Marketing & Publicity Director - Books & Retail

Highlights for Children• US,

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Marketing and Publicity Director leads the Books and Retail marketing function as a commercial growth driver. This role owns retail and B2B marketing, equips the sales organization with high-impact tools and programming, and drives consumer demand generation for titles where pull marketing is a meaningful lever. Amazon and online retail marketing are excluded from this remit. This leader is accountable for major retail promotions, trade advertising, retailer partnerships, trade show marketing, sales support materials, email marketing, publicity, influencer outreach, and the quality of all consumer-facing and retailer-facing marketing assets. The role also leads marketing to national accounts, booksellers, librarians, and teachers — strengthening sell-in, institutional demand, hand-selling support, and sell-through. The Marketing and Publicity Director partners closely with Sales, Amazon, Product Development, Design, Brand, and other stakeholders to ensure marketing is commercially sharp, creatively strong, and aligned to business priorities. This role is accountable for marketing performance across priority titles and channels and plays a key role in strengthening POS results, retail execution, and long-term brand and series momentum.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, Business, or a related field — or equivalent relevant experience.
Seven (7) or more years of progressive experience in book publishing marketing and/or book publishing publicity.
Significant experience in kids' book marketing, with a strong understanding of how titles and series are built in the market.
Meaningful experience in retailer and trade marketing, including promotions, partnerships, merchandising support, sales materials, and market-facing campaigns.
Demonstrated success leading integrated campaigns that include publicity, media outreach, influencer or creator engagement, and demand-generation tactics.
Demonstrated success in copy direction, creative development, and asset creation for both sales-facing and consumer-facing marketing.
Experience leading teams and managing work through both direct ownership and cross-functional influence.
Strong brand marketing experience required — whether in literary brands, licensed IP, or other relevant brand-building environments.
Strong commercial marketing acumen with the ability to connect marketing activity to sell-in, sell-through, POS, and broader business results.
Deep understanding of book marketing across retail, institutional, and consumer channels — especially within kids' publishing or adjacent categories.
Strong experience in retailer and trade marketing, including promotions, partnerships, merchandising support, trade shows, and account-facing programs.
Demonstrated ability to lead publicity, media outreach, influencer engagement, and campaign execution with clear business purpose and measurable impact.
Strong copy and creative judgment, with the ability to shape persuasive, commercially effective assets and campaigns.
Experience in school and library marketing and the tactics and relationships that drive institutional demand.
Strong project management skills with the ability to drive multiple initiatives with speed, clarity, and follow-through.
Strong cross-functional leadership skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across Sales, Amazon, Product Development, Design, Brand, and leadership teams.
Proven ability to operate as a player-coach in a lean team environment.
Strong external relationship-building skills across media, bookselling, education, publicity, and marketing partner communities.
Strong communication skills, sound judgment, and the ability to prioritize against the highest-value opportunities.

Nice To Haves

Experience marketing major brands, franchises, series, or licensed IP.
Experience marketing across both frontlist and backlist.
Experience marketing children's nonfiction, puzzle/activity, educational, or other family-oriented products.
Experience managing trade show strategy, educator or librarian outreach programs, and multi-channel title launch support.

Responsibilities

Own the Books and Retail marketing function across retail marketing, B2B marketing, sales enablement, publicity, and selective consumer demand generation.
Develop and execute annual marketing plans across frontlist, backlist, key series, and priority initiatives — aligning resources to the highest-value commercial opportunities.
Lead development of high-impact sales tools and programs, including sell-in materials, merchandising support, retailer email programs, sales conference programming, and launch support.
Own major retail promotions, trade advertising, retailer partnerships, and trade show marketing that strengthen sell-in, visibility, and sell-through.
Lead B2B marketing to national accounts, booksellers, librarians, and teachers — increasing awareness, institutional demand, conversion to orders, and hand-selling support.
Own publicity and campaign activity for select titles, including PR strategy, media outreach, review coverage, influencer and creator partnerships, and buzz-building.
Lead demand generation for titles where placement alone is not the primary sales driver — focusing resources on books with strong upside that require consumer pull.
Partner with Sales and Amazon to support POS growth for key titles and the broader list through coordinated, commercially focused marketing activity.
Partner with Product Development and Design to contribute to title positioning, packaging, cover direction, and concept shaping.
Ensure all marketing assets — copy, visuals, positioning, and campaign materials — are high quality, commercially effective, and aligned to channel needs.
Oversee creative production and design execution for marketing assets, ensuring quality, speed, and alignment to priorities.
Establish, monitor, and act on key marketing KPIs across campaigns, promotions, B2B programs, publicity, email, title performance, and sales enablement.
Manage marketing investments with sound commercial judgment, prioritizing activity based on likely return and strategic value.
Build and maintain strong external relationships with media, influencers, creators, librarians, educators, booksellers, retail marketing partners, and trade show and industry contacts.
Lead, coach, and develop the marketing team through clear priorities, high standards, and a player-coach leadership style suited to a lean, fast-moving environment.
Strengthen operating rhythms, communication, and project management to improve output, coordination, accountability, and speed.