Editorial Director, Humanities
Location: Boston, MA / Austin, TX / Remote
Position Overview:
The Editorial Director, Humanities serves as the overarching editorial lead and program strategist for a full range of short- and long-term, digital and print-based content projects for the English language arts and social studies curriculum areas. The Editorial Director sets the editorial vision and works in concert with the AVP, Editorial; other Editorial Directors; project management leadership; and other team leads to conceive and/or execute targeted content to achieve SRM’s and our clients’ business goals. The Editorial Director is expected to be a thought partner with clients, developing relationships that lead to successful projects and enduring partnerships. Strong project management and budgeting skills are essential. This position reports to the AVP, Editorial.
Primary Responsibilities/Expectations
- Ensure a thorough understanding of Six Red Marbles’ policies, procedures and practices.
- Manage and mentor the editorial team, providing task prioritization, issue escalation, and direction as necessary.
- Establish regular touch points with project or team staff.
- Provide leadership and direction to assigned editorial teams, and attend key client meetings as required.
- Support project team members to ensure that projects meet client expectations and all related project deadlines, and contribute to the overall profitability for the company.
- Establish effective communication channels with both internal and external resources and with clients.
- Promote and foster a strong team culture and open, transparent communication within the editorial team.
- Work directly with product, editorial, design, and technical teams to define requirements.
- Ensure that key messages/initiatives are communicated correctly and appropriately to staff.
- Support the executive management team in relation to corporate goals, corporate culture, and strategic initiatives.
Additional Expectations
Risk Mitigation
- Ensure customer satisfaction with solutions by managing client expectations regarding schedule, scope, quality, and budget.
- Assess complexity and prioritize features that balance learner benefits, revenue potential, and delivery deadlines.
- Keep all project and team information well organized.
- Anticipate the needs of content leads and freelancers, and work proactively to address them.
- Consult with project management to develop project workflow plans, including building and overseeing realistic schedules and budgets.
- Facilitate communication within the editorial team about risks, issues, and strategies.
- Escalate issues of scope, approval criteria, staffing, and/or other risk issues proactively to editorial and project management leadership, and develop mitigation solution recommendations.
- Perform proactive risk assessment, management, and mitigation strategy development.
- Build staff and network resources through the following avenues: performance planning, evaluation and professional development of direct reports, ongoing recruitment and recommendation of new hires for full-time and term-of-project positions, and expansion and improvement of freelance talent network.
Account/Portfolio Management
- Operate as the lead point of contact for any and all matters specific to clients.
- Identify and grow opportunities, and collaborate with the sales team to ensure growth attainment.
- Participate in new business pitches and presentations.
- Engage comfortably in business dialogue, and offer guidance to multiple levels of management.
- Manage client expectations effectively.
- Escalate issues of scope and approval criteria appropriately.
- Maintain a collaborative environment on the client side by developing communication with different teams or departments.
- Actively “cross-sell” Six Red Marbles’ services where possible.
Proposal Management
- Contribute to the proposal process by working closely with internal teams to gather information needed to determine proper workflow and schedule.
- Contribute to performing assessments of RFP requirements, and assist with the development of proposals.
- Work with teams to determine accurate work scoping and pricing on projects.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Demonstrated strategic thinking and planning, team leadership, communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills; good judgment; and ability to positively influence others
- Strong customer relationship-building, problem-solving, and negotiation skills in a client-facing environment
- Self-starting ability to jump in quickly without a lot of direction and learn by asking the right questions
- Excellent customer service skills and strong interpersonal and communications skills (verbal and written) across all levels, both internally and with clients
- Deep subject matter expertise in the targeted curriculum area (ELA preferred), with specialized skills in specific areas and grade bands
- Firsthand knowledge of the processes, technologies, and consumer landscape of digital publishing
- Proven knowledge of and ability to apply proven tenets of learning theory and design
- Ability to apply universal teaching/learning concepts that are standard across curricular areas
- Practical knowledge of what works in the classroom and what teachers expect in learning materials
- Strong ability to foster and maintain a positive and creative project team
- Strong technology skills, including knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, Mac and PC platforms, PowerPoint, Learnosity, and content management systems
Experience and Qualifications
- Well organized, detail oriented, and highly analytical
- Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects and teams simultaneously; proven success at managing large, complex, or particularly challenging projects and/or clients
- Ability to maintain professionalism, a calm approach, and commitment to a project even when under pressure
- Relentless dedication to detail
- Previous experience writing, editing, and managing multiple successful educational projects, including eLearning products or services
- Ability to develop scope and sequence for a program component with no guidance
- Ability to conceptualize prototypes from scratch without relying on preexisting models
- Ability to drive and manage change in a dynamic environment
- Demonstrated excellence in mentoring, team building, and performance management
- Proven ability to effectively manage internal and external teams
- Demonstrated ability to work and manage effectively under significant deadline pressure
- Experience working with cross-functional teams
Minimum Qualifications
- Education: Bachelor’s degree required
- Experience: 10+ years’ experience successfully managing content development projects in media, publishing, eLearning, or content management services
Why Six Red Marbles
Do you believe learning matters? Well, we do too.
In fact, our entire business is built around the idea that we are all always learning and therefore always students. We believe everyone deserves the most engaging and innovative learning experiences available, and our employees are the secret to our success. Our values include:
- Doing right by our people and partners
- Taking an innovative, tech-forward approach to engage students of all ages
- Putting the learner first in the content we create
- Being transparent in all we do and how we do it
- Working together to find the best solution, not the easiest solution
- Embracing that we are Always a Student
About Six Red Marbles
Six Red Marbles delivers high-quality educational programs at scale and has decades of experience developing custom materials and assessments that can align with any educational standard. We have developed thousands of interactive learning programs for schools, publishers, universities, and more with the support of our global network of subject matter experts. Six Red Marbles has offices in Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Brattleboro, VT; Delhi, India; and Chennai, India.
Apply for This Position
Six Red Marbles is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at resumes@sixredmarbles.com.