Director, Production Services

UNITED METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE • Nashville, TN

9d

About The Position

The Director, Production Services is responsible for oversight of: vendor relationships in the content distribution supply chain production, purchasing, and delivery for all print and digital content at UMPH production of agreements for properties acquired by the editorial staff maintenance of complete and accurate royalty records copyright registration subsidiary rights management The incumbent serves as liaison between the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH) and external print vendors, digital content hosts, print and digital production services, rights management agents, authors and literary agents, and the Library of Congress. The incumbent ensures quality products and services in a timely and cost-effective manner; proactively troubleshoots supply chain issues for all content formats; serves as an in-house resource to answer questions concerning content production, content supply chain, digital rights, legal, or contractual issues; and strives to achieve improvements in all related processes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, accounting, or other closely related field
• At least five (5) years of formal training and/or experience with publishing production, publishing contracts, purchasing/procurement, royalty administration, and operations
• An additional five (5) years of related experience may substitute for the required degree
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills
• Excellent organizational, analytical, and planning skills
• Demonstrated leadership ability and good supervisory skills
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize competing schedule demands
• Proficiency with all Microsoft Office applications
• Ability to quickly learn and adapt to new software programs and processes
• Knowledge of industry trends and tools (e.g., EPUB, ONIX, etc.)
• Knowledge of publishing processes, purchasing concepts, and products
• Knowledge of general accounting practices and procedures
• Knowledge of royalty payment calculations, regulations, and practices
• Familiarity with the Copyright Law of 1976, as amended and revised

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of UMPH publishing systems, processes, and business rules is preferred

Responsibilities

• Manages the creation, execution, preservation, and maintenance of all legal publishing documents, such as contracts, licensing and rights documents, amendments, addendums, and other letters of agreement.
• Manages disbursement of guaranteed advance and flat fee payments and otherwise ensures publisher legal compliance with active agreements.
• Manages the processing of copyright registration, permission requests, out-of-print notification process, reversion of rights and copyright assignments.
• Manages the processing of semi-annual royalty payment distribution periods (May and November), including testing and audits to ensure prepayment, payment and post-payment issues are resolved prior to payment process.
• Serves as liaison with Accounting for completion of royalty periods in a timely and accurate manner.
• Functions as key liaison with rights licensing agents and Associate Publishers for the purpose of protecting and exploiting rights to increase revenue through those sources.
• Maintains and establishes relationships, negotiates effective pricing structures and terms, and coordinates business reviews with key partners and vendors.
• Works proactively with vendors to ensure continuous improvement and optimal costs and production solutions for new and existing UMPH products.
• Monitors supply chain issues, reviews options, and implementation of solutions.
• Reviews specifications for new components with vendors.
• Oversees cost control, inventory management activity, and inventory purchasing decisions.
• Monitors inventory and gross margin performance to ensure that performance is aligned with corporate financial goals.
• Oversees management of Digital Production team in providing centralized services for multi-format production, content and metadata distribution, publishing systems support and overarching process and standards, with the goal of preparing these products in a timely manner, resulting in a high-quality product with the highest standard of customer service.
• Plans and implements a comprehensive Digital Production strategy, defines and ensures standards for Digital Production processes to fulfill UMPH production objectives.
• Remains knowledgeable about industry trends in developing sectional long-range planning and participates in unit planning of work and procedures.
• Develops, evaluates, and implements continuous process improvements across production units.
• Develops and oversees tracking and reporting systems.
• Oversees process integrity across Operations unit.

Benefits

• UMPH is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director