JOB SUMMARY: This role is a member of the Society of Actuaries’ (SOA) Marketing & Communications Team supporting several business units, Education, Global, Research, Engagement, Professional Development in North America and Asia. The Publications Manager is responsible for oversight of publications development for digital, online and some print products. They collaborate with marketing and communications staff to ensure publications are consistently promoted across the organization. SOA produces a weekly e-newsletter, SOA News Weekly, an award-winning global digital magazine, The Actuary, an academic journal, North American Actuarial Journal (NAAJ), twenty professional interest digital newsletters, meeting monographs, research publications, and book publications. This position manages daily operations for the publications team consisting of a staff editor and a senior communications associate.  In addition to staff, this position manages publishing vendors and freelance editors and writers.  The Publications Manager maintains current publishing outputs at established standards while collaboratively developing and implementing best practices to guide a comprehensive digital publications program that aligns with the SOA’s strategic goals.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:  

• Maintain and strategically enhance a publications department and guide a professional team to produce timely, relevant and cost-effective digital publications for SOA members, candidates and the profession’s key stakeholders.
• Supervise, develop and hire a staff and freelance team that executes core operational publishing functions, including but not limited to project management, editorial calendar development, publication planning, writing, editing, quality assurance, production coordination, distribution and management of volunteer editorial boards.
• Provide strategic counsel, direction and implement a clear consistent strategy and editorial direction to ensure publications match organizational and communication strategies.
• Benchmark publishing industry best practices and incorporate these practices, along with member communications audit feedback, into the strategic and operational functions of the department.
• Manage vendor relationships to ensure timeliness, product quality and best pricing.
• Collaboratively develop department and individual team goals, implement metrics for the publications department that connect to key organizational metrics and ensure team members are accountable for achieving organizational, department and individual goals as appropriate.
• Prepare and manage the publications budget to the established targets and oversee financial controls and reporting.
• Collaborate and partner with staff and volunteers to assess, implement and optimize new publishing opportunities, using established organizational processes and where appropriate, refinement of those processes.
• Keep abreast of current trends in publications, with special attention on digital and online.
• Coordinate and implement the editorial calendar and master outreach calendar for SOA publications.
• Implement and refine book publishing processes as appropriate in coordination with the publications team and SOA department stakeholders.
• Monitor and maintain compliance issues with all relevant postal regulations, other laws and rules and be familiar with “environmentally-friendly” publishing practices when and if print is employed.
• Manage publication sales, fulfillment and inventory functions including web updates, coordinating with marketing and pricing functions.)
• Manage advertising strategy, media kit and vendor contract for The Actuary magazine and coordinate advertising offerings with SOA’s corporate sponsorship program where possible.

NON-ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Some broader communications experience beyond publishing is desired to ensure collaboration and coordination with web communications, public relations, graphic design and marketing teams.