Operations Manager – From the Ground Up

The Operations Manager supports all editorial and publishing activities for From the Ground Up, ensuring each issue moves smoothly from draft to copyediting, design, and launch. This is a hands-on role for a detail-oriented, systems-minded person who can keep many moving parts organized—metadata, production status, contributor communications, and launch planning—while collaborating closely with the Publisher, Managing Editor, and editorial team.

Key Responsibilities

Editorial & publishing operations

• Support the end-to-end editorial production workflow for each issue: tracking progress, coordinating handoffs, and maintaining clear timelines
• Review and quality-check all elements prior to design/publishing to ensure completeness and consistency (titles, author names, bios, tagging, credits, captions, links, and required metadata)
• Coordinate with Publisher and Managing Editor to create an issue Table of Contents (TOC) for Editorial Board review; incorporate updates and maintain the latest approved version
• Maintain accurate records and statuses in the issue management database
• Build and refine templates, checklists, and lightweight workflows that reduce last-minute fixes and improve consistency across issues
• Provide research support for parts of the magazine

Issue launch planning

• Create and manage an issue launch plan that coordinates editorial, copyediting, design, web publishing, email/newsletter, and social promotion tasks
• Track launch milestones, confirm ownership of remaining tasks, and ensure teams are aligned on the timeline
• Coordinate final pre-launch checks (links, tagging, titles, and other publishing details) to ensure a smooth, high-quality release

Contributor coordination & communications

• Track contributor deliverables and process steps; ensure communications are timely, clear, and consistent
• Send contributor communications to ensure collection of agreements and timely payment
• Serve as a point of contact for operational questions from contributors and route editorial questions to the appropriate team members

Team collaboration

• Attend weekly editorial meetings; communicate timeline, provide clear status updates, identify bottlenecks, and flag risks early
• Coordinate directly with the Publisher to ensure smooth handoffs, shared clarity on priorities, and consistent production standards

Measures of Success

• Issue management database (Airtable) is consistently up to date and functions as a reliable “single source of truth” for issue status
• Pieces enter copyediting/design with fewer missing elements (broken links, incorrect tagging, inconsistent titles, missing credits/assets)
• Table of contents review with the Editorial Board runs smoothly and on schedule
• Launch planning reduces scramble—everyone knows what’s happening, when, and who owns each step
• Contributor communications go out promptly and accurately

Qualifications

Required

• Strong organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail
• Experience coordinating multi-step workflows with multiple stakeholders
• Clear, professional written communication (especially email and documentation)
• Comfort using Airtable (or similar tools), Google suite, spreadsheets, and shared file systems

Preferred

• Experience in publishing, editorial operations, content production, or project management
• Familiarity with metadata/tagging and link QA for web publishing
• Ability to translate ambiguity into structure (checklists, timelines, “definition of done” standards)

From the Ground Up is the core communications platform for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities (WWF&C)—a collaborative conservation initiative advancing an integrated vision for New England that unites research, policy, and communications to conserve forests and farmlands, protect seacoasts and local food systems, and support the health and well-being of all living beings.

From the Ground Up is a free quarterly magazine that convenes “both/and” voices that embody this integrated approach—amplifying the work of partners and organizations throughout the region (and beyond) while contributing to the body of knowledge related to conservation in New England. Each issue contains articles, essays, poetry, and artwork that aim to encourage action through storytelling rooted in science and policy, interwoven with inspiring creative work.