Director of Production -Educational Publishing

Title: Director of Production -Educational Publishing

Location: inley Park, Illinois, United States.

Hybrid

Job Description:

Goodheart-Willcox Publisher, Experts in Career and Technical Education (CTE), and an employee-owned company, is seeking a Director of Production. The Director of Production is an experienced visionary who will lead the transformation and execution of production workflows. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in digital publishing technologies, production systems, and team leadership, with a passion for delivering high-impact educational content. This position will follow a hybrid schedule, working a minimum of one day per week in our Tinley Park, Illinois office.

Our compensation is market based and takes into account a variety of factors including the candidate's skill set, experience level, internal equity, and location. For this position, we anticipate the starting salary falling between $110,000 and $135,000 per year. In addition, the company makes a 10% contribution to the Employee Stock Ownership Plan and a 4% matching contribution to the 401(k).

What you'll do:

Strategic Leadership

• Lead initiatives to modernize production workflows, tools, and approaches for digital-first content delivery.
• Execute the digital production, design, and layout strategies aligned with organizational goals and product roadmaps.

Team & Process Management

• Manage and mentor a team of digital production specialists, project managers, layout artists, and designers.
• Establish and refine production processes to support scalable, repeatable, and high-quality output across formats.

Technology & Workflow Optimization

• Identify, evaluate, and execute on opportunities to streamline existing workflows. Leverage data to inform workflow improvements, resource allocation, and production planning. Explore emerging tool sets, vendor expertise and capabilities, as well as other progressive technologies to scale and improve speed to market.
• Design workflows that can scale with business growth and evolving content formats.
• Oversee implementation and integration of production technologies (e.g., DAMs, CMSs, automation tools).
• Drive adoption of digital-first workflows and universal design principles to meet accessibility standards.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as a key liaison between production and product development teams to ensure production readiness for new assets and product types.
• Productively lead, or co-lead, cross-functional working groups to pilot and implement new workflow initiatives.
• Collaborate with vendors and external partners to manage outsourced production and technology solutions.

Quality Assurance & Compliance

• Evaluate and refine existing QA protocols for both internal and vendor-produced content to ensure consistency, quality, and accuracy.
• Maintain currency with accessibility standards and ensure all digital content meets quality, accessibility, and compliance standards (e.g., WCAG 2.2 AA, Section 508).

What you'll bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Publishing, Media Production, Technology, or related field required.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in production, with at least 3 years in a leadership role required.
• Minimum of 5 years of people management experience required.
• Familiarity with LMS integrations and educational technology platforms.
• Passion for education and a commitment to improving learning outcomes through digital innovation.
• Proven track record of managing large-scale digital content operations in publishing or education.
• Expertise in digital formats, production tools, code validators (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, InDesign, XML/HTML editors), and workflow automation.
• Strong leadership, project management, and communication skills.
• Knowledge of accessibility standards and universal design practices.

What we offer:

Goodheart-Willcox Publisher is an employee-owned company driven by our mission, "We Build Careers." G-W has spent over a century building a culture that we are proud of and is centered around our Core Values of Do the Right Thing, Can-do Attitude, Roll Up Your Sleeves, Always Improving, and Collaborative Spirit. When you join our team, you will experience an environment of collaboration, empowerment, and respect.

G-W prioritizes the health and well-being of our employees by offering carefully selected benefits and retirement options. Check out some of our generous benefits highlighted below:

• Employee Stock Ownership Plan - a retirement plan that is 100% company funded
• 401(k) with a company match
• 3 Medical plan options
• 2 Dental plan options
• Vision plan
• Generous Paid Time Off
• Wellbeing and Wellness Reimbursement Programs
• Cariloop - a Caregiver Concierge
• Pet Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Social Activities and Events

Goodheart-Willcox Publisher provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, ancestry and marital status, and other protected classes, in accordance with applicable federal and state laws.

In addition, Goodheart-Willcox Publisher complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination of employment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfers, leave of absence, compensation, and training.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the US. We do not sponsor applicants for work visas.