press. This means that I look after everything that happens after a book or journal has published.

I don’t really have a typical day- I can be meeting authors, negotiating with distributors, knee deep in catalogues/websites/emails, managing our social media presence (see our twitter account @uclpress, Instagram coming soon), talking to socities attending conferences and a whole host of other things.

How long Alison Majorhave you been at UCL and what was your previous role?

I’ve been at UCL since July 2015. It’s something of a homecoming, as I studied here as an undergraduate. Previously, I worked for Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (part of Wolters Kluwer) looking after various aspects of their international marketing. My last role there focused on Middle East and global south, and involved a lot of travel to some wonderful countries I might never have visited otherwise, like Oman.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved at UCL Press- it’s been a very fun, exciting journey so far, and we’re extremely proud of the excellent authors that we’ve worked with. In our first year, we have published 12 books than have been downloaded 35,000 times in more than 160 countries worldwide. There are even more exciting titles to come in Autumn!

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of you to-do list?

UCL Press’ first birthday. We are extremely proud of what we’ve achieved in the first year, so it’s great to be able to celebrate with those who have played a part in making it the success that it’s become.

What is your favourite album, film and novel?

This is a really, really hard question!

Album: Blue Afternoon by Tim Buckley or Pink Moon by Nick Drake

Film: Probably one of the Dogme films: either Festen (“The Celebration”) or Idioterne (“The Idiots”)

Novel: Master and Margerita by Mikhail Bulgakov every time. It’s just a book that keeps on giving.

What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?

I don’t really have a favourite joke that would work well when written, but my three year old niece is obsessed by this one:

What do you call a dinosaur with no eyes?

Doyathinkysaurus!

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

Nelson Mandela, William S. Burroughs, Jón Gnarr, Bill Hicks, Mata Hari, Aung San Suu Kyi, Kathleen Hanna, Pablo Escobar, Mo Mowlam, Dolly Parton, Jeff Buckley, and finally, my Fiance!

What advice would you give your younger self?

The same advice I always give to interns and students: there is no such thing as a stupid question. That, and to always ask yourself “Who died?” when something goes wrong. Inevitably, the answer is no one.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I have been glacier hiking and didn’t scream once. Or that I can’t drive, and have never even had a single lesson.

What is your favourite place?

Another hard one! It’s so difficult to nail it down. If I really *have* to choose, it’d either be at Roskilde festival, listening to music whilst sharing a few drinks with my very best friends and watching the sun going down…or…on the wonderful island of Lokrum looking out to the Adriatic as the sun goes down, surrounded by peacocks.