{"id":3094025,"url":"https://alion.io/job/bertelsmann-production-manager-penguin-general-15m-ftc","title":"Production Manager, Penguin General (15m FTC)","company":{"id":20910,"name":"Bertelsmann","domain":"bertelsmann.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/bertelsmann","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"SuccessFactors","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":99,"open_postings":39,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.026,"repost_share":0.026,"time_to_fill_p50_days":24,"computed_at":"2026-11-12T10:38:37Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":null,"employment_type":null,"work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["London, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":39000,"max_usd":83000,"period":"year","method":"role_country_seniority_unknown","sample_n":875},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"GDPR","optional":false},{"name":"Outlook","optional":false}],"status":"closed","first_seen_at":"2026-10-22T15:39:47Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-22","last_verified_at":"2026-11-06T02:36:45Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":"2026-11-06T02:36:45Z","days_open":14,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":14},"description":"Job Description\nWe have an exciting opportunity to join the Penguin General Production team as Production Manager. This role is offered on a 15-month fixed term contract basis from December 2026 to March 2028.\nAbout Penguin General\nPenguin General publishes a broad range of books from prize-winning writers and bestselling authors across literary and popular fiction, crime, history, nature, politics and culture. Our authors include Richard Osman, Robert Macfarlane, Han Kang, Meera Sodha, Ben Macintyre, Alice Loxton and Emily Henry.\nThe role\nWe’re looking for an enthusiastic Production Manager with strong knowledge of both mono and colour book production, a commercial outlook and the confidence to advise and make decisions. You’ll oversee the production of a varied list of titles, including special, exclusive, signed and illustrated co-editions, ensuring books are delivered on time, within budget and to a high standard.\nAlongside managing your own titles, you’ll manage and develop members of the Production team, supporting them to do their best work and providing clear direction and trusted production advice. You’ll work closely with colleagues across Editorial, Design, Sales, Inventory and Finance, as well as external suppliers, taking ownership of complex manufacturing, costing and scheduling challenges and helping shape effective ways of working across the team.\nKey responsibilities:\nManage, support and develop members of the Penguin General Production team, providing guidance, coaching and production expertise and helping them to deliver their best work.\nApply strong commercial judgement to production decision-making, balancing quality, cost and schedule while considering the priorities of the Production team and wider business.\nTake a proactive role in shaping how the team works, reviewing and improving processes, sharing best practice and identifying opportunities to work more effectively.\nAct as a senior point of contact for Production, providing trusted advice, resolving complex production issues and representing the team confidently with colleagues across Editorial, Design, Sales and other departments.\nBuild collaborative relationships across Penguin General, working with key stakeholders to identify production solutions that support the division's publishing plans and demonstrate where Production can add value.\nManage and influence key supplier relationships, negotiating effectively and working with suppliers to achieve the right balance of quality, cost, service and schedule.\nLead on projects and initiatives beyond the day-to-day production of titles, contributing to departmental priorities and strategic initiatives.\nContribute to a collaborative and solutions-focused team environment, being a positive influence within the department and the broader company.\nWhat you’ll bring\nEssential criteria:\nExcellent experience of mono and colour book production.\nExperience of managing, mentoring or developing others.\nStrong leadership and decision-making skills, with the confidence to take ownership of complex issues.\nExcellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills, with experience of building strong relationships with internal stakeholders and external suppliers.\nStrong commercial awareness, with the ability to balance quality, cost, schedule and wider business priorities when making decisions.\nA proven ability to manage competing priorities and oversee a varied workload, remaining calm, positive and effective under pressure.\nExcellent attention to detail, combined with the ability to see the bigger picture and understand the needs of the wider publishing division.\nExperience of working with Biblio and Adobe Creative Cloud.\nApplication instructions\nPlease apply with your CV and Cover Letter outlining your reasons for interest in this role by 23:59 on Thursday 5th November 2026.\nAI\nHere at Penguin, we believe in the power of authenticity and human creativity. When you apply for a position, we want to encourage you to showcase your unique voice. Throughout our recruitment process, please share your own thoughts, experiences, and skills. This helps us get a true sense of who you are and what you might bring to our team.\nWe celebrate creativity and diverse perspectives, so please be yourself! While we recognise AI tools can be helpful, we recommend using them thoughtfully to ensure your responses reflect you.\nDisability Confident\nAs a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘What you’ll bring’ section. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot take all eligible candidates to interview.\nWe encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing . Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable with, for us to support your request.\nSalary\nThe salary for this opportunity is c.£40,000 depending on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.\nHybrid working\nWhile our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important.\nFor this role we expect that you will work from the Embassy Gardens office in London a minimum of 2 days per week (Tuesday & Thursday), and be available to attend on other days as required by the business.\nAdditional Information\nDisclosure requirements pertaining to the collection of your personal data:\nResponsible for processing the information provided in your application is the company specified in the job advertisement, with its registered office as indicated. The company processes your data for the purpose of establishing an employment relationship on the basis of Art. 6 (1) b GDPR / Section 26 (1) sentence 1 BDSG.\nThe retention period for your data is determined by the statutory time limits applicable in the respective country, beginning upon completion of the recruitment process. You can find these here.\nYou can contact the company’s Data Protection Officer at the above-mentioned postal address.\nFurther information on data protection and your rights can be found here.\nRecruiting-Platform powered by SmartRecruiters.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6392,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Hybrid work"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Publishing","TV Production","Music Industry","Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-22T15:39:47Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-11-06T02:36:45Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":null,"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/bertelsmann-production-manager-penguin-general-15m-ftc","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/bertelsmann-production-manager-penguin-general-15m-ftc.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-12T19:14:18Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":40533,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-13T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":20910},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=20910"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fbertelsmann-production-manager-penguin-general-15m-ftc"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fbertelsmann-production-manager-penguin-general-15m-ftc"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fbertelsmann-production-manager-penguin-general-15m-ftc"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/bertelsmann-production-manager-penguin-general-15m-ftc\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fbertelsmann-production-manager-penguin-general-15m-ftc"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3094025}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"bertelsmann.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3094025},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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