Director Content Innovation (m/f/d)

Job Title: Director Content Innovation (m/f/d)

Location(s): Heidelberg, Berlin, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Pune

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. For more information, please visit about.springernature.com and follow @SpringerNature

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.

Role Responsibilities:

• Discover – work closely with customers, partners, and colleagues to identify new opportunities for greater revenue growth, better serving 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 – be a leader in the content innovation process and team.
• 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.
• Work with publishing, editorial, technology, other internal colleagues and external partners as needed to develop plans, milestones, etc. to deliver on these opportunities at scale.
• Implement – transition implementation responsibilities to relevant business unit.
• Work with relevant business unit to transition implementation, scaling and responsibilities to accelerate success, acting as advisers and trainers as needed to support this 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 we will use to guide and inspire the entire group.
• Contribute to setting out the content innovation purpose and its goals to colleagues.
• Contribute fully to the development of strategic objectives and tactical goals of the company.
• Work closely to support and engage with the other leaders to create a culture that is mutually supportive with teams that work together to best serve the needs of our external communities.
• Culture – Lead, coach and develop.
• 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 of 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 of 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 of initiatives in large, complex organisations achieved on 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 with 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

Ultimately we are looking to recruit someone with an innovative mind-set and the creativity to implement great new content types which meets the needs of our customers and enable rapid and sustainable growth. We appreciate a constant aim for excellence and performance driven approach. Intellectual confidence to challenge status quo.

Applicants should send:

• A cover letter that conveys your interest and motivation for the role and indicates salary expectations.
• A CV (which should include a brief account of your accomplishments and other relevant experience).

Candidates will be considered on an on-going basis. Early applications are encouraged. 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. Find out more about our DEI work here https://group.springernature.com/gp/group/taking-responsibility/diversity-equity-inclusion. For more information about career opportunities in Springer Nature please visit https://springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatureCareers/.

We are an ambitious and dynamic organisation, and home to some of the best-known names in research, educational and professional publishing. Working at the heart of a changing industry, we are always looking for great people who care about delivering quality to our customers and the communities we work alongside. In return, you will find that we open the doors to discovery for all our employees – offering opportunities to learn from some of the best in the business, with a culture that encourages curiosity and empowers people to find solutions and act on their instincts. Whether you are at the beginning of your career or are an experienced professional, we invite you to find out more about the roles we offer and explore our current vacancies. We are a global and progressive business, founded on a heritage of trusted and respected brands – including Springer, founded in 1842, Macmillan, founded in 1843 and Nature, first published in 1869. Nearly two centuries of progress and advancement in science and education have helped shape the business we are today. Research and learning continues to be the cornerstone of progress, and we will continue to open doors to discovery through trusted brands and innovative products and services. Springer Nature Group was created in May 2015 through the combination of Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media.