Director of Publishing Technology & Transformation

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Simon & Schuster UK and International, this role will lead the practical application of technology and the transformation of publishing workflows. Working across publishing, creative, marketing, publicity, production, operations and technology, the Director will identify where processes and systems limit performance and deliver improvements that increase capacity, improve quality and support commercial growth.

The role combines publishing and creative judgement with product ownership, change leadership and hands-on technical capability. The Director will design and prototype solutions, build tools where appropriate and work with specialist technology and data teams to bring reliable solutions into everyday use.

The Job Role

The Director will develop a prioritised roadmap of workflow and technology improvements, agreed with relevant leaders and grounded in publishing needs and commercial value. They will review processes across departments, identify bottlenecks and duplication, and decide when to redesign a workflow, adopt existing technology or build a new solution.

The Director will improve workflows for editorial, creative, marketing, publicity and production, including briefing, approvals, covers, assets, metadata and discovery. They will involve colleagues in design and testing, support adoption through training, apply company policies on AI, data, security and intellectual property, and measure results in capacity, turnaround time, quality, cost and commercial performance.

The successful candidate will bring significant experience in commercial publishing and a strong understanding of how editorial, creative, marketing, production and commercial functions work together. They will have a track record of solving complex operational problems and delivering measurable improvements, alongside sound creative and commercial judgement about books, audiences and positioning.

They will communicate technical ideas clearly, influence across functions and support teams through change. They will be comfortable working independently across a broad remit, learning unfamiliar systems and balancing strategic priorities with practical delivery.

Simon & Schuster, a global leader in general interest publishing, is dedicated to providing the best in fiction and non-fiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. Its distinguished roster of authors includes many of the world's most popular and widely recognized writers, and winners of the most prestigious literary honors and awards. It is home to numerous well-known imprints and divisions such as Simon & Schuster, Scribner, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Adams Media, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and Simon & Schuster Audio and international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom, and proudly brings the works of its authors to readers in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com ., Simon & Schuster UK is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, creed, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity and gender expression. At Simon & Schuster UK, the spirit of inclusion feeds into everything that we do, we believe that opportunity, access, resources and rewards should be available to and for the benefit of all.