Head of Special Interest Publishing

The Opportunity

Bloomsbury Publishing is an entrepreneurial independent publisher whose mission for the 31 years since it was founded in 1986 is to publish works of excellence and originality.

We are looking for a dynamic Head of Publishing to lead and manage our Special Interest Publishing by driving the profitable growth of all Special Interest lists, and to ensure the achievement of department objectives.

This is a new role and we are looking for a successful Publishing Executive with a strong track record of increasing revenues and profits and identifying new approaches to delivering content and revenue growth.

The strategy for Special Interest Publishing is to create rich content and compelling services for niche communities of special interest. There are over 20 lists publishing titles on sports and sports science, visual arts, nautical, military history, natural history, and popular science. Many imprints - listed below - are the world leading publisher for their subject area. This strategy is succeeding, with revenues continuing to grow year on year. The lists publish about 250 new titles annually.  Turnover to financial year ending February 2017 was £18.4m and is expected to show strong growth in the year ending February 2018 when it is reported on 22nd May following a major bestseller. Export revenues account for 33% of income, primarily USA.  50% of revenues are backlist-driven, reflecting the long term strength of many of the lists.

The value of the strategy is the ability to pinpoint market sectors and promote and sell direct to a community of shared interest. Chosen niches are military history (through Osprey), natural history (through Helm and Poyser), sport, fitness and well-being (through Adlard Coles, Reeds, Bloomsbury Sport and Wisden), popular science (through Sigma), religion and current affairs through Continuum, fiction and nostalgia through Reader, arts and crafts through Herbert Press, and reference (through Who’s Who, Whitaker’s, and Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook). In each of these areas we have strengthened our editorial positioning, and invested in digital marketing, new products and widening our portfolio. Many of the Special Interest imprints are world renowned and their value has been established over many generations of publishers. Some like Green Tree are new, a natural extension into health and wellness publishing building on our expertise in sport and fitness.

Publishing output includes books, online resources, events and games.

The role has six direct reports, and a team of around 70 based in three Bloomsbury office locations (London, Oxford and Alton).  The position reports to Executive Director and Managing Director, Non-Consumer division. 

 The role

• Responsible for the devising and delivery of the strategy for Special Interest Publishing
• Responsible for the P&L performance of all Special Interest lists; oversee budgets, forecasts and long-term plans
• Ensure the quality and success of the publishing programme, approve all new book acquisitions and print and pricing decisions
• Responsible for all Special Interest editorial and design output and for Osprey to include all marketing activity
• Assess and approve all new initiatives
• Responsible for establishing and maintaining good relationships with authors, institutions and contributors
• Responsible for overall management of the Special Interest team to ensure high levels of productivity, commitment and morale
• Control departments costs and publishing margins
• Establish and maintain good cross-functional relationships

Skills, Knowledge, Experience

The successful candidate will have 10-plus years of publishing experience.  In addition to a strong track record of leading a publishing team and hitting revenue goals, s/he should be able to demonstrate the following:

• Analytical Skills - Demonstrated ability to conduct and synthesize timely, thorough and objective analyses and deliver actionable plans based on resulting insight.
• Collaboration - Reaches across borders and “silos” to work with counterparts.
• Customer Service - Responds promptly to customer needs; Solicits customer feedback to improve service; Responds to requests for service and assistance.
• Drive for results – Commitment to deliver against revenue goals for organization
• Communication - Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; Listens and gets clarification; Demonstrates group presentation skills.
• Planning/Organizing - Prioritizes and plans work activities; Uses time efficiently; Plans for additional resources; Sets goals and objectives; Develops realistic action plans.
• Dependability - Follows instructions; Responds to direction; Keeps commitments.
• Delegation - Delegates work assignments; Matches the responsibility to the person; Gives authority to work independently; Sets expectations and monitors delegated activities; Provides recognition for results.
• Initiative - Takes independent actions and calculated risks; Looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; Asks for and offers help when needed.
• Innovation - Displays original thinking and creativity; Meets challenges with resourcefulness; Generates suggestions for improving work; Presents ideas and information in a manner that gets others' attention.

This is a full-time permanent role, based at Bloomsbury’s London office, 50 Bedford Square, WC1B 3DP, with travel to other offices required

 Bloomsbury Publishing offers a competitive salary, great development prospects and benefits.

To apply, please email your CV, a covering letter outlining how you meet the requirements outlined in the ‘skills, knowledge and experience’ above, and your salary expectations to workwithus@bloomsbury.com. Please note in the subject line: ‘Head of Special Interest BS3105’.

The closing date for this role is 31st May 2018.