Chief Transformation Officer
Johns Hopkins University Press seeks a Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) who will be responsible for leadership and implementation of the Press’s innovation strategy and plan. The CTO will join a team of exceptional professionals committed to bringing the benefits of discovery to the world by providing trusted scholarship and connecting people to evidence-based knowledge from leading experts.
Working in a collaborative and inclusive environment, the Chief Transformation Officer will focus on innovation and the future of Hopkins Press to ensure its sustainability, ability to compete in the marketplace, and alignment with its mission. The CTO will join forces with everyone on the leadership team, staff across the Press, advisory board members, and other stakeholders to identify, validate, prioritize, and implement carefully chosen market- and mission-driven initiatives that will enhance the Press’s mission and produce sustainable market success. Starting with a robust implementation plan for improving current infrastructure, embracing the benefits of AI, and transitioning to open access, this incumbent will also set new innovation priorities for the next three to five years. Through this work, the CTO will build Press-wide ability to welcome and adapt to change and to seek continuous improvement. This position reports to the Executive Director of Johns Hopkins University Press.
The Press is committed to honoring every person’s inherent dignity as human beings and making that the foundation of our organizational culture. We proactively find ways to ensure opportunities that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. We strive to publish courageously, giving voice to groundbreaking ideas. We support each other and our stakeholders and envision a future where knowledge enriches the lives of every person. The successful candidate will join a welcoming community that is inclusive and values the contributions and perspectives of individuals from all backgrounds.
Specific Duties & Responsibilities
- Leading, encouraging, and inspiring efforts to transform business models to sustainable and equitable Open Access in the Press’s journals, books, and Project MUSE divisions.
- Overseeing core infrastructure to address current and future market demands with the director of Project MUSE for the Project MUSE platform, and, with the CIO for other technology infrastructure.
- Collaborating closely with CIO and all divisions to embrace the benefits of AI and other emerging technologies for priority use cases to enhance productivity and efficiency, allowing staff to work at higher-levels.
- With the CIO, identifying and prioritizing AI use cases and other emerging trends across the Press as applied to building new, market-successful, and mission-driven products and, with the Executive Director of the Press researching LLM opportunities.
- Discovering and validating the market landscape to identify and prioritize new primary opportunities, working with industry consultants and staff across the Press. Writing RFPs, choosing consultants, guiding them in their efforts.
- Developing agile implementation plan for new opportunities to test validated initiatives including planning, prototyping, accepting or rejecting, launching, and evaluating.
- Establishing methods and mechanisms to support collaboration across all divisions of the Press to encourage new ideas and promote a culture of innovation.
- Developing, recommending, and implementing procedures and strategies to encourage innovative thinking and input from colleagues and other stakeholders.
- Raising funds from government agencies, foundations, and other sources to support endeavors, writing proposals, stewarding granters.
- Leveraging early results from implementing initial projects and newly identified activities to course correct, ensuring optimal and sustainable return on investment measured by financial success and hewing to mission.
- Developing output and outcome measures for each initiative, tracking progress, providing overarching assessments of the programs/products, and making recommendations for changes, improvements, or discontinuation as appropriate.
- Weave diversity, equity, inclusion, and access principles into all aspects of the work.
Minimum Qualifications
- Master's Degree in Business, Information Technology, Digital Humanities, Marketing Analytics, Communication, or related field.
- A minimum of 10 years of experience working in publishing, publishing services, scholarly communication or other related work.
- Additional education may substitute for required experience, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.
Preferred Qualifications
- Ten plus years of leadership experience in effectively managing change in publishing, publishing services, content aggregation, or similar industry.
- Knowledge of the technology landscape as it relates to content businesses and an ability to make judgments about its applications.
- Ability to effectively communicate a vision, strategy, and the pathway to meet that vision and strategy.
- Ability to orchestrate and facilitate a variety of formal and informal strategy discussions with colleagues and stakeholders to inspire new ideas and encourage innovative thinking.
- Keen understanding of the finances of a complex set of content businesses.
- Demonstrated record of inspiring others and being a role model to encourage and embed change.
- Excellent critical thinking and communication skills.
- Superior problem-solving skills including using sophisticated analytics to drive decisions, and at the same time work with a sense of urgency.
- Creative thinker; embracing new ideas; passionate about developing the potential of Hopkins Press.
- Inclusive in decision-making and problem-solving.
- Experience with cultivating a positive workplace environment and an understanding of the foundational principles of leading with dignity.
- Excel in effective use of resources; keen self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses.
- Excellent critical thinking and communication skills.
Classified Title: Director Strategic Initiatives & Business
Job Posting Title (Working Title): Chief Transformation Officer
Role/Level/Range: L/05/LH
Starting Salary Range: $126,000 - $220,800 Annually (Commensurate with experience)
Employee group: Full Time
Schedule: M-F 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Exempt Status: Exempt
Location: Hybrid/Homewood Campus
Department name: Press General Administration
Personnel area: Academic and Business Centers