Production Specialist

At Curriculum Associates, we believe in the potential of every child and are changing the face of education technology with award-winning learning programs like i-Ready that serve a third of the nation’s K–8 students. For more than 50 years, our commitment to making classrooms better places, serving educators, and supporting accessible learning experiences for all students has driven the continuous improvement of our innovative programs. Our team of more than 2,500 employees is composed of lifelong learners who stand behind this mission, working tirelessly to serve the educational community with world-class programs and support every day.

The Production Specialist will provide composition, layout, and graphic support to both our internal and offshore Production teams. The successful candidate in this role will take an active part in the development, fulfilment, and maintenance of print and digital educational material, ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality products. In addition to core composition work, this role collaborates with cross-functional design, editorial, and production teams to resolve production bottlenecks — including a growing set of automation and scripting tasks (e.g., InDesign ExtendScript, Acrobat JavaScript) to increase efficiency.

 What You’ll Do

• Work extensively with files in Adobe InDesign and Acrobat, owning the fidelity of InDesign files for assigned projects — including illustration and photo work in Illustrator and Photoshop.
• Build InDesign templates, create Style Guide documentation, and update book files and pages following supplied manuscripts.
• Apply or maintain accessibility features according to guidelines and best practices, including PDF remediation and InDesign accessibility.
• Communicate regularly with supervisors, vendors, and internal and external teams to accomplish project goals and meet deadlines.
• Design, build, and maintain automation scripts, plug-ins and AI-enabled workflows that streamline InDesign, Acrobat, and Adobe Creative Cloud production workflows.
• Support automation and scripting initiatives (e.g., InDesign Extend Script, UXP Plug-ins, Acrobat JavaScript) to streamline recurring production tasks.

Here’s how you’ll contribute:

• Ensure the product's adherence to all laws pertaining to copyrighted and public domain material usage and permissions, including but not limited to images, fonts, and texts.
• Support metadata collection and file structure to meet content re-purposing goals.
• Read, understand, and apply information from a Style Guide across assigned projects.
• Attend and participate in project meetings. Document and follow up on important actions and decisions.
• Ensure projects adhere to best practices, and all documentation is maintained appropriately.
• Deliver final products and project deliverables successfully according to prioritized schedules.
• Manage multiple responsibilities across multiple projects at once.
• Apply InDesign ExtendScript (JSX), UXP Plug-ins and Acrobat JavaScript, where applicable, to automate recurring composition and QA tasks.
• Build and maintain existing InDesign, Acrobat scripts and plug-ins to support the wider Production team across US and India.
• Design and build AI-enabled automation workflows, including integrations with Claude, GitHub Copilot, and AWS Bedrock, to accelerate content production and QA.
• Ensure automated outputs meet accessibility and production requirements to support efficient handoffs.
• Demonstrate accuracy and attention to detail across all deliverables.

What You’ll Bring

• Experience with Adobe products, including InDesign, Acrobat, Illustrator, and Photoshop.
• Understanding of Editorial markup and how to implement.
• Working knowledge of InDesign ExtendScript (JSX), UXP Plug-ins, Python, and Acrobat JavaScript to support automation initiatives. 
• A strong understanding of Adobe Creative Cloud scripting environments and production workflow best practices. 
• Successful delivery of final products and project deliverables according to prioritized schedules.
• Ability to manage multiple responsibilities across multiple projects. 
• Effective communication with coworkers, managers, other teams, and offshore Production vendors/partners. 
• Excellent time management and ability to multi-task; ability to work independently. 
• Demonstrated accuracy and attention to detail.
• Hands-on experience with AI tools, including Copilot, Claude, and AWS Bedrock.

Key Skills & Expertise

Experience with Adobe InDesign, Acrobat, Illustrator, and Photoshop publishing workflows is required; exposure to automation and scripting knowledge.

Software:

• (Expert) Adobe InDesign, Acrobat, Illustrator, and Photoshop, and other publishing software
• (Proficient) Content management systems, Woodwing preferred
• (Expert) InDesign Extend Script (JSX), Python and UXP plug-in development for automation
• (Proficient) Acrobat JavaScript scripting for PDF automation and remediation
• (Bonus) Exhibited ability to learn new software, tools, and systems
• (Bonus) Experience in creating AI agents and working with different LLM models

Experience & Education

• 5+ years of related Education publishing/production experience in EdTech (Print Books and Digital), GK-12 with a bachelor's degree or equivalent field.
• 3-5 years of curriculum development experience
• Experience in Automation Scripts for EdTech (Print and Digital), GK-12.
• A portfolio of composition, layout, and design work — including any InDesign scripting or automation tools built — with proven experience in print and digital production