Senior Production Manager

Cold Spark Media•Pittsburgh, PA

About The Position

We’re looking for a Senior Production Manager to serve as the operational hub for high-volume political and advocacy work—ensuring seamless coordination across client services, creative, art, copy, digital, production, and political strategy. You’ll own the end-to-end production lifecycle for direct mail, print advertising materials, and related projects, keeping everything on time, on budget, and to exceptional quality standards, even under rapid-response timelines.

Requirements

6–10+ years of production management experience in:
Political advertising, advocacy, or public affairs, and/or
A fast-paced agency/production environment (advertising, broadcast, digital video, or direct mail)
Strong understanding of the political campaign cycle (primaries, general, ballot measures, IE work, rapid response).
Deep knowledge of direct mail production workflows, specs, and file formats.
Exceptional organization and detail orientation; proven ability to manage many projects at once.
Strong vendor management and negotiation skills.
Excellent cross-functional communication and collaboration (creative, account, digital, legal/compliance).
Willingness/ability to work nights and weekends during peak election periods.

Nice To Haves

Experience working directly with campaigns, committees, IE groups, or political consultants.
Familiarity with trafficking platforms, ad servers, and station/platform specs.
Experience with project/asset management tools (Asana, ClickUp, Airtable, Wrike, etc.) and file management systems.
Working knowledge of post-production workflows/tools (e.g., Adobe Creative Cloud) sufficient to communicate effectively with editors and designers.

Responsibilities

Lead the full production lifecycle for print pieces, direct mail, and related projects from kickoff through delivery and archive.
Translate creative concepts and mail plans into detailed production schedules, checklists, and workflows.
Coordinate print edits, mail delivery, VO, and final conform.
Ensure all assets meet technical specs by campaign, state, and postal standards/requirements.
Oversee proofing, QA, and versioning (candidate vs. IE, districts, languages, etc.).
Manage external production partners (directors, editors, photographers, printers, paper and post houses).
Source bids, negotiate rates, and secure competitive pricing without compromising quality across multiple states.
Assist in coordinating shoot logistics (locations, crew, talent, permits, releases, call sheets, etc.).
Monitor vendor performance and hold partners accountable for deadlines, quality, and compliance.
Build and maintain a strong vendor bench and competitive pricing for a variety of collateral needs.
Partner closely with legal/compliance to ensure alignment with FEC, FCC, state/local regulations, and platform policies.
Ensure proper disclaimers, supers, legal lines, closed captioning, and accessibility requirements across deliverables.
Maintain thorough documentation and version control to support audits or challenges.
Oversee trafficking of finished assets to printers/vendors per mail plans and insertion orders.
Ensure all deadlines in media plans are met (or exceeded) and proactively flag risks early.
Confirm receipt/acceptance of materials; troubleshoot rejections or technical issues quickly.
Coordinate retags, revisions, and rush requests under tight political timelines.
Develop and maintain mail tracking service offerings for clients.
Build and manage production budgets (estimates, actuals, reconciliation) for campaigns and projects.
Track costs against budgets; flag overages early and recommend solutions.
Allocate internal/external resources based on priorities and timelines.
Provide regular status updates and production reporting to leadership and account teams.
Document and refine workflows and best practices tailored to the political cycle.
Mentor production coordinators/assistants/junior staff; provide feedback and training.
Evaluate and implement new tools, technologies, and vendors that improve speed, quality, and efficiency.