[Hiring] Associate Publisher @HarperCollins Publishers

Role Description

The Associate Publisher plays a key leadership role in shaping, launching, and growing the Harper Catholic imprint. Working closely with the Publisher, this role helps guide the editorial vision, acquisitions strategy, and publishing program while actively representing the imprint within the company, to external partners, to the Catholic market, and at conferences and events.

The Associate Publisher brings strong publishing judgment, financial acumen, and relational leadership, along with the ability to build trusted relationships with Catholic authors, agents, thought leaders, and institutions. This position blends strategic planning with hands-on execution and offers meaningful influence in building a distinctive, mission-driven publishing program.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

• Author acquisitions
• Sales and marketing vision-casting
• Staff management and development

Responsibilities

• Author Acquisition and Retention:
  • Builds and sustains strong relationships with Catholic authors, agents, clergy, scholars, and institutional partners.
  • Actively networks within the Catholic ecosystem to identify new voices and publishing opportunities aligned with Harper Catholic’s mission and readerships.
  • Acquires, develops, edits, and manages approximately 10 titles per fiscal year, ranging from trade nonfiction to thought leadership and pastoral or devotional works.
  • Evaluates author platforms and market positioning within the Catholic context and collaborates with marketing and sales teams to shape effective launch strategies.
• Department Planning:
  • Participates in leadership team meetings with the Publisher and VP of Marketing for pipeline review.
  • Analyzes fiscal-year financial impact across frontlist and backlist titles to ensure alignment with revenue goals.
  • Reviews sales conference lineups, title pipeline, and annual performance lookbacks.
  • Contributes to reviews of departmental overhead and budgets.
  • Monitors current sales performance, tracking progress against budget throughout the year.
• List/Program Management:
  • Collaborates with the Publisher and works closely with the Managing Editor on list planning and management of the editorial schedule.
  • Helps manage the acquisitions cycle from Editorial Board through APL approval.
  • Supports the editorial team and Managing Editor to ensure timely delivery of book projects to production and printer.
• Product Development:
  • Oversees key aspects of the product development process, including titling meetings, cover direction meetings, and copy production.
  • Collaborates closely with the audio, video curriculum, and custom publishing teams to optimize Harper Catholic content in a variety of formats.
• Strategic Planning and Financial Analysis:
  • Supports Publisher in sales analysis, analysis of title performance, annual budgeting, and business planning.
• Publisher Support:
  • Meets regularly with Publisher to monitor individual acquisitions.
  • Maintains the profile of the department by joining key meetings or representing the Publisher.
  • Represents Harper Catholic at conferences and industry events, serving as a visible ambassador for the imprint.
  • Works closely with the Publisher to define Harper Catholic’s editorial and brand identity.
  • Assists Publisher in special departmental initiatives to analyze, strengthen, and grow the business.
• Staff Management:
  • Develops, oversees, and manages editorial team members as needed.
  • Conducts annual employee performance evaluations.
  • Prepares team for sales conference in collaboration with Publisher and VP of Marketing.

Qualifications

• Strong editorial skills; mastery of the English language, especially in written form.
• Ability to understand and analyze standard financial documentation, such as income statements and balance sheets.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software, especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Management, leadership, and professional development experience.
• Efficient task management skills.
• Ability to lead meetings with specific desired outcomes.
• Public speaking.

Requirements

• Work Experience:
  • Minimum: 8 years in publishing or related field, preferably with supervisory experience.
  • Target: 10 years in publishing with 2 or more years in a leadership role.
• Education:
  • Minimum: Bachelor’s Degree from a four-year university.
  • Target: Master’s Degree from a four-year university.
• Industry Knowledge:
  • Understanding of the Christian market and broader book marketplace, with special emphasis on awareness and discernment of dynamics within the Catholic market.
  • Demonstrated familiarity with the Catholic Church and its teachings.
  • Deep understanding of Catholic readerships, institutional structures, and current publishing landscape.
  • Conversant in consumer demand, retail environments (physical and online), and competition.
  • Well-read in Catholic and general market nonfiction books; understanding of style guides in general and the Chicago Manual of Style in particular.

Benefits

• Comprehensive and highly competitive benefits package.
• Variety of physical health, retirement and savings, caregiving, emotional wellbeing, transportation, and other benefits.
• Elective benefits employees may select to best fit the needs and personal situations of our diverse workforce.