Senior Production Associate

Publishers Weekly; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Publishers Weekly is seeking a Senior Production Associate to oversee manufacturing of adult and children's one-color titles in hardcover and paperback, coordinating with Editorial, Managing Editorial, Design, and printers to meet ambitious timelines and budgets.

Based in New York, this hybrid role requires 3-5 years in 1/color book production with domestic and overseas suppliers, strong vendor management, proficiency in InDesign/Acrobat and Excel, and a collaborative, detail‑driven approach

Qualifications

• College degree or relevant work experience.
• 3-5 years experience in 1/color print book manufacturing with domestic and overseas suppliers.
• Effective and efficient vendor management skills.
• Comfort with Adobe Creative Suite and basic file preflight, InDesign and Acrobat.
• Must be creative, highly organized, and detail oriented.
• Proficiency in Excel, basic math, calculating, analyzing and organizing data.

Responsibilities

• Proactively monitor production schedules. Coordinate with outside vendors (in the US and overseas) as well as in-house managing editorial, design, and inventory to ensure on-time delivery.
• Supervise outside vendors to regulate supplier performance and ensure that schedule, quality, and budget requirements are met with shifting timelines.
• Desk duties include cost estimating, production scheduling, preflighting files; proof trafficking, and some color assessment skills.
• Prepare and update budgets and cost estimates, both seasonally and on a title-by-title basis.
• Prepare purchase orders and shipping instructions from HBG’s proprietary title management system.
• Attend and participate in weekly production meetings.

Skills

Vendor management

Education

College degree or relevant work experience

Tools

Adobe InDesign

Acrobat

Excel

Job description

Join the UNSQ team as a Senior Production Associate and help bring exceptional books to life. In this role, you will oversee the manufacturing of adult and children's one-color titles across hardcover and paperback formats, managing titles from early estimates to finished book. Collaborating closely with Editorial, Managing Editorial, Design, and our printers, you will deliver high-quality products on ambitious timelines while balancing budget requirements. We're looking for a detail-oriented production professional who thrives in a fast-paced, high-volume publishing environment and enjoys working collaboratively to solve challenges and drive results.

Responsibilities

• Proactively monitor production schedules. Coordinate with outside vendors (in the US and overseas) as well as in-house managing editorial, design, and inventory to ensure on-time delivery.
• Supervise outside vendors (in the US and overseas) to closely regulate supplier performance and ensure that all schedule, quality, and budget requirements are met in the face of constantly shifting timelines.
• Desk duties include cost estimating, production scheduling, preflighting files; proof trafficking, and some color assessment skills.
• Prepare and update budgets and cost estimates, both seasonally and on a title-by-title basis.
• Prepare purchase orders and shipping instructions from HBG’s proprietary title management system.
• Attend and participate in weekly production meetings.
• Analyze production specifications to propose cost-saving measures.
• Work under supervision, keeping Senior Manager and imprint informed of any service disruption or vendor quality issues. Communicate such issues to the vendor in collaboration with Senior Manager.
• Maintain accurate specification and scheduling information in company databases.
• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.

Qualifications

• College degree or relevant work experience
• 3-5 years experience in 1/c print book manufacturing with both domestic and overseas suppliers.
• Effective and efficient vendor management skills.
• Comfort with Adobe Creative Suite and basic file preflight, specifically InDesign and Acrobat.
• Must be creative, highly organized, and detail oriented.
• Must be flexible and able to prioritize in the face of high-volume work.
• Self-starter requiring minimal supervision, who can also collaborate well with a diverse team of internal and external stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Excel, basic math, calculating, analyzing and organizing data.
• Thorough, accurate, and articulate verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience with digital asset management systems.
• Seeks continuous improvement and innovative solutions.
• Maintains grace under pressure in a high-volume, fast-paced environment.

Location

This role is based in our New York office. Employees are expected to work on-site three days per week in accordance with our hybrid work model. Candidates must be able to reliably commute to the office.

About Hachette Book Group

Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading book publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the third-largest publisher in the world. The mission of Hachette Book Group is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment, and opportunity. At HBG, we are guided by four core pillars: Understanding Consumers, Changing the Story, Owner Mentality, and Growth Mindset. 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 $70,000-$75,000. Salary can vary based on a number of factors including skills, experience, and location — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

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