Books Head/Account Manager – Publishing Services

Thomson Digital, Inc.; Chennai; On-site; INR 800,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Thomson Digital, Inc. is seeking a seasoned professional to manage end-to-end book production. You will coordinate with internal teams to ensure timely delivery, quality, and adherence to client workflows and SLAs.

The role requires strong English communication, experience in publishing services, and the ability to drive process improvements and efficiency across multiple titles.

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of relevant experience in book publishing, book production, or publishing services.
• Experience from publishing houses or publishing services companies is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of complete book production lifecycle, workflows, terminology, and deliverables.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Ability to manage customer expectations, delivery schedules, and SLAs.

Responsibilities

• End-to-end book production management from manuscript receipt to final deliverables.
• Coordinate with production managers, editors, typographers, and quality teams.
• Monitor progress, risks, and timelines; escalate issues early and implement corrective actions.
• Support workflow automation, digital publishing solutions, and AI-enabled tools where relevant.
• Track performance against SLAs, quality standards, and delivery commitments.

Skills

Book publishing experience

Project coordination

English communication

Email writing

Meeting management

Reporting

Workflow knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in English or related field

Tools

Workflow automation

Digital publishing

AI tools

Job description

The role requires a strong understanding of end-to-end book production, excellent client communication skills, and the ability to coordinate effectively with internal production, editorial, composition, quality, and technology teams.

The ideal candidate will have experience working with a publishing house or a publishing services company, understand the complete book production lifecycle, and be capable of managing customer expectations, delivery schedules, quality standards, and operational performance.

Key Responsibilities

1.End-to-End Book Production Management

• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the complete book production lifecycle, from manuscript receipt to final deliverables.
• Manage and monitor production stages, including:
• Manuscript assessment, pre-editing, and content preparation.
• Copyediting, language editing, and proofreading.
• Typesetting and composition, including print and digital formats.
• Artwork, tables, figures, permissions, and reference management.
• Author queries, corrections, and review cycles.
• Page proofing, quality checks, and final file validation.
• Indexing, where applicable, and preparation of print-ready PDFs and eBook outputs.
• Final delivery, archival, and project closure.
• Ensure adherence to client-specific workflows, production schedules, quality benchmarks, and service-level agreements (SLAs).
• Monitor project progress, identify bottlenecks, and implement corrective actions to avoid delays and rework.

2.Production Coordination & Delivery

• Coordinate with production managers, editors, typesetters, proofreaders, quality teams, and other stakeholders.
• Track multiple titles and projects simultaneously, ensuring visibility into milestones, dependencies, and delivery timelines.
• Monitor production volumes, turnaround times (TAT), quality metrics, and pending activities.
• Ensure that project teams have clear briefs, specifications, and priorities.
• Escalate risks in advance and drive timely resolution of production issues.
• Ensure compliance with publishing standards, customer specifications, and internal quality processes.

3. Quality & Process Improvement

• Maintain high standards of editorial, compositional, and final-delivery quality.
• Analyse recurring errors, customer feedback, rework, and production delays to identify root causes.
• Work with internal teams to implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Identify opportunities to streamline workflows, improve productivity, and reduce production costs without compromising quality.
• Support the adoption of workflow automation, digital publishing solutions, and AI-enabled tools wherever relevant.
• Monitor account-level performance against agreed SLAs, quality standards, and delivery commitments.
• Support workload planning, resource coordination, and production forecasting.
• Track relevant operational metrics, including productivity, turnaround time, error rates, rework, and customer satisfaction.
• Support estimates, production planning, scope discussions, and change requests in coordination with the relevant internal teams.
• Identify potential opportunities to expand the scope of services offered to existing customers.

Preferred Candidate Profile

• 5-7 years of relevant experience in book publishing, book production, or publishing services.
• Candidates from publishing houses, academic publishers, STM publishers, trade publishers, or publishing services companies are preferred.
• Strong practical knowledge of book production stages, workflows, terminology, and deliverables.
• Strong academic background, preferably from a reputed institution, with English-medium education.
• Excellent spoken and written English
• Strong email-writing, meeting-management, presentation, and reporting skills.
• Ability to explain production issues, risks, and corrective actions clearly and professionally.

Location

Chennai (Work from Office)