Job Title
Director Content Innovation (m/f/d)
Location
London - hybrid working model
About Springer Nature
Springer Nature is one of the leading publishers of research in the world. We publish the largest number of journals and books and are a pioneer in open research. Through our leading brands, trusted for more than 180 years, we provide technology-enabled products, platforms and services that help researchers to uncover new ideas and share their discoveries, health professionals to stay at the forefront of medical science, and educators to advance learning. We are proud to be part of progress, working together with the communities we serve to share knowledge and bring greater understanding to the world.
About The Role
We are seeking a Director, Content Innovation to lead the development of new research content types, content-enabled services, and AI-supported content innovation opportunities that drive sustainable growth across Research Publishing. This role sits within the Content Innovation team and focuses on identifying emerging customer needs, translating technology and market trends into innovation priorities, and shaping new concepts from experimentation through to scalable implementation. The Director will work across research publishing, technology, product, marketing, and commercial teams to design, test, and transition high‑value content innovations into the business. A key part of the role is providing practical leadership in applying agentic AI to improve content value, user experience, and business impact in a responsible and effective way. The role also supports the Content Innovation strategy by helping to define priorities, guide experimentation, and ensure innovation efforts align with broader business goals and user needs. This is an excellent opportunity for a leader with deep experience in research publishing or another high-trust knowledge domain, a strong product and innovation mindset, and the ability to turn ideas into measurable outcomes in a complex global organisation.
Key Success Factors
* Solid AI experience with strong user‑centred product and design thinking capability.
* Strong awareness of global technology trends, innovation ecosystems, and emerging AI capabilities, combined with experience working across international markets and multicultural teams.
* Strong expertise in Research and Research Publishing, strategy and reporting, and a strong understanding of researcher, editor, and institutional user needs.
Role Responsibilities
Discover
* Work closely with customers, partners, and colleagues to identify new opportunities for greater revenue growth, and better serve the needs of our customers, mainly researchers and adjacent institutions.
* Undertake research; monitor new trends, technologies and techniques to understand and consider all possibilities.
* Track competitors, work with market research, editorial colleagues, tech colleagues and others in pursuit of these insights.
* Translate external trends, technology developments, and customer insights into clear strategic priorities and experiments.
Develop
* Apply a rapid, agile process of content and product design, including testing, refining and validation.
* Provide practical leadership in applying agentic AI to identify, pilot and scale content innovation opportunities that improve content value and business impact.
* Design new content innovations and content‑enabled services that meet identified needs across both human‑ and machine‑readable applications.
Plan
* Work closely with publishing and editorial, technology, and the commercial teams to plan new opportunities.
* Work with commercial colleagues and strategic marketing colleagues to establish suitable business models and go‑to‑market plans to meet these needs.
* Collaborate with publishing, editorial, technology, and external partners to develop plans, milestones and deliver on these opportunities at scale.
Implement
* Transition implementation, scaling and responsibilities to the relevant business unit, acting as advisers and trainers as needed to support success.
* Define success metrics and use data to guide iteration, adoption, rollout and handover readiness.
* Develop and agree formal documentation for handovers with heads of relevant business units.
Leadership
* Contribute actively to the Springer Nature leadership team to develop, agree and communicate a strategic narrative that guides and inspires the entire group.
* Contribute to setting out the content innovation purpose and its goals.
* Support and engage with other leaders to create a culture that is mutually supportive and serves the needs of external communities.
Culture
* Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, external curiosity and experimentation.
* Support driving diversity, equity and inclusion within the Content Innovation team.
Experience, Skills & Qualifications
* Successful track record in planning, leading and delivering innovative content and product innovations and content‑enabled services.
* Excellent analytical skills.
* Experience working with Artificial Intelligence and Agentic AI, with the ability to balance innovation with trust, quality and user value.
* Experience working in environments where accuracy, credibility and responsible use of technology are critical.
* Significant experience in customer‑facing digital content, products and/or services, ideally including high degrees of community interaction.
* Strong product mindset, including experimentation, prioritisation, validation and translation into scalable solutions.
* Proven ability to move from concept and experimentation to scaled implementation in live workflows, products or services.
* Experience building successful investment cases.
* Experience defining success metrics and using data to guide iteration, adoption and rollout.
* Ability to manage multiple stakeholders and evidence of successful implementation of strategies, programmes or initiatives in large complex organisations achieved on the strength of personal credibility and working through people rather than positional power.
* Track record of working across geographies and with different nationalities and cultures.
* Proven ability as a self‑starter and results‑focused.
* Comfortable working with less process‑oriented and structured functions.
* Experience presenting to and working with senior leadership.
* Excellent communication skills and the ability to build both internal and external relationships.
* The flexibility to work with a varied workload, often under pressure.
* Flexibility to travel regularly.
* Significant experience in research publishing, scholarly communication, scientific content or another high‑trust knowledge domain.
* Strong understanding of researcher, editor and institutional user needs.
Personal Characteristics
* Innovative mind‑set and creativity to implement new content types that meet the needs of our customers and enable rapid and sustainable growth.
* Constant aim for excellence and performance‑driven approach.
* Intellectual confidence to challenge status quo.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
At Springer Nature, our mission is to be part of progress – and that begins with inclusion: of people, perspectives, and ideas. We believe that diverse perspectives drive progress, and we are committed to creating an environment where people and ideas can flourish. If you have any access needs related to disability, neurodivergence or a chronic condition, please contact us so we can make all necessary accommodation.
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