Duke University:

Duke University was created in 1924 through an indenture of trust by James Buchanan Duke. Today, Duke is regarded as one of America’s leading research universities. Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is positioned in the heart of the Research Triangle, which is ranked annually as one of the best places in the country to work and live. Duke has more than 15,000 students who study and conduct research in its 10 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. With about 40,000 employees, Duke is the third largest private employer in North Carolina, and it now has international programs in more than 150 countries.

Duke University Press (DUP) seeks to hire an Art Director for Books & Journals, with primary ownership and decision-making authority for the design program of Duke University Press (DUP). Maintaining DUP's high standards of design for over 150 books and 60 journals per year, with responsibility for an annual expense budget of $275,000+, DUP’s Art Director for Books & Journals works independently and also as part of the management team for the Press’s Editing, Design and Production (EDP) group. The Art Director hires, trains, and supervises regular staff, temporary staff, and student workers; manages the DUP journals and books program in the timely preparation of all book text and cover designs; overseeing the work of designers, art editor, and freelancers.

If you’re interested in this opportunity please submit the University-required electronic application, including your résumé and cover letter, before close of the position at Noon on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.

1. Design Staff Management (20%)

• Interview and hire regular DUP design staff, temporary staff, and student workers; train staff as necessary; manage performance of direct reports.
• Monitor staff workloads; reassign work as necessary; outsource work as necessary.
• Maintain documentation of EDP design procedures and new-hire training.
• Act as administrator of designer workflow and task management in the DUP database systems, for both journals and books.
• Troubleshoot along with journals production coordinators, books project editors, production managers, and editorial production manager to resolve author issues and keep books and journal schedules on track.
• As requested, provide guidance and direction to designers within the Press who are not part of EDP—in particular, those working in Marketing and Sales.
• Participate in senior manager level decision-making and planning, including project conception and implementation, as requested.

2. Books and Journals Design (20%)

• Maintain quality of book and journal design and typesetting.
• Serve as key resource across the press for design-related queries, including from designers and other EDP staff, authors, acquisitions editors and editorial associates, and sales and marketing staff.
• Set and manage consistency in designer processes, procedures, and training.
• Review specs of DUP journals regularly; suggest updates to design as appropriate or in response to editorial office requests.
• Manage and develop checklists and guidelines for internal design work in collaboration with editorial and production teams.
• Attend weekly design team meetings scheduled by Senior Designer to provide art direction.
• Lead cover art meetings for book marketing and editorial staff; lead discussion of cover art at books launch meetings.
• Support books and journals digital initiatives and lead projects as they arise.
• Handle individual book or journal design projects, only as necessary.

3. Design-Production Management of Books and Journals (20%)

• Work with Editorial Production Manager and Senior Designer on overall scheduling and planning; monitor and adjust production schedules for book projects in progress to meet “to comp” dates and “to printer” dates.
• Work with Journals EDP team and Journals Production Manager to create the yearly publication schedules of all journal issues; problem-solve to keep journal covers designed and published on schedule.
• Determine internal schedules and monitor compliance of due dates for design phases and overall book and journal production, in collaboration with Senior Designer and design staff.
• Set up and implement workflow changes as necessary for design staff to work efficiently and collaboratively with production and editorial staff; monitor implementation by designers; update workflows; document workflows.
• Coordinate with DUP Rights & Permissions Specialist on requirements for cover art; document changes in cover art permissions requirements, ensure that staff are trained, and monitor compliance.
• Manage production of designated book and journal covers in time for use in seasonal books catalog; communicate progress during catalog production process.
• Set up and maintain agreements or pricing arrangements with image resources, such as Getty Images, for ongoing licensing rights for DUP projects.

4. Special Books Project Management (10%)

• Set agenda for and manage “snowflakes” meetings to determine production plan for special needs and high-end books.
• Provide design input at pre- or post-transmittal meetings requested by DUP Books Editorial staff to discuss special project needs; attend manuscript check-in and evaluation meetings and flag special projects for ‘snowflakes’ agenda.
• Ensure documentation and communication of all production decisions for special DUP design projects.

5. Design Team Financials (10%)

• Report design expenses to EDP director as requested; participate in budget forecasting and planning processes along with other EDP managers.
• Assist EDP Director to plan for and cost-out with printers all author/editor/marketing requests for high-end or special production on particular titles: paper, print, bind—approximately $75,000-100,000 in manufacturing costs for 15-20 titles per year.
• Manage budget for cover printing, approximately $150,000 per year.
• Manage budget for freelance design work, approximately $50,000 per year.
• Manage overall cover-art rights budget and costs for all book and journal cover art, approximately $75,000 per year.
• Maintain and manage protocols and departmental archiving documentation for complete and accurate accounting records of all invoices paid.

6. Journals Onboarding and Editorial Office Relationship Management (10%)

• Along with other EDP managers, coordinate the one-year process of onboarding each newly acquired journals; participate in regular journals management meetings throughout first year of onboarding.
• Work with journals designer on initial contact with editorial offices concerning text and cover design; and with Journals EDP team on schedule for the first volume.
• Work with EDP Director, journals designer, and journals production to set design and production parameters for new journal acquisitions.

7. Other Related Duties (10%)

• Serve on hiring committees for EDP staff and for designers in other DUP work groups.
• Serve on DUP committees wherever EDP is a stakeholder and design is a concern.
• Establish connections with peers at other university presses for purposes of comparison and for gathering ideas and data to actively engage in design and publishing initiatives.

Department-Preferred Experience: Requires four years of experience in text and cover design, or related design experience, with a preference for publication design.

Department-Preferred Skills: Excellent training in and knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite; basic HTML/CSS knowledge preferred; experience in Microsoft Office, FTP clients, and font management software preferred.

Work requires communications, analytical and organizational skills generally acquired through completion of a bachelor's degree program.

Work requires 4 years of editorial experience in a publishing related setting to acquire skills necessary to manage and coordinate a variety of tasks such as copy editing, researching manuscripts for accuracy, clarity, and content. OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.