[Hiring] Associate Director, Production @Macmillan

Role Description

Macmillan Children's Publishing Group is seeking an experienced Associate Director of Production to lead the frontlist production team for the Feiwel & Friends, Henry Holt, and Godwin Books imprints, as well as Conversions for MCPG. In this hands-on leadership role, you'll coach and support a team of production managers while also managing your own list of 40–45 titles a year, spanning picture books, chapter books, novelty books, and graphic novels.

You'll serve as a key liaison to Editorial, Design, Managing Editorial, and the Publishers; own 4-color workflows across the group; and partner with a co-Associate Director and other department leads to maintain department-wide workflows, the Safety Testing program, and offsite materials storage. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in children's book manufacturing, strong vendor relationships, and a talent for keeping complex projects on schedule, on budget, and at the highest quality.

What You'll Do:

• Management: Supervise and coach the production team in all aspects of production and manufacturing including, but not limited to: scheduling, prepress, estimating, printing and binding for text & components. Manage some of the seasonal launch tasks as pertains to the team.
• Maintain quality and coach team to manage vendors and review projects with an eye to high-quality standards.
• Ensure Production Managers manage their projects in compliance to corporate workflows and procedures, including entering project data into systems (Biblio and RSuite), contracting with vendors using approved scales, archiving and closing out projects.
• Collaboration with Internal Stakeholders: Provide editorial with options for product delivery. Investigate manufacturing options for print materials (books, media, components, etc.)
• Work with the Production Management team to keep projects on track in terms of schedule, budget, quality, vendor assignments.
• Attend weekly status meetings with managing editorial, production editorial, design, and art to track title progress.
• Coordinate with internal customers about project details and department protocols. Help teams set priorities.
• Managing a Title List: manage a medium sized list that includes some priority titles through the production/manufacturing process.
• Vendor Management: Maintain strong relationships with established vendors. Negotiate prices for non-contract projects and ensure vendors are conforming to Macmillan contracts. Evaluate vendor performance and oversee quality control reviews, issues and resolutions.

Qualifications

• 15 years of book production experience with at least 10 years in Children's.
• Excellent knowledge of all facets of book production and manufacturing.
• Must be highly organized and detail minded.
• Must have basic understandings of overall business of publishing and how production issues affect the success of a publishing company.
• Experience in people management a plus.

Requirements

• Ability to prioritize.
• Works collaboratively with others in a professional manner.
• Able to adapt to changes, delays and unexpected events.
• Anticipates, identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner.
• Working knowledge of Biblio and RSuite (desirable).
• Knowledge of the Google platform (desirable).

Benefits

• Salary range: $105,000 - $115,000.
• FSLA status: Exempt.
• This position is classified as remote but is tied to our New York, NY office located at 120 Broadway. Employment is subject to New York State tax withholding under applicable regulations.