Head of Publishing (Educational Resources)

White Rose Education; Halifax; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 72,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Annual leave

Professional development

Wellbeing support

Free on-site parking

Job summary

White Rose Education, a respected UK education publisher based in Halifax and Leeds, seeks a Head of Publishing to build and lead a new in-house department. You’ll own standards, calendar, and team recruitment, shaping publishing from concept to publication.

You’ll manage cross-site publishing for print and digital, recruit senior editors and designers, and drive quality and accuracy across curriculum content.

Qualifications

• Senior leadership of a publishing, editorial or content function.
• Track record of recruiting, managing and developing people.
• Experience owning publishing or production schedules at volume.
• Strong editorial judgement and commitment to quality.
• Commercial awareness of suppliers, freelancers and budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead the publishing department across editorial, design and production for print and digital.
• Recruit, build and mentor your team, starting with a Lead Creative Designer and a Senior Curriculum Editor.
• Set house style, editorial and visual standards and implement a quality process at scale.
• Own the publishing calendar, capacity planning and release dates, delivering on time.
• Manage the shift from external suppliers to an in-house team without missing dates.
• Oversee freelancers, suppliers and spend within budget.
• Collaborate with subject specialists to ensure curriculum accuracy.

Skills

Senior leadership

Staff recruitment

Publishing schedules

Editorial judgement

Budget management

Job description

Head of Publishing (Educational Resources)

Salary range: £51,500 to £72,100 (full-time equivalent, dependent on experience)
Full-Time | All Year Round | 37 hours per week
On-site role | Based in Halifax (HX2) and Leeds (LS11) - post holder will work cross-site

Build a publishing department from the ground up

White Rose Education is a respected UK education publisher whose resources are used every day by teachers in thousands of schools, here and internationally. Everything we publish is written by experienced teachers, and it is trusted because it is right.

Until now, our editorial and design work has been handled by external suppliers. Now we are bringing it in house, and we need a Head of Publishing to lead it. This is a new role with full responsibility for the department and a genuine build: you will set the standards, own the publishing calendar and recruit the team that delivers it.

What you’ll do

This is a role with real ownership. You’ll take the lead on how our publishing function works – building the team, putting the right processes in place and making sure brilliant educational content gets from concept to publication, on time and to the right standard.

• Lead the publishing department across editorial, design and production, for print and digital
• Recruit, build and develop your team, starting with a Lead Creative Designer and a Senior Curriculum Editor
• Set house style, editorial and visual standards, and a quality process that holds up at volume
• Own the publishing calendar, capacity plan and release dates, and deliver against them
• Manage the move from external suppliers to an in-house team without dropping a publication date
• Manage freelancers, suppliers and spend against budget
• Work with subject specialists, who keep the final word on curriculum accuracy

What you’ll bring

You don’t need to come from education – but you do need to know publishing. We’re looking for someone who has led people, managed complex publishing or production schedules and knows how to create the structure and standards needed to deliver consistently at scale.

• Senior leadership of a publishing, editorial or content function, in any sector
• A track record of recruiting, managing and developing people
• Experience owning a publishing or production schedule at volume, and delivering it
• Strong editorial judgement and a disciplined approach to quality and accuracy
• Commercial sense around suppliers, freelancers and budgets

Knowledge of the education market is an advantage but not essential. You don’t need a teaching background. What matters is that you have led people and a publishing operation that delivered.

Why this role

This isn’t an opportunity to inherit someone else’s publishing department. It’s an opportunity to create one. You’ll have the freedom to shape how the function operates, while building something that directly influences the resources teachers and children use every day.

• A blank page: no inherited team or process, so you shape the department yourself
• Work that reaches thousands of teachers and children every week
• A new national curriculum arrives in 2028, so what you build here will matter
• Hybrid working, a minimum of two days a week on site in Halifax, with regular travel to Leeds
• Pension, generous annual leave, funded professional development, wellbeing support and free on-site parking