Director-Management
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Working/Functional Title
Director, Michigan State University Press
Position Summary
The Michigan State University Libraries is seeking an innovative and experienced leader to serve as the Director of the Michigan State University Press. Reporting to the Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Faculty Affairs, the Director is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the press, including acquiring and supervising the acquisition of manuscripts; supervising all press departments; hiring new employees; and managing the finances, warehousing, and distribution partnerships. The Director develops and executes a strategic vision for the Press in line with the university’s mission and strategic priorities and the current publishing landscape, with the aim of developing press resources to ensure sustainability and future growth. A skilled advocate for the press and its mission, the Director is actively engaged in scholarly communities related to the Press’s areas of expertise nationally and internationally, increasing awareness of the Press to the scholarly community and potential authors. The Director has a working knowledge of Open Access, Open Educational Resources, and digital humanities scholarship and should understand the role that the Press can play in these areas.
The Director also builds synergies among the university’s constituents: faculty, deans, administrators, and other university leaders, and units within the MSU Libraries including Publishing Services, Open Educational Resources, and the Digital Scholarship Lab. The Director has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in line with MSU’s strategic plan, and will implement plans to foster these values in all of the press’s practices and outputs.
Duties
- Represents the MSU Press in university press publishing and is a thought leader in the industry.
- Reaches out to authors and scholars to promote the MSU Press and acquire manuscripts. Keeps up with scholarship in the Press’s areas of expertise and evaluates emerging areas of scholarship for publication opportunities.
- Attends professional conferences and other events to create relationships with scholars and encourage potential publication with the MSU Press.
- Reaches out to faculty, presses, scholarly societies, and organizations to form partnerships around open access, open educational resources, scholarly collaboration platforms, digital multimedia publication, and data sharing, among others.
- Develops and fosters connections among faculty, staff, and administrators externally and at MSU to broaden awareness of the Press’s scholarly mission and to identify opportunities to collaborate.
- Cultivates and stewards financial support and subsidies from donors, foundations, and other sources. Collaborates with the Development staff of the MSU Libraries.
- Manages eight full-time and two part-time employees, as well as student workers; fosters a collaborative, creative workplace culture; ensures inclusive hiring practices and fosters a welcoming culture; works with the staff to identify ongoing opportunities for professional development; works with campus partners to identify opportunities for student internships with the press.
- Oversees the financial performance of the press, including financial planning and budgetary management in compliance with university guidelines, and monitors financial results against budget, making revisions as needed; supervises business relationships with national and international distribution and sales partners.
- Positions the press as a leader in identifying and implementing innovative business strategies to address the changing landscape of scholarly communications, including open access initiatives.
- Oversees the acquisitions department and sets strategic direction; evaluates existing series for scholarly relevance and financial viability; identifies opportunities to develop new series and concentrations; works with authors and the production team to ensure high editorial quality and physical production values, as well as efficient and cost-effective use of independent contractors. Monitors acquisitions and transfer numbers and production schedules.
- Manages the press’s faculty editorial board; identifies and invites faculty to serve on the board; ensures that the members represent the fields the press publishes in and the diversity of MSU faculty; works with the board to ensure that the press’s peer review standards meet the highest industry standards.
- Oversees the journals program; monitors production schedules; tracks revenue from subscriptions and single-title sales by platform and title; evaluates opportunities for improved services and growth.
- Oversees marketing, publicity, sales, and licensing of print and electronic books; handles the subsidiary rights program; monitors revenue from these sources to ensure the press’s financial well-being; engages in long-range planning for digital publishing and the digitization of backlist titles.
The Director is appointed as academic staff in the continuing appointment system and is engaged in professional development and scholarly activities related to their position in addition to serving on library and university committees as elected or assigned.
Michigan State University consists of 4,900 faculty, 36,000 undergraduates, and 11,000 graduate and professional students on a park-like campus of over 5,000 acres.
Michigan State University is committed to creating a community based on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Achieving these goals requires diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. All members of the community must feel welcome, respected, and heard.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Required Degree
Masters -Humanities
Desired Degree
Masters
Minimum Requirements
- Master’s degree. Humanities discipline preferred.
- Five to ten years of scholarly publishing experience, including proven ability to acquire in diverse scholarly fields; active involvement in the scholarly publishing community.
- Three to five years experience as a manager, including experience managing budgets;
- Experience in developing and implementing strategic plans; proven ability solve problems and build consensus.
- Excellent interpersonal and written communications ability.
- Thorough knowledge of copyright and fair use practices.
- Detailed knowledge of and experience with electronic publishing protocols.
Required Application Materials
Interested applicants should provide a letter of application, CV/resume, and names, addresses and email addresses of three references (2 must be present/past supervisors) to http://careers.msu.edu.
Special Instructions
Salary is negotiable. MSU provides generous fringe benefits. For questions, please contact Jacquelyn Hansen, [email protected], at MSU Libraries Human Resources Department.
Website
MSU Statement
Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.