Senior Production Manager

About the Role

Were looking for a Senior Production Manager to serve as the operational hub for high-volume political and advocacy workensuring seamless coordination across client services creative art copy digital production and political strategy. Youll own the end-to-end production lifecycle for direct mail print advertising materials and related projects keeping everything on time on budget and to exceptional quality standards even under rapid-response timelines.

What Youll Do

Production Management & Execution

• Lead the full production lifecycle for print pieces direct mail and related projects from kickoff through delivery and archive.

• Translate creative concepts and mail plans into detailed production schedules checklists and workflows.

• Coordinate print edits mail delivery VO and final conform.

• Ensure all assets meet technical specs by campaign state and postal standards/requirements.

• Oversee proofing QA and versioning (candidate vs. IE districts languages etc.).

Vendor & Partner Management

• Manage external production partners (directors editors photographers printers paper and post houses).

• Source bids negotiate rates and secure competitive pricing without compromising quality across multiple states.

• Assist in coordinating shoot logistics (locations crew talent permits releases call sheets etc.).

• Monitor vendor performance and hold partners accountable for deadlines quality and compliance.

• Build and maintain a strong vendor bench and competitive pricing for a variety of collateral needs.

Compliance Legal & Standards

• Partner closely with legal/compliance to ensure alignment with FEC FCC state/local regulations and platform policies.

• Ensure proper disclaimers supers legal lines closed captioning and accessibility requirements across deliverables.

• Maintain thorough documentation and version control to support audits or challenges.

Trafficking & Delivery

• Oversee trafficking of finished assets to printers/vendors per mail plans and insertion orders.

• Ensure all deadlines in media plans are met (or exceeded) and proactively flag risks early.

• Confirm receipt/acceptance of materials; troubleshoot rejections or technical issues quickly.

• Coordinate retags revisions and rush requests under tight political timelines.

• Develop and maintain mail tracking service offerings for clients.

Budget Resourcing & Reporting

• Build and manage production budgets (estimates actuals reconciliation) for campaigns and projects.

• Track costs against budgets; flag overages early and recommend solutions.

• Allocate internal/external resources based on priorities and timelines.

• Provide regular status updates and production reporting to leadership and account teams.

Process Improvement & Team Leadership

• Document and refine workflows and best practices tailored to the political cycle.

• Mentor production coordinators/assistants/junior staff; provide feedback and training.

• Evaluate and implement new tools technologies and vendors that improve speed quality and efficiency.

What Were Looking For

Required Qualifications

• 610 years of production management experience in:

  • Political advertising advocacy or public affairs and/or

  • A fast-paced agency/production environment (advertising broadcast digital video or direct mail)

• Strong understanding of the political campaign cycle (primaries general ballot measures IE work rapid response).

• Deep knowledge of direct mail production workflows specs and file formats.

• Exceptional organization and detail orientation; proven ability to manage many projects at once.

• Strong vendor management and negotiation skills.

• Excellent cross-functional communication and collaboration (creative account digital legal/compliance).

• Willingness/ability to work nights and weekends during peak election periods.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working directly with campaigns committees IE groups or political consultants.

• Familiarity with trafficking platforms ad servers and station/platform specs.

• Experience with project/asset management tools (Asana ClickUp Airtable Wrike etc.) and file management systems.

• Working knowledge of post-production workflows/tools (e.g. Adobe Creative Cloud) sufficient to communicate effectively with editors and designers.

Key Competencies

• Operational Excellence: Builds reliable production systems that scale.

• Detail Orientation: Catches issues before anything goes out the door.

• Problem Solving: Fast troubleshooting under tight constraints.

• Time & Priority Management: Handles multiple urgent timelines without sacrificing quality.

• Collaboration: Strong partner across creative media account and legal.

• Calm Under Pressure: Clear steady leadership in crunch time.

Education

Bachelors degree in Film/TV Production Communications Marketing Design or related field preferredor equivalent professional experience.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation is based on experience and includes Medical Vision and Dental plus a 401(k) contribution after 1 year of service.