Director, Strategic Projects

The Director, Strategic Projects serves as a senior member of a centralized Strategic Projects team, acting as an internal hub of transformation consultants. This role drives critical business and technology-enabled initiatives across Macmillan, working in close partnership with IT leadership, business stakeholders, and executive leadership.

Operating in a matrixed environment, the Director leads programs and projects that deliver measurable value, promote operational efficiency, and align with the company's strategic priorities. The role requires both strong program management expertise and the ability to influence and align diverse stakeholders across the organization.

What you'll do:

• Program & Project Leadership - Act as program director and project manager across a portfolio of high-impact strategic initiatives. Ensure initiatives are well-scoped, resourced, and executed to deliver tangible business value. The exact portfolio of projects depends on business needs and individual capacity.
• Strategic Alignment - Partner with IT leadership, business units, and executive sponsors to ensure projects directly support organizational priorities and transformation goals.
• Matrixed Team Leadership - Provide direction and coordination to cross-functional project teams. Influence without direct authority by building strong relationships, aligning priorities, and fostering accountability.
• Stakeholder Engagement - Collaborate with executive leadership, business sponsors, and technical teams to set objectives, define outcomes, and communicate progress with clarity and transparency.
• Clear Executive Communication - Provide concise, actionable updates to senior and executive leadership on program/project progress, key risks, and mitigation plans, ensuring timely decision-making and alignment.
• Risk & Issue Management - Anticipate, assess, and mitigate risks to minimize disruption. Develop innovative solutions to overcome obstacles while maintaining project momentum.
• Technology Enablement - Oversee select technology-focused projects and collaborate with IT to evaluate, implement, and modernize systems and processes. Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and aligned with long-term business needs.
• Change Leadership - Support organizational transformation by embedding data-driven decision making, encouraging the use of AI and emerging tools where appropriate, and fostering cross-team collaboration.
• Performance Monitoring - Track and report on project outcomes, efficiency gains, and operational improvements. Present recommendations and lessons learned to leadership to support continuous improvement.

What you'll bring:

• 10+ years of experience in project and program leadership, with proven success delivering enterprise-level initiatives that integrate technology and business strategy.
• Experience working in matrixed organizations and leading cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated ability to re-engineer processes, modernize systems, and deliver measurable operational and business improvements.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a track record of influencing senior leaders and diverse stakeholders.
• Strong knowledge of project management methodologies and tools (e.g., MS Project, Excel, Jira, Asana, collaboration platforms).
• Publishing, media, or education industry experience.
• Proven success managing or leading SAP/ERP transitions, implementation phases, or post-go-live optimizations.
• Experience with digital commerce, including eCommerce systems and direct-to-consumer selling mechanics.
• Experience collaborating with warehouse teams and/or warehouse management systems.

This role will have an annual salary of $125,000-$150,000

Macmillan Publishers is the U.S. trade company that is part of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a large family-owned group of media companies headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Holtzbrinck Publishing Group's publishing companies include prominent imprints around the world that publish a broad range of award-winning books for children and adults in all categories and formats.

U.S. publishers include Celadon Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Flatiron Books, Henry Holt & Company, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, The St. Martin's Publishing Group, and Tor Publishing Group. In the UK, Australia, India, and South Africa, companies in the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group publish under the Pan Macmillan name. The German publishing company, Holtzbrinck Deutsche Buchverlage, includes among its imprints S. Fischer, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Rowohlt, and Droemer Knaur.

Macmillan is proud to be an equal opportunity employer consistently striving to foster a culture where everyone belongs. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities. Qualified applicants are evaluated without regard to race, color, religion, age, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability status, physical ability, neurodiversity, genetic information, protected veteran status, family and economic status and background or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. We prohibit discrimination of any kind and will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable law.