Head of Customer Engagement, Academic & Publisher

Application Deadline: 5 July 2025

Department: Customer

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: USA, East Coast (Home based)

Description

About us
We are Digital Science and we are advancing the research ecosystem. We are a pioneering technology company, and our vision is of a future where a trusted and collaborative research ecosystem drives progress for all. We believe in better, open, collaborative and inclusive research. In creating the next generation of tools and working in partnership with the community we tackle some of the biggest challenges to research. In order to achieve our vision, we need innovative, inspiring and dynamic people to join our team. Want to join us?

Your new role

The Head of Customer Engagement, Academic & Publisher leads the team responsible for how we build trusted, lasting relationships with two of Digital Science’s most important customer groups. This role isn’t about preserving what is; it’s about building on strong foundations to thoughtfully evolve how we engage, enable, and create value for academic institutions and scholarly publishers across our portfolio of solutions.

We’re looking for a leader who’s equal parts customer strategist and people coach. Someone who brings clarity to complex environments, inspires confidence during times of change, and knows how to spot potential and turn vision into scalable systems. You’ve likely led teams through transformation before, know when to question what’s always been done, and have a strong sense of how to make engagement a powerful lever for customer success, retention, and growth.

In this role, you’ll not only shape our Academic and Publisher engagement strategy, but also coach a team navigating evolving expectations, guide cross-functional collaboration, and act as an advocate for the customer across Digital Science.

Please note - due to business need, we can only accept applications from candidates who reside in the US or the UK where we have established legal entities.

If you apply from outside of these areas, your application will not be considered.

Please be aware that we may close this position early if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply promptly.

What you’ll be doing

Strategic Vision & Segment Leadership

• Define and execute the customer engagement strategy for the academic and publisher segments, ensuring alignment with business objectives and future-readiness.
• Evaluate and evolve existing engagement approaches, identifying what’s working, what needs refinement, and what should be reimagined for greater consistency and impact.
• Maintain a portfolio-wide perspective across multiple Digital Science solutions to ensure customers experience clarity, continuity, and value throughout their journey.

Team Leadership & Change Enablement

• Lead, coach, and grow a geographically distributed team, building a culture of ownership, adaptability, and curiosity.
• Guide the team through shifting expectations and emerging needs, helping them develop new capabilities and confidence as engagement evolves.
• Provide regular mentoring, performance feedback, and development opportunities that emphasize both excellence and experimentation.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence

• Partner with Sales, Support, and Solutions to co-design processes that support a cohesive end-to-end customer experience.
• Act as a connector across Engagement, Product, and Marketing, aligning engagement efforts to strategic goals and ensuring they’re relevant, scalable, and future-focused.
• Represent the needs of Academic and Publisher customers in cross-solution planning and leadership discussions, surfacing opportunities for alignment and innovation.

Customer Insights & Journey Optimization

• Use customer feedback, usage data, and team insights to spot friction, uncover opportunities, and challenge assumptions.
• Collaborate with Product and Marketing to inform improvements across onboarding, adoption, retention, and expansion phases.
• Build a system for translating customer experience data into clear action plans for teams and stakeholders.

Operational Excellence & Scalable Infrastructure

• Monitor and report on engagement KPIs, translating insights into clear priorities, improvements, and decisions.
• Continuously assess and refine internal systems and playbooks, ensuring they remain fit for purpose as products, teams, and customer needs evolve