Senior Production Manager

Senior Production Manager

Workman Publishing, a publishing division within Hachette Book Group, is seeking a Senior Production Manger to coordinate manufacturing responsibilities for frontlist titles published by Workman’s Adult and Children’s imprints. Formats include books, novelty, stationery and calendars. Primary responsibilities include costing, scheduling, and ordering manufacturing. This role is located in Hachette’s New York office on a hybrid basis.

The ideal candidate will work closely with Design, Editorial and Managing Editorial departments as well as outside vendors, both domestic and overseas, to produce high quality print on aggressive schedules, within budget constraints. The candidate should be comfortable working in a highly collaborative but deadline-driven, team-oriented environment. The candidate will need to balance out-of-the-box thinking and creativity with the practicalities cost constraints. The candidate will have the ability to successfully execute the vision of the publishing division while taking proactive steps to avoid issues as well as possess the ability to react quickly and efficiently to unforeseen complications with the utmost grace and diplomacy.

This position requires skills to manage, motivate and mentor staff to foster good habits, teamwork, continuous improvement, and growth.

Responsibilities:

• Effectively and efficiently coordinates all phases of book production and manufacturing from composition, prepress, printing and binding through final delivery.
• Negotiates pricing throughout the development of a product through proper bidding and cost analysis.
• Collaborates with Publisher, Editorial, and Design to conceptualize and develop product, applying creative solutions to solve special product needs and budgetary constraints.
• Work closely with domestic and overseas vendors to manage supplier performance, to ensure schedule fidelity, a high level of quality, and budget requirements.
• Monitors production schedules through coordination with outside vendors as well as all relevant in-house departments to ensure on-time delivery at every stage of manufacturing.
• Manages prepress requirements, traffics and color correct proofs.
• Prepare and update budgets and cost estimates both seasonally and on a title-by-title basis.
• Attends and participates in regular production meetings.
• Analyzes production specifications with an eye towards potential cost-saving opportunities. Communicates alternative specifications to editorial and design departments for discussion.
• Works independently, keeping Manager and imprint informed of any service disruption or vendor quality issues. Communicates such issues to the vendor, in collaboration with Manager as needed.
• Prepares cost estimates, purchase orders, and shipping instructions from HBG’s title management system.
• Diligently maintains accurate specification and scheduling information in Title Management.
• Supervises day-to-day duties of direct reports,
• Performs other duties and special projects as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Possess knowledge of book production process for a diverse range of formats that is reinforced by 10+ years professional experience in the trade publishing industry.
• Some leadership skills in managing a team.
• Strong experience with manufacturing in Asia and the United States.
• Strong color assessment skills with the ability to provide guidance to in-house team and appropriate instruction and color correction and retouching directives to outside suppliers.
• Employs solid negotiating skills.
• Thorough, accurate, and articulate verbal and written communication skills.
• Possess a high level of organization and is detail oriented, creative, flexible, and able to prioritize.
• Collaborate well with a diverse team of internal and external stakeholders. 
• Ability to utilize technology to improve workflow. 
• Proficiency in Excel, basic math, calculating, organizing, and presenting data.
• Skilled use of Mac platform.
• Comfortable with Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign. Illustrator, Photoshop) as well as Adobe Acrobat.
• Seeks continuous improvement and innovative solutions.
• Maintains grace under pressure in a high-energy, fast-paced environment.

How to Apply: To be considered, please submit both a resume AND a cover letter. We ask for a cover letter so that we can understand how your skills or experience can apply to our open role. 
 
As a leading book publisher, we believe that including and representing diverse voices in all aspects of our business is fundamental to what we do. Our publishing programs must reflect the broad range of backgrounds, experiences, political views and ideas that shape our society and publish books for all readers.   
 
Hachette Book Group provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.  
 
The compensation range for this position is $85,000 - $90,000. Salary can vary based on a number of factors including skills, experience, and location — talk with your recruiter to learn more. There may be times that you will be required (or requested) to work overtime due to the nature of your role or exceptional workload issues or special projects.  
 
The following benefits are offered by the company: medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life, short-term and long-term disability, accidental death and dismemberment, critical illness, hospital indemnity, long-term care, health and dependent care FSA, commuter benefit plan, employee assistance program, tuition reimbursement, travel assistance, 401(k), discretionary bonus program, PTO (15 vacation days, 3 personal days, 10 holidays and generous sick leave) and group discounts on auto and home insurance and legal services. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification, hours worked and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms.