Service Delivery Manager

We are recruiting for a Service Delivery Manager to join the Global Supplier Management team, a specialist function within the Global Production department at Taylor & Francis. In this role, you will lead supplier relationships, drive performance, manage contracts, and contribute to strategic projects that help Taylor & Francis to deliver best‑in‑class customer service for our author communities worldwide.

The successful candidate will join an ambitious team of specialists responsible for ensuring that our supplier partnerships are delivering the best possible level of service for our customers and supporting the department’s strategic and commercial goals. Commitment to quality is important, and the team are guided by Lean principles: continuous improvement, evidence-based decision making, and optimising and clarifying our production operations wherever possible.

The Service Delivery Manager serves as an ambassador between our supplier partners and the wider business, and effective relationships with both are key to success. This role includes working closely with our suppliers to ensure they understand what is expected of them, and that they have the tools and support needed to achieve those expectations. Where needed, the Service Delivery Manager will also be expected to share expertise with those internal stakeholders that work with our suppliers, helping to ensure continued provision of service that is fast, efficient, and of excellent quality, and that any problems that arise are resolved as quickly as possible. What we do and how we do it is constantly changing in the Operations department, and the successful candidate will play a key part in leading or contributing to projects designed to improve or transform how the department delivers for Taylor & Francis.   

What you’ll be doing:

• Performance management of outsourced production suppliers
• Effective administration of suppliers, including processing payments, managing risk and resilience, resolving disputes, and overseeing audits and assessment
• Supporting strategic procurement, onboarding and offboarding of suppliers, and implementing new contracts into the department
• Conducting data analysis and reporting to support performance management and continuous improvement
• Working with internal teams and suppliers to continuously drive value from what we ask of our suppliers and how our suppliers operate
• Helping to develop and implement improvements to our production processes
• Creating and sharing effective standard operating procedures
• Supporting changes to our work with suppliers, including planning content moves between suppliers, stakeholder management and communication of change
• Building effective long-term relationships with colleagues across Taylor & Francis to ensure business needs across different departments are understood and met
• Supporting the Service Delivery Lead and Head of Global Supplier Management in achieving departmental goals
• Occasional overseas travel may be required.

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge, and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.  

Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s largest publishers of high-quality, peer reviewed scholarly journals, books, e-books and reference works. We empower learners, thinkers and doers with trusted knowledge that advances research and enriches lives. We bring together diverse people, ideas and opinions to validate and publish the experts, theories and truths that matter. And we’ve been doing this in an unbroken arc since 1798.  

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge.  We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that’s the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we’d love to hear from you. 

What we’re looking for:

The successful candidate will be experienced in academic publishing and will demonstrate a good working knowledge of and affinity with outsourced production and working effectively with outsourcing partners. They will have a proactive, solution-focused attitude, and will be able to identify and implement effective improvement measures when required.

The following skills and competencies are required:

• Working experience in an academic publishing production environment
• Exceptional organisation and prioritisation skills, and confidence in completing multiple tasks to deadlines and budget
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, empathy and listening skills, and the ability to effectively influence others
• Good stakeholder management skills, including resolving conflict
• Good leadership, team-building, coaching and motivational skills
• Ability to embrace change and champion it to others
• Commitment to continuous improvement
• Curiosity and flexibility to learn new technologies, systems, and processes as required
• Confidence working with automated workflows and curiosity to understand how they work
• Ability to adapt to a changing environment while continuing to motivate others
• Confidence in analysing and presenting data to support evidence-based decision making
• Good problem-solving skills
• Strong financial awareness and business acumen
• Proven decision-making skills with good judgement and application of pragmatism when required

Location: We believe that great things happen when people connect face-to-face. That's why we work in-person with each other, or with customers and partners, three days a week or more. When you’re not spending time together in one of our offices or other workplaces – like at conference – you get the flexibility and support to work from home or remotely.

The successful candidate will be able to utilise our balanced working model. We ask that candidates live within a commutable distance of our office in Milton Park, Oxfordshire, to ensure that as a balanced worker they can make it to our office locations to collaborate as required. There is an expectation for a minimum of 3 days per week in-person time.

Please note our Milton Park office will be relocating to Oxford city centre in late 2027 / early 2028, offering an exciting new workplace in the heart of the city.

Closing Date: Applications will close on Friday 1st May 2026.

What we offer in return: 

• An excellent work/life balance and flexible working culture 
• 25 days annual leave per year plus an extra day off each year for your birthday 
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season at the end of the year 
• 4 paid volunteering days each year 
• Company funded single cover private medical insurance  
• Employee assistance programme – offering 24/7 well-being support 
• Share Match – Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares. 
• Pension scheme 
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care options

If you’re excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, we invite you to apply even if your existing skills and experience don’t fit every item listed above. At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and make a contribution regardless of their identity or background. As a colleague, you will have the opportunity to further innovate and develop in areas that you are passionate about. Our goal is to empower you with the resources, incentives, and flexibility you need to enjoy success at work and to live a healthy, balanced life. 

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops, and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non-merit based factor. 

We want all our candidates to shine in our recruitment process. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to ensure you are able to show us your best self. This could include having the application form in a different format, more time for questions, or anything else – please ask us, we are happy to be flexible! Please contact [email protected]