Assistant Editor (Master's/PhD holder) - Physics

Molecular Diversity Preservation International; Manchester; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading scholarly publishing organization based in Manchester is seeking an Assistant Editor to support the editorial process for academic research journals. The role is ideal for recent PhD or Master's graduates keen to engage with the scientific community. Responsibilities include guiding the peer review process, managing publication communications, and ensuring timely publication of scholarly articles. This full-time role offers training, a competitive salary, and additional perks like flexible working hours and health benefits.

Benefits

Competitive salary

10% pay rise after probation (for PhD holders)

Flexible Working Times

Special Days Off for events

Friendly working environment

Bonus Incentives

Access to Perkbox

Health Cash Plan

Modern city centre office

Cyclscheme

Techscheme

Qualifications

• A PhD (preferred) or Master's degree in a field related to Physics.
• Excellent written and spoken English skills.
• Advanced knowledge of MS Office applications.

Responsibilities

• Support the editorial process for academic research journals.
• Organise peer review process for submitted manuscripts.
• Ensure that scholarly articles are accurately edited.

Skills

Excellent written and spoken English skills

Strong organisational and time management skills

Detail oriented

Team player

Very good communication and coordination skills

Education

PhD or Master's degree in Physics-related field

Tools

MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Job description

To strengthen our Editorial team, we are looking for recent PhD and Master's graduates who are eager to stay connected to scientific research by helping researchers worldwide publish their latest results. The position of Assistant Editor is an entry‑level, full‑time and permanent position based in our city centre office in Manchester, UK.

This is a full‑time in office role. The office is located next to Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester.

Responsibilities

• Support the editorial process for academic research journals in your domain of expertise
• Organise peer review process for submitted manuscripts and coordinate editorial decisions
• Handle email communication between the parties involved in the publication process
• Collaborate with other members of the editorial team and production team
• Ensure that scholarly articles are accurately edited and published according to tight deadlines with a high degree of consistency

Requirements

• A PhD (preferred) or Master's degree in a field related to Physics, including:
  • Photonics (Optics, Materials Science and Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Physical Chemistry, Electrochemistry, etc.).
  • Entropy (Physics, Applied Physics, Theoretical Physics, Astrophysics, Astronomy, Geophysics, Optics and Photonics, Condensed Matter Physics, Particle Physics (High‑Energy Physics), Nuclear Physics, Quantum Science).
  • Mathematics (Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Computational Mathematics, Statistics, Actuarial Science, Cryptography, Scientific Computing, Topology, Geometry, Algebra).
• Excellent written and spoken English skills.
• Advanced knowledge of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Team player with the capability to work in a dynamic, international environment.
• Detail oriented with the capacity to see the big picture.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.
• Very good communication and coordination skills.

The career trajectory of this role includes work at conferences, visiting scholars, and marketing events work so applicants should be interested in working face‑to‑face with the scholarly community and be passionate about promoting open access.

As a successful candidate, you will receive full training in editorial work, working closely with Managing Editors and learning how to process research articles from submission to publication. Training supervised by an assigned tutor will take place on the job during the first six months. Depending on your background, you will be assigned to work on journals related to your field of study or research. No previous editorial experience is required; however, a familiarity with the academic editorial process is an advantage. This is a great opportunity to start a first job in a dynamic multinational company which offers a range of career development options to talented, enthusiastic, and hard‑working people.

What We Offer

At MDPI, you will be joining an international team, working for the largest open‑access publisher in the world. Among the benefits of working for MDPI, you can expect:

• A competitive salary, including our quarterly bonus scheme, which rewards high‑performing editors.
• 10% pay rise after passing the six‑month probation period (for PhD holders, 5% for Master’s Holders).
• Focused support from your group leader, who is your first point of contact for any issues.
• Flexible Working Times
  You are able to start work anytime between 7‑9am, and finish between 3pm‑6pm.
• Special Days Off
  Getting married or moving house? No need to use up your holidays, MDPI offer paid time off for such occasions.
• Our Culture
  A friendly working environment with monthly lunch parties, office snacks and seasonal events.
• Bonus Incentives
  Depending on your role, you may be eligible for one of our bonus schemes which rewards high‑performing employees.
• Perkbox
  You will have access to our benefit platform called “Perkbox.” This will provide you with a range of discounts and benefits across various retailers, including savings on food, drinks, tech, travel, and more.
• Health Cash Plan
  After passing probation, employees are enrolled into our private health membership with Bupa. You can claim money back on dental, doctors, and prescriptions amongst many other health services.
• Modern City Centre Office
  Located next to Piccadilly Gardens, our office is a 10 minute walk from both Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road train stations. There are also tram stops outside of the building.
• Cyclscheme
  Save between 25-39% on a bike and accessories.
• Techscheme
  Save up to 10% on tax when purchasing tech equipment from places such as Ikea and Currys.

About MDPI

A pioneer in scholarly open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. Our mission is to foster open scientific exchange in all forms, across all disciplines. We operate more than 400 diverse, peer‑reviewed, open access journals supported by over 66,000 academic editors. We serve scholars from around the world to ensure the latest research is openly and broadly available.

MDPI is headquartered in Switzerland with additional offices in Europe, Asia and North America. We are committed to ensuring that high quality research is made available as quickly as possible. We also support sustainability projects, with sustainability as a key theme in many journals and through the MDPI Sustainability Foundation.

Initiatives

At MDPI, we develop and maintain various platforms in order to better serve the scientific community. Please find here‑below a list of our main platforms:

• https://www.mdpi.com/
• https://sciprofiles.com/
• https://sciforum.net/
• https://www.scilit.net/
• https://www.preprints.org/
• https://encyclopedia.pub/