Books Production Lead (FTC)

Job Description

Emerald Publishing are looking for a Books Production Team Lead to support their award-winning books programme. This will be a Fixed Term Contract until September 2025.

The successful candidate will manage the team responsible for the delivery of the frontlist, from manuscript handover through to online and print publication. They will champion quality and service throughout every aspect of the publishing process while ensuring that performance against targets is measured and achieved.

The Team Lead will partner with colleagues in the department and across the books programme to manage the global supplier base as well as collaborate with the Learning and Development team to support the professional development of their onshore team.

They will have a mindset of continuous improvement, demonstrating an understanding of the changing landscape of academic publishing and the production environment, and will actively participate or lead projects that support Emerald’s mission.

Location: We perform at our best when we feel trusted and are able to choose an approach to working that suits us best, which is why we are a remote-first company. However, we also believe in face to face collaboration, and our UK colleagues meet once a month for team time and quarterly for company get togethers in our Leeds office, so we ask that you be within a commutable distance that you are comfortable with in order to attend the office on those occasions.

Day to day we’ll trust you to:   

• Manage the books production team to ensure targets are achieved.
• Collaborate with Team Leads across the books programme to implement strategic change and to deliver product reporting at a title, collection, and programme level.
• Support team members with professional development
• Partner with the supplier management team to champion best practice and actively monitor performance of offshore partners.
• Participate in continuous improvement events, projects, and workshops to help improve workflows, processes, and policies.
• Take initiative, with the ability to work autonomously and to report back on progress of key milestones.

You’ll need to have:   

Key competencies

• Advanced organisation / project management skills
• Problem solving and decision-making skills
• Analytical / strategic skills
• Results orientated
• Continuous improvement mindset

Social skills

• Customer service skills
• Negotiating / influencing skills
• Relationship development and management

Knowledge/Technical skills

• Knowledge and ability to work with MS office applications
• Ability to learn and adapt to internal systems and processes
• Previous experience in books management and using tracking systems

What’s in it for you?

At Emerald, we value our people. Becoming a part of our team means you’ll join a trusting and flexible environment and we've been flexified so you can trust that we're a truly flexible workplace. All we ask is that you attend the office once a month to come together with work colleagues. You'll also have numerous opportunities to progress your career, as well as access to professional development and the opportunity to learn new skills.

You’ll receive a wide range of benefits, such as 38 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays, remote flexible working, a discretionary performance bonus, 6% pension contribution and various benefits aimed at supporting your wellbeing and work-life balance such as a working from home allowance. You can check out a full list of our benefits here.

Roles are advertised at a benchmarked market median rate. Offers will be made within a range of the median, depending on skills and experience.

Please note - Applicants must be authorized to work in the UK without restrictions or sponsorship. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Emerald Group is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all of our applicants. If you would like to request any accommodations/adjustments from application through to interview stages, please complete the relevant section within the application or contact us at peopleteam@emerald.com and let us know.