Great Minds is looking for a Senior Trade Book Strategist to shape our enterprise publishing strategy and ensure a resilient supply of high-quality trade books. Reporting to the Manager, Supply Chain Operations, you will act as a key strategist, leveraging market insights and business intelligence to drive sourcing excellence and support our growth objectives.
What You'll Do
- Serve as a key enterprise partner for strategic relationships with 20+ global and domestic trade publishers, cultivating long-term partnerships.
- Negotiate complex contracts, including rights agreements and long-term printing arrangements, balancing cost with flexibility.
- Establish performance metrics and lead Quarterly Business Reviews to ensure vendor accountability and continuous improvement.
- Architect and implement the organization’s trade title procurement strategy using market analysis and data modeling.
- Oversee contract lifecycle management and vendor qualification in partnership with Legal and Finance.
- Develop and maintain key performance dashboards to inform executive-level decisions on spend, inventory, and supplier performance.
- Partner with Sales, Product, and Demand Planning leaders to align trade book availability with customer demand.
- Translate forecast data into actionable purchasing strategies that mitigate risk and maximize revenue.
- Collaborate with Product Development to identify and source new trade titles for curriculum expansion.
- Oversee a trade title catalog of 650+ titles, ensuring data accuracy for ISBNs, pricing, and availability.
- Champion process innovation, leveraging technology and analytics to drive efficiency across the purchasing lifecycle.
- Mentor cross-functional contributors to elevate procurement discipline and operational rigor.
What We're Looking For
- 5+ years of experience in trade publishing procurement, supply chain management, or educational publishing operations.
- Demonstrated success negotiating complex contracts and managing multimillion-dollar vendor portfolios.
- Strong command of demand planning, financial analysis (including P&L impact and margin optimization), and supply chain risk mitigation.
- Proven ability to influence and collaborate across executive and operational levels.
- Deep knowledge of the trade publishing ecosystem, including major distributors, printers, and content rights structures.
- Exceptional analytical, communication, and leadership skills with a strategic mindset.
- A Bachelor’s degree.
Team & Environment
You will report to the Manager, Supply Chain Operations and collaborate with teams across Great Minds, including Sales, Product, Finance, and Legal.
Benefits & Compensation
- Compensation range: $80,000-$88,000.
Work Mode
This is a remote position. Candidates must be located in Washington, District of Columbia, United States.
Great Minds is an equal opportunity employer. We will extend equal opportunity to all individuals without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, disability, age, genetic information, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws.
