Product Assistant Bloomsbury Digital Resources

We would like to recruit an enthusiastic person to join our Product Management team as a Digital Product Assistant, reporting to the Digital Product Manager for Fashion, Visual Arts and Architecture. Our team is part of Bloomsbury Digital Resources, which sits within the wider Bloomsbury Academic and Professional Division.

You will be joining a dynamic, growing and friendly team, who are re-imagining Bloomsbury’s academic publishing for a digital environment. Working on our industry-leading online products for visual arts, architecture and fashion, you will be central to shaping, developing, launching and managing some of our multi-award-winning suite of digital products.

The role will provide a great opportunity for candidates who are looking to start a career in a dynamic, fast-growing and forward-looking part of academic publishing. Bloomsbury is a key player in scholarly publishing and winner of The Bookseller’s Academic, Educational & Professional Publisher of the Year Award 2021.

Bloomsbury values the importance of work life balance and we offer flexible working options. This role is only expected to be in the office 2 days per week and we offer a core hours policy of 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, with flexible Fridays throughout the year. See below for further details.

The role

Working on a growing list of products including Bloomsbury Fashion Central, Bloomsbury Applied Visual Arts, Bloomsbury Design Library, and Bloomsbury Architecture Library.

Product Management and content management

• Support the Product Manager to deliver content updates and enhancements for digital products to agreed schedule post-launch
• Work with colleagues in related departments (Content Architecture, Editorial and Production) to track and progress tasks; oversee subject indexing of content by external freelancers, maintain title lists and other metadata
• Liaise with Sales, Marketing and Customer Services to communicate addition of new content and product enhancements 
• Aid with site management by reporting bugs and issues to external software developers
• Assist with the management of products post-launch, developing expertise on specific products and ultimately becoming the ‘product champion’ responding to queries from Sales, Marketing and customers, troubleshooting and escalating issues as required, and contributing to strategic development of those products
• Prepare product metadata for supply to third parties such as MARC record suppliers and discovery services
• Carry out careful checks of metadata and content supplied by our content partners and liaise with partners as necessary
• Provide regular website usage reports and help identify opportunities for improving site content and features
• Assist with the running of regular product meetings and take minutes

Product Development

• Assist the Product Manager to conduct user experience research with librarians, academics, teachers and students pre and post-launch to ensure that products meet user needs
• Assist with User Acceptance Testing and assist with identifying issues and bugs for new products pre and post-launch
• Use the Bloomsbury Publishing Platform to load content and configure HTML pages for new sites and updates, working with the Product Manager, Marketing and Editorial to implement site layout and visual design

Knowledge, skills and experience 

Essential

• Some experience in publishing, web editing, project management or product development
• Demonstrable willingness to learn how to use new systems and adapt to new processes
• Excellent time management and the ability to prioritise your own workload
• An eye for detail and a logical, problem-solving approach
• A collaborative team-player with excellent all-round communication skills with a proactive and ‘can do’ attitude
• Curiosity and willingness to learn
• Interest in academic content
• Keen to develop a career in digital product management

Desirable

• Some experience of working with Content Management Systems
• Experience of gathering and interpreting web usage analytics
• Knowledge of xml data and HTML coding
• Project management experience

Additional information

The role is a full-time position with a salary of £23,000 and can be based either at our London office 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP or at our Oxford office, Kemp House, Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9PH

We offer a hybrid working pattern of 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred by the applicant).  Allocated office days for this role are: Wednesday and Thursday.

As an Assistant role, this position is eligible for Bloomsbury’s Rental Deposit Loan Scheme. To assist candidates who want to start and to establish a career in publishing, Bloomsbury offers an interest-free rental deposit to support securing somewhere to live. The rental deposit loan can be up to £3,000 and will be paid back over 2 years.

Please apply with a CV and covering letter addressed to Human Resources (Word or PDF format only) via the ‘APPLY NOW’ button detailing how you meet the requirements outlined above for this role by 30th January 2022.

Bloomsbury reserve the right to close the role early if we exceed the required number of applications

Bloomsbury Benefits

As well as a fantastic opportunity to join a global award-winning organisation, Bloomsbury offers the following competitive benefits package:

Working Pattern

• hybrid working pattern of: 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred)

Holidays

• 25 days holiday
• 3.5 days Christmas company holiday

Other Benefits:

Flexible Fridays – take Friday afternoon off by working an additional 3 hours and 45 minutes earlier in the week

Season Ticket Loan

Sharesave Scheme

In-house Doctor

Eyecare Voucher Scheme

Mob Group – online fitness classes, mindfulness, cookery classes, workshops etc.

Company culture! – Employee Voice Meetings, Staff Networks (BAME, Disability, Mental Health, LGBTQ+ and Parents, Guardians and Carers), 15 Mental Health First Aiders trained across the UK offices, Publishing Events and access to free Publishing Resources

For additional benefits see below

Bloomsbury is a place where anyone of any background, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender identity, age, ability, or socio-economic status can thrive, feel comfortable, and be heard and accepted. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We are willing to make any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please flag to the recruitment team if required

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK.

The Book Trade Charity provide financial assistance for people looking to get into the publishing industry; you can find more information and talk directly here: http://booktradeentrysupport.org

The Company

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house, established in 1986, with authors who have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes, and is the originating publisher and custodian of the Harry Potter series. Bloomsbury has offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Oxford and Sydney. Within Bloomsbury’s Academic division, it publishes under Bloomsbury, as well as under a number of prestigious and historic imprint names. Read Our Story for how it all began. 

 Bloomsbury is committed to creating a working environment that stimulates creativity and collaboration, is respectful of difference, is inclusive and ethical in its practice, and promotes well-being. We are determined to nurture and develop our employees to reach their highest potential, and we know that our success is down to the passion, commitment and hard work of our talented people. We recognise the urgent need to attract and support applicants from all backgrounds and identities to become part of the global publishing industry, allowing diverse voices to reflect and shape our culture and society.

Please read more on our Missions and Values here.

Please read our environmental policy here.