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Salary: USD 117,300 - 158,700 / annual
inquirED is a K–12 educational publisher providing high-quality instructional materials and curricula (Great First Eight for Pre-K/TK, Inkwell for K–2 integrated ELA and social studies, and Inquiry Journeys for K–5 social studies) to school districts across the country.
You will be the first person to own print supply operations end-to-end: planning, printing, sourcing, stocking, and delivering physical materials. This is a foundational role at a growing company. Your first year will be hands-on—tracing short shipments, fixing incomplete orders, and resolving district inquiries—while simultaneously designing the systems and processes that prevent these issues from recurring. As systems mature, your focus will shift toward strategic planning and vendor management.
You will report directly to the CEO and serve as the senior expert on physical materials, bringing cost and timing information to Product, Sales, Marketing, and Finance early enough to shape product decisions and pricing strategy.
Key responsibilities include:
**Get materials to classrooms complete and on time:** Own the full path from closed deal to delivered box. Turn each order into a vendor-ready order with correct components, quantities, school allocations, and delivery dates. Plan production and shipping backward from the first day of school and beginning-of-year professional development. Resolve missing, damaged, or incorrect orders and track every issue to closure. Set quality checks that catch printing and kitting errors before materials reach districts. Keep Sales, Partner Experience, and districts informed about order status.
**Plan inventory ahead of demand:** Maintain a complete breakdown of titles, printed pieces, and kit components in everything sold. Forecast demand with Sales and Product, then set print quantities and reorder points. Manage trade book risk (reprints, back orders, out-of-print titles) with options ready before gaps affect units.
**Hold vendors to clear standards:** Set your approach across printers, fulfillment centers, warehouses, book distributors, and kit suppliers. Lead RFPs and negotiations, and review vendor performance every season. Coordinate between designers, Product, and printers so specs are feasible and true to curriculum design. Visit vendor sites to review quality and capacity.
**Bring cost and margin into product decisions:** Track the full cost of each item and kit from printing through shipping. Partner with Finance and Marketing to track margin by product and recommend pricing and packaging changes. Share production timelines with curriculum teams early so they can plan backward from file handoff dates.
**Build the function as we grow:** Track and report measures such as on-time delivery and cost per kit. Document core processes and hire and manage added support as needed.
**Requirements:**
- 6+ years in supply chain, print production, or fulfillment operations, including ownership of orders from purchase through delivery
- 3+ years managing vendor relationships with printers, fulfillment centers, or warehouses, including leading RFPs and negotiating price and schedule
- Direct experience with printed materials, trade books, and multi-item kits
- Working knowledge of print production and inventory planning, including specs, proofs, forecasting, and reorder points
- Strong analytical skills, including cost modeling and margin analysis
- Track record of fixing operational problems, then putting a process in place so they don't recur
- Willingness and ability to travel
**Preferred qualifications:**
- Background in K–12 publishing or classroom materials, including back-to-school delivery cycles and state adoptions
- Experience working with third-party fulfillment warehouses and trade book distributors
- Prior work as the first owner of a function at a growing company
