The Print and Fulfillment Manager manages the Purchasing team, overseeing all print procurement as well as physical inventory levels at AFP. This role works closely with publishing units and the finance team to ensure that products and supplies are available at the right time, cost, and quality to support AFP’s strategic goals for optimal profitability, working capital, and ethical sourcing.

To do so, the Manager supervises a team working across all AFP publishing units; selects and manages the performance of external vendors; sets an operations budget and works with the publishing units and finance team to create and monitor product budgets; and collaborates with colleagues to support and lead cross-functional workflows, improvements, and initiatives. Alongside the VP of Operations, the Manager is responsible for ensuring that both internal and external stakeholders’ needs around AFP purchasing and inventory control are met, resulting in high satisfaction.

The Print and Fulfillment Manager is part of our hybrid work model, requiring residence in the Twin Cities area. This position involves working 2-3 days in our Minneapolis office each week.

Desired education and experience:

·   5+ years of progressive experience in print planning, estimating, and purchasing; project management; and vendor management

·  Relevant four-year degree (e.g., in business administration or supply chain), or equivalent experience

Desired knowledge, skills, and abilities:

·  Demonstrated knowledge of the US and global printing industry and ability to identify and match diverse business needs with appropriate vendor resources. Specific knowledge of trade book manufacturing and inventory management is a plus.

·   Negotiation skills; sound judgment, initiative, and resourcefulness in making decisions regarding inventory levels and costing

·   Knowledge of prepress, print/bind, bulk mailing processes, papers, inks and other unique materials associated with media products, including electronic products or related disciplines of supply chain management

·   Excellent numeracy and spreadsheet literacy; ability to integrate numbers from diverse sources to make strategic and tactical recommendations

·   Ability to work proactively and creatively to plan and adhere to production schedules, deadlines, and budgets, working effectively under deadline pressure

·  Ability to support performance and development of direct reports in all areas of their roles

·   Ability to establish positive working relationships with people in various situations

·  Ability to work in an environment of change, seeking continuous improvement and industry knowledge

·  Knowledge of software applications including Word, Excel, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft 365

Augsburg Fortress Publishers offers a competitive salary and a full list of benefits, including health, dental, vision, health savings account, flexible savings account, retirement plan, supplemental life and accidental death & dismemberment insurance, and other voluntary plans. Company paid benefits provided are short-term and long-term disability, and basic life and accidental death & dismemberment insurance. Time off plans include vacation, sick, volunteer, bereavement, and paid parenting leave.

To be considered, include your resume, cover letter, and references with your application. Apply using the specified link: https://bit.ly/4a6G0o9

Company/organization: Augsburg Fortress
Location: Minneapolis, MN

The Marketing Production Designer is a multifaceted role, responsible for building a variety of catalogs and other marketing pieces, using automation and manual design skills. They collaborate with peers on the marketing team and maintain strong quality assurance across all team deliverables.

This position is based out of our downtown Minneapolis headquarters. This is a hybrid position, with the person being in the office one day a week minimum.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Create visually appealing and functional catalog layouts that align with brand guidelines and project objectives.
• Develop and maintain EasyCatalog templates for streamlined production and updates.
• Import and manage data from external sources, such as spreadsheets or databases, using EasyCatalog for efficient and accurate population of catalog content.
• Incorporate high-quality images, illustrations, and graphics into catalog pages, ensuring proper resolution and placement.
• Apply appropriate typographic styles and formatting to ensure readability and aesthetic consistency.
• InDesign Expertise: Utilize advanced InDesign features, such as master pages, styles, and scripting, to enhance catalog design and efficiency.
• EasyCatalog Proficiency: Configure and use EasyCatalog panels, libraries, and workflows to automate repetitive tasks and reduce production time.
• Perform preflight checks in InDesign to identify and correct errors in layout, fonts, links, or graphics.
• Manage and update multiple catalog versions to meet specific requirements in a timely manner, with consistency and strong attention to detail.
• Work closely with marketing, product, and sales teams to ensure catalog content aligns with business goals and communicate clearly regarding schedules and statuses.
• Accept feedback, implement edits and revisions based on input from stakeholders, maintaining project timelines.
• Plan and prioritize tasks to meet strict deadlines for seasonal or promotional catalog releases.
• Maintain a well-organized system of files and assets for easy retrieval and future updates.
• Conduct thorough reviews of catalogs to ensure accuracy, consistency, and adherence to branding guidelines.
• Stay updated on industry trends in design and catalog production to introduce fresh and innovative ideas.
• Continuously explore ways to improve workflows using EasyCatalog and InDesign capabilities.
• Performs other related business duties assigned by immediate supervisor and/or other management as required.

Experience and Necessary skills:

• Proven work experience as a production artist, graphic designer, or similar (3+ years).
• Expert knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite (Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator).
• Proficient in Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Understand visual design principles and have strong typographic and layout skills.
• Experience in creating continuous-page-layouts using InDesign character and paragraph styles, master pages, style sheets, image libraries, scripts, etc.
• Ability to work within a variety of pre-established design templates and maintain continuity.
• Self-monitoring, self-motivating, and able to prioritize multiple assignments.
• Excellent organizational, project management, file organization, and archiving skills.
• Ability to work on several projects at once, often under tight deadlines.
• Strong preflight and troubleshooting skills. Ability to resolve technical problems with creative solutions.
• Time management skills; ability to juggle multiple projects and prioritize projects to meet deadlines.
• Detail oriented and ability to adhere to specific workflow specifications.
• Good communication skills, both verbal and via email.

Experience with the following a plus:

• Catalog design and catalog automation
• HTML, XML knowledge and coding skills 

Education: Minimum Junior College or Tech School Degree in graphic design, or related field or equivalent experience. Minimum of 2-3 years graphic design experience.

Full-time Salaried position

Benefits:

• Health, Dental, FSA, and Vision benefits.
• Company paid long-term disability and life insurance.
• Paid time off
• Nine paid holidays per year
• 401k with employer match after 1 year of employment

Lerner Publishing Group is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

APPLY NOW

Please send resumes or any general employment inquiries to:
Joyce Hutchinson
Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55401
jhutchinson@lernerbooks.com

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE

 

Company/organization: Lerner Publishing Group
Location: Minneapolis, MN