Publishing Production Coordinator

Production Coordinator

Do coworkers count on you to have an extra pen, notes from the last meeting, and a color-coded calendar? Are you fashionably early wherever you go? This job is ideal for the spreadsheet-inclined, detail-oriented project manager who knows careful planning and persistent attention to the little things are indispensable foundations for successful publishing projects.

Haymarket Books, a radical, independent, nonprofit book publisher based in Chicago, is looking for a full-time production coordinator. We will consider remote candidates, especially those willing to relocate to Chicago within one year (and we offer a relocation stipend). The production coordinator will join a production and art department in working closely with authors and colleagues to bring each manuscript’s contributions to press, polished and ready to make their greatest impact, on time. The person in this role will collaborate closely with colleagues in editorial, publicity, and sales and marketing departments at Haymarket, as well as with printers and distributors in North America and the UK, to set and follow through on key milestones.

This role requires excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and clarity of communication. The production coordinator will provide indispensable support to Haymarket’s publishing departments and participate in interdepartmental meetings to assist with seasonal planning.

Responsibilities:

• Participating in seasonal planning to coordinate with acquiring, managing, and production editors to establish transmittal deadlines
• Creating and maintaining timelines on multiple projects to keep all colleagues informed of each title’s progress
• Compiling and comparing printer estimates to reserve press time and ensure accurate and high-quality specifications
• Arranging synchronized initial print-runs in North America and the UK
• Coordinating with colleagues to set and follow through on advance copy printing and final printing deadlines
• Coordinating preflighting and QC checks by production artists and sending files to press
• Communicating on shipping and logistics with printers, warehouse staff, and trade distributors
• Managing reprinting of previously published titles as well as reprints of second editions of academic monographs in our academic series
• Manage additional formats of each title, including ebook, library editions and accessible formats
• Sharing schedules and files with copublishers internationally
• Updating title metadata as production specifications change, in coordination with all publishing departments

Requirements:

• Flawless organizational skills, including capacity for: accurately recording and updating numerous details on multiple projects without errors; tracking projects through uniquely tailored steps; implementing routines for seamless communication across multiple teams
• Experience in project management, print scheduling, logistics and fulfillment, or print production coordination. Demonstrated skills must include the ability to: anticipate upcoming steps; estimate timeframes and set reasonable deadlines; facilitate collaborative decision-making; maintain birds-eye-view to stay ahead of multiple concurrent deadlines
• Effective and empathetic verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to: keep discussions focused; identify discrepancies; pose clarifying questions, specify tasks and responsibilities, and ensure timely resolution of questions
• Curiosity and interest in learning. Print publishing entails specialized terminology and customs not always widely known to the reading public. Readiness to absorb new information and motivation to independently research and share knowledge will be critical, especially as the industry and related technologies continue to develop.
• Commitment to the mission of Haymarket’s publishing project: knowledge of left-wing politics and movements and a strong investment in social and racial justice.

Bonus qualifications of an ideal candidate:

• Familiarity with Teamwork, Google’s G-Suite, Adobe’s creative suite, and Slack
• Experience working on print production and knowledge of printing processes
• Experience in shipping fulfillment and logistics

Haymarket Books publishes books in a variety of genres and by a diverse array of authors, including Angela Y. Davis, Mohammed El-Kurd, Eve L. Ewing, Naomi Klein, José Olivarez, Mariame Kaba, Arundhati Roy, Rebecca Solnit, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Howard Zinn, and many others. Haymarket is also home to a critically acclaimed and award-winning contemporary poetry list. Our mission is to publish books that contribute to struggles for social and economic justice. We strive to make our books a vibrant and organic part of social movements and the education and development of a critical, engaged, and internationalist left.

Start date: ASAP

Salary: Salary: $55,352.72 to 60,485.41, depending on experience and according to Haymarket’s staff salary schedule

Benefits: 100% of employee and dependent health insurance covered and 50% of partner’s, 401k contribution, 4 weeks paid vacation plus 16 holidays, 2 weeks paid sick leave, 12 weeks paid parental leave, as well as short-term and long-term disability and life insurance

To apply, please fill out the Google Form for this position. We will only accept applications completed through the form. Applications will be accepted until December 1. We ask that you attach a resume, but a cover letter is not required. Instead, we have four narrative questions that we will ask you to answer.

Depending on logistics and scheduling, our hiring process generally takes about 4–6 weeks from the job closing to a job offer. We let candidates know after each step in the process, once we’ve made a decision, whether they are moving forward to the next stage or not, so candidates know the status of their application.

We are committed to furthering racial and economic justice in our industry. We will prioritize applications from members of historically oppressed and marginalized groups and strive to foster a work culture in which new hires feel supported and valued. Haymarket Books does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, ethnicity, religion, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a US veteran.