Production Specialist

Job Description

Title: Production Specialist

Reports to: Production Manager

Location: Ada, MI

Hours: Full-time 40 hours

FLSA: Non-Exempt

About the position:

Baker Publishing Group is seeking a detail-oriented Production Specialist to join our team. In this role, you'll serve as a vital link between our editorial, design, and manufacturing processes, ensuring the smooth transition of manuscripts into finished books. You'll manage vendor relationships, maintain quality standards, and help keep our production pipeline running efficiently.

Key Responsibilities

• Plans and coordinates materials and component purchases across U.S., India, and China, ensuring product excellence and on-time delivery.
• Partners cross-functionally with Editorial, Design, Marketing, Sales, Art, and Warehouse teams for optimal product delivery processes from end-to-end.
• Resolves product defects by identifying issues, assessing impact, coordinating with suppliers, and implementing corrective actions.
• Manages the full procurement cycle, including RFQ's, vendor selection, and price negotiation to ensure cost-effective and high-quality sourcing.
• Issues and tracks purchase orders while monitoring supplier performance and ensuring compliance with quality, delivery, and company standards.
• Oversees purchase order management by expediting, deferring, or cancelling deliveries as needed to meet production schedules.
• Builds and maintains strong vendor relationships through consistent communication, collaborative problem-solving, and trust-based partnerships, resulting in improved supplier performance and reliable on-time delivery.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required; some college coursework or a degree in a related field preferred
• Print or Publishing experience preferred; candidates with a background in customer service, especially within the printing industry, are particularly well-suited to this role
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Effective communication skills for cross-departmental coordination
• Ability to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office; database experience a plus
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as a team member

Compensation & Benefits

Pay is competitive and commensurate with experience. This role includes BPG's full benefits package - health, dental, and vision insurance, group life and short/long-term disability coverage, paid time off, and 401(k) eligibility after three months.

Baker Publishing Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

As a company that believes in the inherent diversity reflected in the kingdom of God, Baker Book House Company is committed to the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the books we publish, in our community of employees, and in the way we conduct ourselves in our workplace and in the marketplace.