Vice President of Marketing

Overview

The Zondervan Books team is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and highly values diverse backgrounds and insights that fuel our innovation.

The VP of Marketing sets strategy for and oversees all marketing and publicity efforts for the Zondervan Books imprint. Our team is committed to strong author relationships, books of the highest quality, and a collaborative and productive team environment. Zondervan’s award-winning, bestselling authors include Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Life), Lee Strobel (“The Case for….” series), Dr. Anita Phillips (The Garden Within), Craig Groeschel (Winning the War in Your Mind), Shauna Niequist (I Guess I Haven’t Learned that Yet), Rebekah Lyons (Building a Resilient Life), and Lecrae (I Am Restored.)

Zondervan’s ideal candidate is a marketing innovator who is experienced in strategic planning and brand development, possesses strong leadership skills as well as the desire to manage and develop a high-performing team, and is motivated to achieve high-priority business objectives. The VP of Marketing works closely with the publisher and associate publisher to shape both short- and long-term market strategy for the imprint. Day-to-day responsibilities include management of a team of marketing and publicity professionals, plan creation and execution for 35 to 40 frontlist titles a year, and shared leadership of the publishing and business process. We work in a dynamic and collaborative environment, and the VP of Marketing will interact daily with authors and agents and collaborate closely with the Zondervan Books editorial and sales teams.

Responsibilities

• Develops and leads the overall marketing and brand strategy for Zondervan Books, with the goal of meeting or beating the revenue and profit goals for each fiscal year.
• Fosters an environment of innovation, collaboration, and execution.
• Manages marketing overall budget and ensures primary marketing expenditures are effective and within the budgeted percentage for the fiscal year.
• Oversees and assists in development of the marketing strategy and plan for major frontlist releases and oversees the development of the marketing strategies and plans for all other frontlist releases.
• Leads the marketing and publicity staff in executing the plan for each release as well as fostering productive relationships with authors, agents, and their organizations as well as key internal partners.
• Ensures that each new release garners as much national, regional, and local coverage from broadcast, print, online, and social media as possible.
• Collaborates with sales leaders and retailers to create customized marketing strategies that optimize individual title performance and build strong author brands over the long term.
• Creates comprehensive advertising and promotional campaigns.
• Ensures the development of effective sales materials.
• Prepares and delivers special presentations for key authors, potential authors, and sales teams and retail buyers at sales conferences.
• Continually experiments with new approaches to traditional and non-traditional book promotion tactics.
• Directs the Zondervan Books consumer testing program to ensure we are listening to the voice of the customer in every major phase of a project.

Qualifications

Knowledge: Deep understanding of marketing strategy and brand management required. Understanding of basic financial reporting and sales trend analysis required. Knowledge of the book publishing process and marketing and distribution trends affecting the publishing industry preferred.

Work Experience: Extensive experience (7-10 years) in multiple phases of marketing and publicity, including promotion, merchandising, packaging, and master strategy. Expertise in brand management and strategic planning. Minimum 7 years in publishing preferred and two or more years in a leadership role preferred.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Publicity, Communications, or related area.  Master’s Degree preferred.

Industry Knowledge: Traditional and nontraditional marketing, digital marketing, public relations, branding, and promotional copy writing. Awareness of content, branding, marketing, and sales trends. Knowledge of book general market and Christian book market (including key competitors, authors, and agents) preferred.

Skills: Creative problem-solving abilities; brand development and management; clear, compelling philosophy of marketing; strong leader and developer of people; highly-developed management skills; excellent relationship builder; strong presentation, written communication, and oral communication skills; mastery of Microsoft Office.

HarperCollins Christian Publishing is an Equal Opportunity Employer.