We are Frontiers

Frontiers is the 3rd most-cited and 6th largest research publisher. We publish groundbreaking discoveries by the world's top experts. Our mission is to make science open – so that scientists can collaborate better and innovate faster to deliver the solutions that enable healthy lives on a healthy planet. To achieve this, we look to hire passionate and motivated experts, that share our mission and aspirations, to help us in the pursuit of this mission.

“Frontiers” (or “we”, “us”, “our”) refers to Frontiers Media SA, Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland, and the other Frontiers affiliated companies whose job offers are available on our careers portal (each a “Frontiers affiliate”) including:

• Frontiers Open Science SRL (Belgium)

• Frontiers Open Science (Beijing) Limited (China)

• Frontiers Open Science GmbH (Germany)

• Frontiers Open Science Limited (Ireland)

• Frontiers Open Science (Italy) S.r.l. a socio unico (Italy)

• Frontiers Open Science B.V. (Nethlerands)

• Frontiers Open Science spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością / Frontiers Open Science sp. z o.o. (Poland)

• Frontiers Media, Unipessoal Lda (Portugal)

• Frontiers Software SLU (Spain)

• Frontiers Media Limited (UK)

• Frontiers Media Inc. (USA)

• HeyScience SA (Switzerland);

Frontiers Media SA and each Frontiers affiliate can be contacted at the address indicated below (How you can contact us).

“You” (or “your”) refers to you as user or visitor of the Frontiers careers platform and related services, as applicant for a position with Frontiers and more generally as a data subject whose personal data is processed by Frontiers in accordance with this policy.

This Privacy Policy describes the processing activities related to services available via our careers portal and to our job posting, search, application review, interview and recruitment processes. It explains when we collect your personal data, how we process this data and protect it, and how you can contact us and exercise your rights under data protection laws. For more information about the processing of personal data by Frontiers in other contexts, especially in relation to our publishing activities and events, please consult our general privacy policy.

Where you apply for a job opening via the application function on a third-party job site (such as Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster, XING, Bookseller, SAPO, etc.) or similar online service provider, the relevant provider may retain your personal data and may have access to the progress of your application on their platform. Any use of your data by these providers will be in accordance with their respective privacy policy and not this policy

Frontiers Media SA is the controller for all activities described in this policy when you apply for a role at Frontiers Media SA or if your spontaneously signal your interest for working with Frontiers (see the “Introduce Yourself” section of our careers portal).

In case you apply for a role with a Frontiers affiliate, your data will be processed by Frontiers Media SA and by the relevant Frontiers affiliate, acting together as co-controllers (joint control) with their respective responsibilities being allocated as follows:

• Frontiers Media SA will manage the careers portal, where you can search for open positions, apply for a position by creating an account or by introducing yourself, and will manage all communications and interactions with you during the recruitment process.

• Frontiers Media SA will be the sole point of contact (acting on behalf of all co-controllers) for all interactions related to the recruitment process, especially if you need support with your Frontiers careers account (by sending an email to careers@frontiersin.org) or if you have questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your data protection rights, which you can do at any time by sending us an email to this email address data.protection@frontiersin.org (see How you can contact us).

• Frontiers Media SA and the relevant Frontiers affiliate will process your personal data to jointly review and assess your application, and, if applicable, organize and conduct interviews, negotiate job offers and make hiring decisions, while both also may collect information about you from other sources as set out below in this policy.

• Frontiers Media SA will ensure the storing of personal data of unsuccessful candidates on its IT systems during the retention period defined by this privacy policy.

• Frontiers Media SA is responsible for ensuring that your personal data is processed and protected in compliance with this policy and applicable laws, which means that your data will be protected by appropriate technical and organizational measures and will not be processed in a manner that is incompatible with the purposes or legal basis for which they were originally collected.

• Frontiers Media SA will be responsible for answering any request based on data protection laws, including if you exercise your rights (see below Your rights under data protection laws)

• In case you are hired by Frontiers, Frontiers Media SA or the relevant Frontiers affiliate will be your employer and, from this point onward, the processing of your personal data will follow the internal policies of the Frontiers group.

We collect and further process your personal data in the following situations:

a) When you visit our careers portal

We will collect details of your visits to our careers portal and applicant account including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data.

Our careers portal uses only strictly necessary cookies to allow our recruitment system to function properly, to enable the successful communication between the end-user and the service, and to ensure the security of our web applications and infrastructure. If you reject these cookies via the functionalities of your web browser our careers portal may not function properly.

b) When you apply for a role or submit information about you via our careers portal

When you apply for a position, we will first ask you to create a Frontiers careers account by providing your email address and a password. We will also ask you to provide certain mandatory information namely: first name, last name, address, telephone number, educational background (including degrees, diplomas, certifications) and professional qualifications, certifications, information relating to your employment history, skills, experience. We will also collect application materials submitted by you, such as CVs/resume, cover letters, and references. If you do not provide this data, we will not be able to process and evaluate your application.

You can also declare your interest in being contacted by Frontiers in relation to any future career opportunities by providing information via our careers portal (see “Introduce Yourself”).  We will ask you your first name, last name, country of residence, email address, phone number and offer you the possibility to upload your resume. If you do not provide this data, we will not be able to evaluate your background and contact you about future career opportunities.

c) When you take part in a recruitment and interview process

In case you are invited to an online or in-person interview, we will collect:

• Further information about your employment history, your motivations for the role

• Interview notes assessments, and feedback from interviewers

• A record of any correspondence between us

• A record of your progress through any hiring process

This data is necessary for us to evaluate your application so if you do not wish to provide it, we will not be able to move forward with the recruitment process.

We will also collect any other information you voluntarily provide in connection with your application, such as salary expectations, willingness to relocate, and availability.

d) When you communicate with us or answer our surveys

We will collect information when you contact us and ask us questions or queries about our recruitment process.

We may also conduct surveys and invite you to provide additional information about yourself or feedback on our interview process. Unless otherwise provided in these surveys, information collected on these occasions will remain anonymous and will not be tied to your candidate profile.

e) Information we collect from third parties

We use different services and databases, including professional networking services (such as LinkedIn) or rely on the services of professional recruiting agencies to identify suitable candidates. If you have made your personal data available to these third parties, we may collect your personal data from them according to their relevant business terms.  We may also process publicly available information about your academic and professional career.

When you submit references to us, we will, with your authorization, collect information from these people.

We may also receive your personal data from a third party who recommends you as a candidate for a specific job opening or for our business more generally.

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

a) To find appropriate candidates to fill our job openings.

b) To manage our careers portal, including user registration, application submission, and providing updates on the status of your application.

c) To review and evaluate your job application to assess your suitability for the position and decide on the next steps in the recruitment process.

d) To organize and conduct interviews, as well as to communicate with you about interview scheduling, logistics, and feedback.

e) To make hiring decisions, negotiate job offers, and onboard successful candidates.

f) To analyze and improve our recruitment processes, including monitoring the effectiveness of our careers portal and identifying areas for improvement.

g) To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as employment and immigration laws, as well as to respond to requests from public authorities, enforce our rights and defend ourselves against potential claims.

h) To answer your queries.

In addition, we may use anonymized or aggregated data to monitor and improve our recruitment metrics, and to fulfil our commitments to conduct recruitment based on values of fairness, transparency and diversity.

We collect necessary data during your job application process, driven by our legitimate interest in hiring suitable candidates for our job openings and enhancing our recruitment procedures. This is balanced against your rights and interests. Where applicable, we process your personal data in line with legal provisions governing pre-employment context. We also process your data to fulfill our obligations under employment and immigration laws. Any optional data collected is based on your explicit consent for us to process it as stated in this Policy.

We may employ automated systems to determine whether applicants meet essential qualifications for open positions (for example, requisite work permits). While these systems assist in identifying potential candidates, all final hiring decisions are made by our employees.

a) When we share information within the Frontiers group: We will share your personal data among Frontiers Media SA and the Frontiers affiliates forming the Frontiers group. We work as an integrated company from our headquarters in Switzerland and other offices located in different countries.

b) When we share information with our service providers: We work with external service providers to maintain our careers portal and provide recruitment services. These providers process your personal data as needed to perform assigned tasks under our instruction and are contractually obligated to ensure your data's confidentiality and security. We collaborate with different types of service providers that may require access to your personal data, including: 

• Data management, platform development, and general IT services;

• Web hosting services;

• Identity and access management solutions;

• Customer service, relationship management, and marketing communications services;

• Analytics, audience measurement, and advertising services;

• Email communication services;

• User request management services;

• Recruitment agencies.

c) When we are required to disclose information to governmental authorities: we may provide your information to regulators, enforcement agents, courts and/or other government entities we believe that it is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.

 d) In the context of disputes and court proceedings: If we are involved in disputes or court proceedings, we may provide your information if we need to do so in connection with legal proceedings. We may also use and share your information to enforce our rights.

 e) In the context of corporate reorganization: If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, joint venture, dissolution, merger or other corporate restructuring, we will use reasonable efforts to give you inform you of notice and the option to opt-out of the transfer, before your data is transferred or becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

a) Data security: We maintain technical, physical, and administrative security measures designed to provide reasonable protection for your personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, and alteration. These measures include technical measures such as encryption at rest and in transit, secure server software (SSL) and regular reviewed and audits to detect possible vulnerabilities and attacks, as well as organizational measures including access controls (following need-to-know principle), training and incident prevention, detection and response procedures. We also contractually require our service providers to maintain similar security measures. Despite these efforts, please note that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security and, in the event of a security breach, we will take all measures that are required by applicable law, including in certain cases notifying you. You contribute to the protection of the personal data available via your candidate account by keeping your username(s) and password(s) strictly confidential, not having the same password for different services, and not disclosing them to anyone.

b) Data retention: We will hold your personal data for 18 months after you receive our notification regarding the outcome of your recruitment process. When you choose to delete your job candidate account prior to such date, we will still retain limited data about your recruitment process such as candidate name, application outcome, candidate feedback notes and CVs or resumés for 18 months. We may keep personal data for a longer period in case you expressly consent to Frontiers keeping your data to contact you in relation to future opportunities, in case of legal disputes and in case it is necessary to enforce our rights or defend ourselves against any legal claims.

c) Age limits: Frontiers careers services are available only to people aged 18 and over.

d) International data transfers: Frontiers operates globally and, to conduct our business and deliver the Services, we will transfer your personal data to Frontiers affiliates and service providers located outside your home country for the purposes described in this policy. When doing so, we will take the measures that are required by law to ensure that your personal data continue to benefit from an adequate level of protection.

When we transfer information outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland we take additional measures. These include relying on the European Commission and Swiss government’s adequacy decisions issued for certain countries, as applicable, for data transfers to countries outside the EEA. Additionally, in the absence of an adequacy decision we include the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission and the Swiss data protection authority in our contracts with non-EEA third parties with whom we share your personal data.

The affiliates, services providers (and their respective subcontractors) that Frontiers relies upon to carry out its recruitment activities in accordance with this privacy policy, are located in different countries, including the following territories/countries

• Argentina

• Australia

• Brazil

• Canada

• China

• Dubai/UAE

• Egypt

• European Union/EEA

• Hong-Kong

• India

• Israel

• Japan

• Malaysia

• New Zealand

• Philippines

• Singapore

• South Africa

• South Korea

• Switzerland

• Thailand

• United Kingdom

• United States of America

You can log into your Frontiers careers account to access, edit or delete your account data, or manage your preferences.  

You also have rights under the data protection laws that may vary depending on your location or the nature of the processing involved. These rights will typically include the following:

a) Right to access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. We will provide this information free of charge within one month of receiving your request. In such cases, we may extend this period by an additional two months.

b) Right to rectification: If the personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request that we correct or update it. We will make the necessary changes within one month of receiving your request.

c) Right to erasure ('right to be forgotten'): You can request the deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances, such as when the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or you have withdrawn your consent.

d) Right to restrict processing: You may ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as when you contest the accuracy of your data, or when the processing is unlawful.

e) Right to object: You can object to the processing of your data for purposes based on legitimate interests.

f) Right to withdraw your consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent in situations where our processing of your personal data is based on your express consent.

g) Right to not be subject to automated decision-making, including profiling: You have the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you.

Please note that the exercise of some of these rights may be subject to exceptions or limitations, as permitted by applicable data protection laws, in particular when unless we can demonstrate compelling reasons for the processing that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where such processing is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, for reasons of public interest, or for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us following the indications below (see How you can contact us).

For all questions related to this Privacy Policy and to exercise your rights (see above Your rights under data protection laws), you can contact Frontiers Media SA and each Frontiers affiliate as described below:

a) Support and account deletion: You can request a deletion of your account within your candidate account. For further explanations on how to manage or delete your Frontiers careers account, you can contact careers[at] frontiersin.org

b) Questions about this privacy policy: for any questions related to this privacy policy, and to exercise your rights under data protection laws please contact us at data.protection@frontiersin.org.

c) Contact our Data Protection Officer: You can contact Frontiers Media SA’s Data Protection Officer at data.protection@frontiersin.org or the following address:

Frontiers Media SA (attention: Data Protection Officer)
Avenue du Tribunal-Fédéral 34
1005 Lausanne
Switzerland

Frontiers Media SA is based in Switzerland and its activities are primarily governed by Swiss laws. To report any breach of Swiss legal requirements, you can contact the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner’s office at:

Office of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC)
Feldeggweg 1
CH - 3003 Berne
Switzerland

https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/

In cases where the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) applies, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a European Union supervisory authority. Our main establishment for the purposes of GDPR application is our Frontiers affiliate in Spain.

Frontiers Software SLU
Calle de Goya, 36
4th floor
28001 Madrid
Spain

It is subject to the supervision of the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos AEPD

Agencia Española de Protección de Datos 
Calle de Jorge Juan, 6
28001 Madrid
Spain

https://www.aepd.es/es

Where the UK General Data Protection Regulation applies, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office.

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
United Kingdom

https://ico.org.uk/

Where other laws apply, you can contact us according to the paragraph above to lodge a complaint.

The updated Privacy Policy, effective as of 3rd August 2023, governs all recruitment activities that are ongoing on such date, or that start on or after such date. If you applied for a position that closed before  28th July 2023 and we have retained your personal data (see How we protect your personal data – b) Data retention), the storage, and where relevant, further processing of your data will be carried out by Frontiers Media SA in accordance with the privacy policy active at the time of your application until the retention period defined by such policy ends.

If we make changes to this Privacy Policy, those changes will come into effect upon their posting on the Websites. If changes involve any substantive change to your rights, we will inform you through appropriate means, such as by contacting you via your registered email address.

 Frontiers Media SA