Senior Manager of Publishing Operations & Automation

Skyrocket Education•Pasadena, CA

2d•$95,000 - $112,500

About The Position

The Senior Manager of Publishing Operations & Automation owns the end-to-end publishing lifecycle for Skyrocket curriculum products across print, digital, and application-based platforms. The role assesses existing processes and leads the design and implementation of a streamlined, scalable publishing operation, establishing workflows, ownership, approvals, quality gates, timelines, and accountability standards. The position identifies opportunities to improve publishing through automation, AI-assisted workflows, systems integration, and technology-based quality controls, and evaluates relevant publishing and content technologies. It oversees editorial and production work from copyediting and design handoffs through quality assurance, print proofs, digital conversion, accessibility and audio/text-to-speech review, and release. The manager establishes version-control practices and measurable quality standards, and develops dashboards and operational metrics to monitor status, cycle time, errors, rework, bottlenecks, workload, and delivery. The role leads publishing staff and coordinates contributors across curriculum, design, editorial, technology, operations, vendors, and contractors. It partners with Curriculum leadership and Print operations to manage efficient handoffs and accurate, timely production. It also creates and maintains publishing procedures, documentation, templates, standards, and training materials, and promotes continuous improvement by identifying root causes and preventing recurring errors. Other duties may be assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
At least 7 years of experience in publishing, content operations, curriculum production, educational technology, or a related field.
At least 3 years of leadership or people-management experience with responsibility for complex production workflows.
Demonstrated experience improving, redesigning, or scaling a publishing or content-production operation.
Deep understanding of end-to-end publishing operations, preferably in K–12 curriculum, educational publishing, EdTech, or another complex content-production environment.
Strong understanding of print and digital publishing workflows.
Strong knowledge of editorial production, copyediting, design workflows, proofing, prepress/print production, digital publishing, and quality assurance.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate and redesign complex operational processes and apply technology to improve efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.
Working knowledge of modern publishing and content technologies, workflow/project-management systems, structured content, metadata, digital publishing platforms, and automated QA tools.
Familiarity with AI-assisted content and publishing workflows and ability to evaluate their appropriate use without compromising content quality.
Ability to analyze operational data to identify bottlenecks, recurring errors, capacity issues, and improvement opportunities.
Strong project and program-management skills and ability to manage numerous products simultaneously in a deadline-driven environment.
Strong leadership and team-development skills.
Ability to lead organizational change and gain adoption of new processes and technologies.
Exceptional attention to detail while maintaining a systems-level view.
Strong written and verbal communication skills across curriculum, creative, technical, operational, and executive teams.
Ability to balance quality, speed, cost, and scalability in operational decisions.

Nice To Haves

Degree in publishing, communications, education, instructional design, business, technology, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience managing both print and digital content production.
K–12 curriculum or educational publishing experience.
Experience implementing workflow, publishing, project-management, or content-management technology.
Experience with automation, AI-assisted workflows, systems integration, or technology-enabled process improvement.
Experience managing external vendors, freelancers, contractors, or production partners.

Responsibilities

Own and oversee the end-to-end publishing lifecycle for curriculum products across print, digital, and application-based platforms.
Assess existing publishing processes and lead the redesign and implementation of a streamlined, scalable operation.
Define workflows, ownership structures, approval processes, quality gates, timelines, and accountability standards.
Identify opportunities for automation, AI-assisted workflows, systems integration, and technology-based quality controls.
Evaluate and recommend publishing technologies and systems, including workflow/project-management platforms, content management systems, digital asset management, structured content solutions, and automated QA tools.
Oversee editorial and production processes, including copyediting, formatting, design handoffs, continuity review, quality assurance, final audits, print proofs, digital conversion, accessibility, audio/text-to-speech review, and product release.
Establish version-control and change-management practices for accurate source materials across print and digital formats.
Create measurable QA standards and checkpoints to detect errors earlier and reduce errors in final products.
Develop dashboards, reporting, and metrics to monitor publishing status, cycle time, errors, rework, bottlenecks, workload, and on-time delivery.
Oversee publishing schedules and keep projects on track to meet organizational and school/client release deadlines.
Lead and develop publishing staff and coordinate editors, designers, curriculum staff, contractors, vendors, technology teams, and other contributors.
Set expectations for vendors and contractors, including deliverables, quality standards, timelines, communication protocols, and accountability.
Partner with Curriculum leadership to establish efficient handoffs between content development and production.
Work with Print operations and external vendors to ensure print-ready files are accurate, reviewed, and delivered on schedule.
Create and maintain publishing SOPs, documentation, templates, standards, and training materials.
Promote continuous improvement by analyzing recurring errors, determining root causes, and modifying processes to prevent recurrence.
Perform other duties as assigned.