Production Manager

The Stanford Alumni Association (SAA) has a mission to reach, serve, and engage all 250,000+ Stanford alumni and students; to foster a lifelong intellectual and emotional connection between the university and its graduates; and to provide the university with goodwill and support. SAA produces a wide array of offerings and programming to connect Stanford alumni, ranging from events such as Reunion Homecoming, to a wide range of volunteer opportunities, to creating content, including STANFORD magazine, and providing travel opportunities, including the Stanford Travel/Study and Stanford Sierra Camp programs.

STANFORD magazine, the award-winning magazine of the Stanford Alumni Association, is seeking an organized, collaborative, and detail-oriented production manager to oversee and coordinate the production of the magazine across print and digital platforms.

With a 50-year history of strong reader engagement and high standards of editorial quality, STANFORD magazine reaches more than 230,000 readers through its print publication and additional audiences via its website.

The production manager plays a central role in ensuring the timely, accurate, and efficient delivery of four issues each year by managing production schedules, workflows, deadlines, and processes from initial story development through final publication.

Working closely with editors, designers, writers, fact-checkers, printers, vendors, and internal partners, the production manager serves as a key operational hub for the magazine, keeping complex projects moving forward while maintaining high standards of quality and accuracy.

Communication skills, calmness under pressure, problem-solving, multitasking, and tech-savviness are key attributes of this position.

The ideal candidate will be confident using standard productivity tools, including Microsoft Word and Google Docs, and demonstrate the ability to quickly learn and navigate specialized software, systems, and production workflows.

with publishing and workflow management tools such as Airtable, Insite, CARD (Salesforce), content management systems, and Adobe Creative Cloud applications—including Acrobat Pro, Photoshop, and InDesign—is preferred.

In this role you will:

Manage the production process

• Negotiate annual production schedule with our printer and develop and maintain internal production calendar
• Route stories and other magazine elements using Airtable; communicate constantly with editors, designers, writers, and fact-checkers to ensure smooth flow of work
• Enforce deadlines, help individuals prioritize work, and troubleshoot throughout the production process
• Support print production using basic knowledge of specialized software, including InDesign and Acrobat Pro, including making changes to story text with accuracy and attention to detail, reviewing iterations of stories for errors, and managing corrections process. As skills and time permit, lay out some magazine elements, including Class Notes, obituaries, and full-page ads.
• Support web production by posting simple stories online. As skills and time permit, resize images for web and email newsletter.
• Serve as liaison to printer for labels, postage, instructions, and approval of pages
• Serve as liaison to SAA revenue department for ad placement and technical matters; review ads against specifications; resolve issues with advertisers; and upload ads for print and digital production. As skills and time permit, collect, process, and upload all ads sold by the Ivy League Magazine Network for its member schools
• Receive and track incoming materials, including books from Stanford authors, story pitches, and obituary submissions
• Schedule and staff editorial team meetings

Provide administrative and financial support

• Maintain fiscal-year snapshot of revenue, printing, and postage
• Create, send, and track freelancer contracts
• Support student intern hiring and onboarding
• As skills and time permit: Initiate purchase orders; process invoices and purchasing card receipts

Serve as the magazine’s “front door”

• Respond to emails from alumni and other stakeholders with appropriate knowledge and sensitivity (including story pitch rejections); troubleshoot questions and requests
• Maintain relationships with campus collaborators, including the registrar’s office and communications offices at the seven schools; request information and forward story ideas/alumni updates as appropriate
• Arrange for mailroom to deliver mags across campus