Sr Publishing Program Manager

General Summary

The Sr Publishing Program Manager collaborates with internal stakeholders, department heads, LAIKA marketing team members, publishing partners, and external vendors to manage end-to-end production of LAIKA publishing projects. 

*This is a temporary, 6-month role with the possibility of extending beyond the initial duration.

Job Functions

• Act as primary studio liaison with publishing partners and vendors (packaging agencies, authors, editors, artists) on active projects.

• Collaborate with the LAIKA publishing stakeholders and external editors to develop content architecture project by project.

• Build and maintain project timelines, milestones, and documentation using project management tools (e.g., Airtable).

• Facilitate clear communication of project objectives, risks, and tradeoffs to stakeholders, ensuring shared understanding and buy-in at each stage.

• Anticipate and proactively resolve potential project roadblocks by aligning priorities across cross-functional teams.

• Balance creative, operational, and business needs by managing expectations and negotiating timelines or deliverables as necessary.

• Capture and share learnings across projects to support continuous improvement in workflows and collaboration.

• Provide weekly progress reports to senior marketing leadership. 

• Partner with internal departments and stakeholders to aggregate editorial inputs (archival materials, photography, artwork, production notes, etc.).

• Plan and route communications, approvals, and feedback among LAIKA stakeholders and external talent.

• Ensure accountability for timely delivery of inputs, reviews, and approvals across projects.

• Maintain close collaboration across the studio to support smooth project execution.

• Drive stakeholder coordination by partnering with subject matter experts (SMEs) across the studio, deploying resources efficiently, and ensuring alignment on project priorities and deliverables.

• Identify, ideate, and source new products and marketing opportunities for LAIKA film IP, spanning publishing and adjacent categories (e.g., tabletop/RPG, video games), including building business cases and creative briefs, sourcing partners and vendors, and negotiating terms in collaboration with the SVP Business Development and Legal team.

Qualifications

• 7+ years’ project management experience, ideally in a related creative field.

• 5+ years’ experience in the publishing industry.

• 2+ years’ experience in business development/licensing for publishing or games with a proven track record of sourcing and closing partnerships with publishers, developers, or platforms.

• Strong collaborative and influencing skills, with the ability to drive timely input and approvals from internal and external stakeholders, demonstrating high emotional intelligence.

• Experience working in entertainment and creative industry, preferred.

• Background in high end, collectible publishing projects, a plus.

• Ability to manage multiple complex projects seamlessly. 

• Demonstrated ability to balance deadlines with delivery quality, ensuring alignment across stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.

• Skilled at building trust and maintaining strong stakeholder relationships across diverse teams.

• Excellent written and verbal communications skills, with the ability to collaborate professionally across internal and external teams.

• Comfortable working both individually and collaboratively.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to walk; stand; sit; use hands to operate standard office equipment; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk or hear both in person and by telephone. The employee must lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. Vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

• Work environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee works under typical office conditions and is exposed to variable indoor temperatures. The noise level is usually quiet or moderate.

Location

On-site in Hillsboro, OR, and eligible for hybrid work.

Salary

Salary is commensurate with skills and experience.

Disclaimer

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified.

Please review our EMPLOYMENT DISCLAIMER and MATERIALS SUBMISSION AGREEMENT.