Sourcebooks is seeking a highly collaborative and intellectually curious Managing Editor to oversee scheduling and coordination across Custom and Proprietary titles. This role sits at the center of Editorial, Marketing, Sales, Design, and Manufacturing—building realistic project plans, keeping teams aligned, surfacing risks early, and helping complex projects move forward with clarity and momentum.
The right person will bring more than strong project management. They will ask why a process works the way it does, challenge assumptions before they become constraints, and use data, curiosity, and cross-functional partnership to improve how the work gets done. This is an ideal opportunity for someone who thrives in a fast-paced publishing environment and enjoys turning ambiguity into thoughtful, executable plans.
This position can be hybrid or remote in New York or Naperville, Illinois, or remote based in any of the following states: Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington DC., and Wisconsin.
This is an exempt, salary position with a salary range of $70,000 - $75,000. We determine starting pay based on a thorough evaluation of job-related factors, including geographic location, market conditions, relevant experience, training, and education. This process ensures a fair and competitive salary that aligns with both the company and the candidate’s qualifications.What you’ll do
- Take ownership of schedule creation and entry for Custom/Proprietary projects, building realistic timelines from title testing through final delivery.
- Partner with the Custom Sales Publisher, Marketing, Sales, Design, Editorial, and Manufacturing to define project scope, dependencies, milestones, and production needs.
- Act as a primary cross-functional liaison, keeping stakeholders aligned on schedules, priorities, risks, and business goals.
- Use Smartsheet to map publishing seasons, track key manuscript and final-production milestones, and monitor schedule adherence in real time.
- Coordinate closely with Manufacturing to ensure adequate production time for all versions and imprints and protect on-sale dates.
- Bring a questioning mindset to project scoping by challenging assumptions about timelines, dependencies, and scope before they create downstream problems.
- Communicate deadlines, schedule changes, and risks clearly and proactively, and convene the right stakeholders when issues need resolution.
- Ensure project specifications and key data are accurate and consistently maintained across tracking systems.
- Track metrics across Editorial, Design, Production, and Manufacturing, identifying patterns, bottlenecks, and opportunities for stronger execution.
- Continuously evaluate workflows and recommend or implement improvements that increase scheduling accuracy, efficiency, quality control, and cross-departmental coordination.
- Explore publishing best practices, emerging tools, and adjacent workflows to bring fresh thinking into established processes.
- 7+ years of experience in editorial production, managing editorial, or project management within publishing.
- Demonstrated success managing complex schedules across multiple teams, projects, or imprints in a deadline-driven environment.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, paired with the intellectual curiosity to question the problem itself—not just solve the most immediate symptom.
- Expertise with project management platforms such as Smartsheet, Filemaker, or Basecamp
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong sense of clarity, transparency, and stakeholder awareness.
- Agility and adaptability when priorities shift, timelines change, or project requirements evolve.
- Strong organizational skills and comfort using data to support decision-making and continuous improvement.
- A collaborative working style and the ability to build genuine partnership across teams.
- Comfort with ambiguity and a habit of asking the questions that help teams surface risks, assumptions, and better paths forward.
- Familiarity with Agile project management methodologies is preferred.
Full-time employees are eligible for our comprehensive benefits program. Our range of benefits includes, but is not limited to, Medical/Prescription Drug Insurance, Dental, Vision, Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Account, 401(k), Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance, Life/AD&D Insurance, and generous paid time off.
Sourcebooks values the array of talents and perspectives that a diverse workforce brings. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status.
Skills Required
- 7+ years of experience in editorial production, managing editorial, or project management within publishing
- Experience managing complex schedules across multiple teams, projects, or imprints in a deadline-driven environment
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
- Expertise with project management platforms such as Smartsheet, FileMaker, or Basecamp
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Agility and adaptability when priorities, timelines, or project requirements change
- Strong organizational skills and comfort using data for decision-making and continuous improvement
- Collaborative working style and ability to build partnerships across teams
- Comfort with ambiguity and ability to surface risks, assumptions, and better approaches
- Familiarity with Agile project management methodologies
Sourcebooks Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Sourcebooks and has not been reviewed or approved by Sourcebooks.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, paid holidays and sick days, and a sabbatical program are highlighted, with additional closure between Christmas and New Year’s. These elements collectively indicate a wide range of time‑off options.
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Parental & Family Support — Generous parental leave includes six weeks paid for both parents that can be combined with FMLA, alongside family medical leave. This reflects structured support for caregiving needs.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are provided along with life insurance, short‑ and long‑term disability, FSAs, and mental‑health benefits. The package spans core health protections and ancillary supports.
Sourcebooks Insights
What We Do
“Sourcebooks, a legitimate contender for the title of ‘most innovative company in book publishing.’”—Mike Shatzkin, Idealog Innovators. Always looking for ways to bring new experiences to our readers, data is the backbone that gives direction to our creativity and informs our innovative spirit. Put Me In The Story, now the #1 personalized book platform in the U.S., is one of three e-commerce businesses we operate. We are committed to innovative publishing and to exploring new publishing platforms and models. Owners and Entrepreneurs. We take pride in being pioneers. Each of us is a leader invested in creating breakthrough for ourselves, our company, and readers everywhere. Starting with just one book in 1987, we now publish more than 300 new titles each year. With millions of books sold and more than 80 New York Times and USA Today bestsellers—and more—Sourcebooks publishes authors, not books. Constantly Learning. Not content to rely on yesterday’s knowledge, we know tomorrow’s opportunities can be discovered only with a passionate desire to explore new ideas. We Create Amazing. Every book and product we create and every life we touch is an opportunity to deliver the unexpected and the extraordinary. Our award-winning books earn accolades from Parenting Media Awards, YALSA Lists, Texas Bluebonnet, state awards, the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal Award, and more. Book Business Magazine named Sourcebooks 2013 Publishing Innovator of the Year. From children’s, young adult, fiction, and memoir to personalized books, inspirational gifts, reference, poetry, and beyond, we believe books change lives. It is the heart of all that we do. We are excited to work with passionate authors, booksellers, librarians, designers, media, brand partners, and others to create a vibrant future for books. FIND US ONLINE www.sourcebooks.com www.putmeinthestory.com www.simpletruths.com www.123magic.com
