Editorial Director

HarperCollins Publishers

11d • $90,000 - $110,000

About The Position

HarperCollins Christian Publishing seeks a talented Editorial Director to complement its Spanish publishing team.
The Editorial Director leads the team of production editors in the overall Spanish language Christian publishing program, including Bibles, study resources, devotionals, inspirational nonfiction, fiction, academic/theological works, and church/ministry materials, and manages process and job assignments for all assigned editing projects.
Our ideal candidate is process and deadline driven with the ability to manage the details of numerous and complex editorial projects at once. They will assist in driving editorial processes across our imprints, lead every aspect of the book and Bible production process, and participate in editorial board, pub board, and sales conference as needed. The Editorial Director directly manages a combination of projects, including acquiring and/or functioning as the lead editor for 8-10 titles per year, and working as the production editor for an additional 8-10 titles per year (originals, translations, co-publications). They assign and oversee the development and editing of all other projects approved for publication, (up 30 new titles each year.) They must maintain strong author and vendor relationships, help create quality content, and collaborate with others to ensure a productive team environment. The position requires full bilingual fluency in English and Spanish, with proven expertise in English-to-Spanish translation and adaptation to ensure linguistic accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and market appeal.

Requirements

• Content translation and editing knowledge, including substantive editing and editorial project management.
• Must be attuned to doctrinal landscape of the Christian market with a solid grasp of orthodox evangelical theology and thinking.
• Mastery of Spanish and English, especially in written form.
• Ability to understand and analyze standard financial documentation, such as income statements and balance sheets.
• 8+ years’ editorial experience in Spanish Christian publishing.
• Experience in acquiring, translating, editing, and overseeing projects from start to finish in the publishing process.
• Experience mentoring and guiding others.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Communications, Journalism, Theology, Business)
• Demonstrated self-teaching considered.
• Knowledge of recent trends in Christian publishing (Spanish and English).
• Experience and knowledge of Christian and General book market.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong command of English and Spanish
• Ability to anticipate needs, plan ahead, and effectively encourage planning ahead.
• Proven organizational skills, with ability to prioritize and manage a wide variety of tasks and resources across multiple projects and meet deadlines.
• Ability to professionally and cordially interact with authors and agents.
• Ability to distill numerous pieces of information and communicate key points to others.
• Excellent verbal and written interpersonal skills, with timely communication, especially expressing difficult/sensitive information tactfully; ability to address team conflict and communication problems.
• Strong project management skills; ability to multitask; works well under pressure.
• Excellent organizational skills and budget management skills.
• Able to manage multiple projects.
• Adept with Christian content and a variety of theological viewpoints.
• Microsoft Office application skills (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Detail oriented.
• Able to work on both long-term and short-term projects simultaneously.
• Collaborator with history of effective leadership.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and solve problems.
• Flexible and ready to respond to new opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Direct and manage the details of numerous complex editorial projects simultaneously.
• Hire and manage writers, copyeditors, translators, illustrators, typesetters, and proofreaders.
• Manage cross-functional teams’ contributions to project completion, as necessary.
• Partner with marketing to generate messaging.
• Evaluate proposals and manuscripts.
• Perform or oversee editorial processes, especially with high-profile authors and ministry partners.
• Maintain strong relationships with high-profile authors and their teams.
• Create project schedules and manuscript deadlines.
• Approve marketing copy, catalog copy, and back cover copy.
• Provide input for marketing copy for ads, selling, and promotional materials.
• Acquire and edit a slate of projects.
• Participate in developing new products by reviewing product proposals to make recommendations for publishing.
• Assist Publisher and Associate Publisher with high-profile publishing offers.
• Interact with authors and agents throughout the publishing process.
• Take active role in editorial meetings, scheduling meetings, production meetings, titling meetings, and cover meetings. Attend editorial boards, pub boards, and strategic marketing meetings.
• Lead packaging and author relations with acquired projects.
• Ensure that all catalog copy is uniform and optimized for the catalog and MDM.
• Guide, mentor, and train bilingual editorial team members.
• Define and manage house style guides.
• Assign/review specific editorial and marketing-support tasks as needed.

Benefits

• In addition to cash compensation, the company provides a comprehensive and highly competitive benefits package, with a variety of physical health, retirement and savings, caregiving, emotional wellbeing, transportation, and other benefits, including "elective" benefits employees may select to best fit the needs and personal situations of our diverse workforce.

What This Job Offers

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