Production Manager

Title: Production Manager

Location: Remote

Job Description:

Goodheart-Willcox Publisher, an employee-owned company and leader in Career and Technical Education (CTE), is seeking a Production Manager to join our growing team. This role will lead efforts to optimize outsourcing workflows and support the continued expansion of the production department’s outsourcing program. The ideal candidate brings strong experience in print and digital production, vendor management, and process improvement. We welcome candidates from anywhere in the U.S. to apply. Those located in the Chicagoland area will follow a hybrid schedule, working onsite two to four days per month at 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 $90,000 - $100,000 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:

Vendor Management & Oversight

• Execute the outsourcing strategy, aligned with organizational goals and product roadmaps.
• Negotiate contracts, service-level agreements (SLAs), and pricing to secure cost-effective, high-quality services.
• Manage vendor budgets and track spend to maintain financial control and meet budget targets.
• Develop and deliver regular reporting on vendor spend, forecasts, and cost-savings initiatives.
• Lead the annual request for proposal (RFP) process for outsourced production services.
• Track vendor performance against KPIs and address issues related to quality, timeliness, or compliance.
• Support digital transformation by aligning vendor capabilities with evolving technologies and workflows.

Team & Process Management

• Manage and mentor a team of production editors, production specialists, and production coordinators.
• Establish and refine production processes to support scalable, repeatable, and high-quality deliverables.
• Define and track KPIs to measure performance, efficiency, and quality across production teams.

Technology & Workflow Optimization

• Identify, evaluate, and execute opportunities to streamline existing outsourcing 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.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with vendors and external partners to manage outsourced production and technology solutions.
• Work with cross functional stakeholders to identify and implement process improvements across the product development cycle (from inception to delivery)

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 internal and vendor-supplied content meets quality, accessibility, and compliance standards (e.g., WCAG 2.2 AA, Section 508). 

What you’ll bring:

• Bachelor's Degree required.
• Minimum of 4 years working with production vendors and overseeing outsourcing activities required.
• Minimum of 6 years of experience in production, with at least 1-2 years in a leadership role required.
• Minimum of 5 years of people management experience required.
• Passion for education and a commitment to improving learning outcomes through digital innovation.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Proven track record of managing large-scale outsourcing programs.
• Strong leadership, project management, and communication skills.
• Knowledge of accessibility standards.

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 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.