Product Manager, Shelf-Ready Services

Workplace Type: On-site

Job Location: Provo, Utah, or Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Job Type: Full-time

Reports to: President

Direct Reports: Project managers (one per office), who in turn lead team leaders and teams of technicians

Compensation:

• $66,664 to $88,192 per year, commensurate with experience

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401(k) matching
• Paid time off
• Profit sharing

Experience:

• Logistics or supply-chain planning experience: 2 years (Preferred)
• Library science education and/or work background: 2 years (Preferred)
• Experience working for a library services vendor: 2 years (Preferred)

POSITION OVERVIEW

Backstage Library Works is looking for a production-minded leader to own and elevate our Shelf-Ready Services department on behalf of the libraries and vendor partners we work with. This is a role for someone who thinks in throughput, bottlenecks, and steady improvement, and who genuinely enjoys turning a busy production floor into a well-tuned operation.

You will be responsible for the full scope of shelf-ready work: shipping and receiving logistics, physical processing workflows, and the day-to-day systems that keep items moving accurately and on time. Just as importantly, you’ll shape where the department goes next. Our processing goals are defined today, but they’re not set in stone. As we build production history, you’ll have real influence over how they evolve.

If you lead with a kaizen mindset – always improving, always iterating – you’ll fit right in for this role.

This is largely a remote role with travel requirements. You should live in the continental United States and within reasonable driving distance from a major airport. If you live near a Backstage office (Provo, Utah or Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), you will work a hybrid schedule, spending one day per week at the office.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Production performance. Monitor daily and weekly productivity across both sites, identify where we can improve, and double down on what’s already working.
• Logistics & processing. Oversee shipping/receiving and the physical processing workflows that get items shelf-ready accurately and efficiently.
• Department structure. Shape how the team is organized, where work flows, and how the two sites coordinate as we scale.
• People leadership. Manage and mentor your project managers, helping them grow and helping their teams succeed.
• Stakeholder communication. Keep consistent, clear communication with library partners and our clients.
• Budget ownership. Manage expenses against budget – working within this year’s existing plan and building out future budgets as you take full ownership of the department’s financials.
• Goals & standards. Steward our processing goals – holding the line where it matters and refining them as production data tells us more.
• Innovation with an eye on scale. Pursue improvements at every level, always weighing near-term scalability.
• Sales & marketing partnership. Collaborate on initiatives, quote generation and presentation, collateral, and pricing.
• Regular travel is expected.

QUALIFICATIONS

A production mindset. You see a workflow and instinctively ask how to make it faster, cleaner, and more reliable without sacrificing quality. You are comfortable owning numbers and using them to drive decisions.

• Experience leading teams or managing, especially across multiple sites.
• A track record of process improvement or operational excellence.
• Strong, steady communication skills with both internal teams and external partners.
• Comfort balancing the day-to-day with longer-term planning.

PREFERRED

• Logistics or supply-chain planning experience.
• A library science background or education, or prior experience in library services.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE (First 6-12 Months)

• You understand the work and have a clear picture of where the opportunities are.
• Your project managers feel well-supported and are growing in their roles.
• Workflows are measurably tighter with documented improvements we can point to.
• Partners and stakeholders consistently hear from us – proactively, not just reactively.
• You’ve helped sharpen our processing goals based on real production data.

COMPENSATION

• Salary: $66,664 to $88,192 per year, commensurate with experience.
• Benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) matching, and annual profit sharing.

TO APPLY

• Please submit a resume and cover letter/email to Nate Cothran, President

Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.

Learn More About Us! We have a blog that regularly updates about the latest topics in the industry and a conference schedule, which is a great way to network and attend discussions about contemporary librarianship. Visit www.bslw.com to get to know the company.