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Production Specialist Lead

RemoteWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesOperations

Job description

Great Minds, a rapidly growing challenger brand in the PK-12 instructional materials space, seeks an experienced Production Specialist Lead to join our dynamic, rapidly growing team.


COMPANY PROFILE

Great Minds, a mission driven Public Benefit Corporation, brings teachers and scholars together to craft exemplary instructional materials that inspire joy in teaching and learning. Our English curriculum, Wit & Wisdom®, Eureka Math™ and PhD Science™, all support teachers as they take students beyond rote learning to provide a deeper, more complete understanding of the humanities, mathematics, and the sciences. Founded in 2007, Great Minds now employs more than 1,000 people.


OUR MARKET POSITION

Great Minds’ Eureka Math is the most widely used curriculum in the history of American education. It enjoys an unrivaled 40+ net promoter score. Eureka and its sister products, Wit & Wisdom English and PhD Science, embrace much higher expectations for all students and teachers. In a market dominated by scripted, procedural materials that drive expectations down, Great Minds produces curricula that celebrate knowledge, respect the craft of teaching, and acknowledge the true capabilities of students.


Role Overview

The Production Specialist Lead is responsible for several complex projects at the same time, often all the various components that comprise kits or entire state customizations. The Production Specialist Lead works within the proper software application to complete a new project or execute the changes needed for a revised project. While working within project files the Production Specialist Lead gathers and communicates reliable information to all departments about assigned print and online projects. This information includes product specifications, schedule guidelines and production process information, some financial information, and current production status information. The Production Specialist Lead must understand the interdependencies of multiple projects and be able to anticipate a delay and IF THE DELAY on one project will impact other projects' production schedule.


Specific Responsibilities:

  • Understand fundamentals of publishing process
  • Track and report project status
  • Upload/download files, determine and maintain proper file setup
  • Composite new pages using various software applications
  • Layout pages internally when project scope and schedule allow
  • Produce files at each page stage working across different disciplines and their project management teams to finish files on schedule
  • Coordinate with archive department to turn over packaged final files
  • Assist in improving quality and consistency of Professional Development PowerPoint and Word documents using files initially created by content team presenters
  • Update and provide corrections as needs arise
  • Establish and revise Best Practices to maintain current Production processes
  • Assist in determination of product configuration and packaging solutions
  • Understand the interdependencies of multiple projects and anticipate when one project will affect another
  • Responsible for complex projects
  • Demonstrate eagerness to learn
  • Sound judgement about escalation of problems
  • Work independently
  • Excellent organizational skills
  • Excellent written & verbal communication skills
  • Possess practical problem-solving abilities
  • Understand fundamentals & development of Accessibility including WCAG compliancy
  • Familiarity with markup languages such as HTML & XML tagging
  • Ability to identify coding errors on website or as general quality assurance procedures
  • Ability to document coding errors and provide feedback to vendors
  • Create best practices documentation for accessibility tagging
  • When asked, assist in recruiting interview process

Project Planning

  • Understand the scope of the project and each stage of the process
  • Create project checklists
  • Schedule meetings to clarify processes or workflow

Process Planning & Schedules

  • Attend meetings to understand project scope
  • Schedule meetings to determine process used for a project
  • Summarize and distribute the process for a project; update as necessary
  • Understand the interdependencies of multiple projects and anticipate when one project will affect another
  • Relay file release information to Delivery Team and negotiate changes when needed

Project Production & Status

  • Keep accurate and complete project records, and updates schedules to reflect progress
  • Analyze project status and alert Senior Production Manager and the Project Manager concerning any change in project scope
  • Ensure all project members, including vendors, are adhering to agreed-upon processes
  • Help to establish project SharePoint organization

Communication

  • Communicate with other internal departments and stakeholders
  • Communicate with and direct vendors

Job requirements

Required Qualifications:

  • Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (focus on InDesign), Microsoft Office applications
  • Ability to learn new software and processes quickly
  • Ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines
  • Bachelor's Degree or equivalent
  • 5+ years of experience in educational publishing production
  • 3+ years of experience in project coordination
  • Ability to work independently and collaboratively and the ability to shift quickly between the two
  • Knowledge and understanding of content accessibility (including WCAG)
  • Knowledge and understanding of markup languages (XML, HTML)
  • Knowledge of and experience with Smartsheet or similar task management platforms
  • Exceptional administrative, time management and organizational skills
  • Ability to adapt quickly in the dynamic, ever-evolving environment of publishing
  • Familiarity with entire publishing process, including directing offshore vendors
  • Attention to detail

Location

  • Washington, DC, or remote
Selected candidate will be required to pass a criminal history background check.


Any communication to applicants relating to the Great Minds hiring process will only come from email addresses with the domains greatminds.org or greatminds.recruitee.com. If in the course of the application or hiring process with Great Minds you are contacted through another domain, are requested to provide banking or other sensitive information, or you note any other suspicious activity, please contact security@greatminds.org

Great Minds is an equal opportunity employer. We will extend equal opportunity to all individuals without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, disability, age, genetic information, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws. Our policy reflects and affirms the organization’s commitment to the principles of fair employment and the elimination of all discriminatory practices.


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