Manager - Festival Of The Book

Program Development

The Manager of the Virginia Festival of the Book collaborates with the Center for the Book Director, Virginia Humanities' staff, and other stakeholders to curate authors and programs for the Festival as well as year-round Center for the Book events.

Partnerships & Community Engagement

Builds and sustains partnerships with non-profits, publishers, bookstores, community groups, and statewide literary collaborators. Manages offsite and onsite sales with booksellers for all Center for the Book events.

Submission & Selection Management

Oversees the annual book submissions process for authors and publicists, including outreach and ensuring submission completeness. Conducts initial review of all submissions and oversees managing review committees and evaluations.

Communications & Media Coordination

Manages bulk and individualized author, moderator, and special guest communications, including media requests for author interviews. Assists with identifying authors to feature in Virginia Humanities or Center for the Book interviews; conducts or assigns interviews as needed.

Data, Reporting & Evaluation

Delivers post-program reports to publishers and publicists, including attendance, bookseller data, and other metrics. Plans and implements strategies for collecting survey, participant, and event evaluation data to measure and report the Center for the Book's metrics and impact.

Statewide Outreach & Public Representation

Supports the director in representing the Center independently at statewide events, meetings, and community engagements to expand Festival visibility and partnerships. Assists with conducting statewide outreach—virtually and in person—to strengthen relationships across the Commonwealth and bring attention to the Festival.

Volunteer Coordination

Oversees recruiting, scheduling, training, and supporting volunteers, interns, and event ambassadors, as well as all volunteer communications.

Program Administration, Budget Support & Technology

Oversees budget tracking, program expenditures, and documentation. Works with VH finance team to ensure all payments are made in a timely fashion. Maintains organized, accurate program records, evaluation materials, and administrative documentation. Learns and effectively uses agency technology platforms, including CVENT and other event management, communication, and data systems.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• 3 years experience in one or more of the following: Literary programming, book festivals, or cultural event planning
• Publishing (editorial, publicity, author relations)
• Public library or statewide humanities based program work
• Non-profit program management or community partnership development
• Deep understanding of the current publishing and literary landscape and a thorough knowledge of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, including youth literature
• Experience developing partnerships with libraries, educators, and literacy organizations
• Experience coordinating statewide initiatives or representing an organization publicly

Additional Requirements

• Strong communication and organizational skills
• Comfort with public speaking and communicating with audiences of varied sizes
• Ability to be flexible, adaptive, and solution-oriented when facing setbacks or quickly-changing program needs
• Some frequency of weekends will be required for events and special projects fall-spring

Application Instructions

To Apply
External applicants apply here.
Internal applicants may search for R0085095 and apply for jobs on the UVA Internal Careers website.
Complete an application online with the following required documents: CV/Resume, Cover letter, and a Writing Sample using the below prompt: Create a hypothetical Virginia Festival of the Book panel discussion involving three books that have been published or that are coming out in 2026 or 2027. Write a program description and title in the style of the event descriptions on the 2026 Virginia Festival of the Book Schedule, located at vabook.org. Upload all materials into the resume submission field, multiple documents can be submitted into this one field. Alternatively, merge all documents into one PDF for submission.