Product Assistant, Bloomsbury Digital Resources 

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC is an entrepreneurial, independent, worldwide publisher listed on the London Stock Exchange with offices in London, Oxford, New York, Sydney and New Delhi. Over its 33 year history, Bloomsbury’s mission has been to publish works of excellence and originality. 

Purpose: Bloomsbury Digital Resources is looking for a meticulous digital product assistant to join the growing Product Management team. Reporting to the Metadata & Discovery Manager, you will work across all of our academic databases (including Drama Online, Bloomsbury Fashion Central and Bloomsbury Collections), helping a global user base of academic researchers and students to find and use our content.

The main focus of the role will be supporting the Metadata & Discovery Manager’s work in supplying metadata and product information for all products, and in helping to ensure that our prestigious eBook platform, Bloomsbury Collections, continues to meet market needs by delivering timely content updates and functional enhancements. There will also be opportunities to provide wider support for the Product Management team through product testing and market research. The role will be based in Bloomsbury’s central London office, and is an opportunity to work in a crucial strategic aspect of digital publishing within a rapidly growing division. Responsibilities will include: 

Metadata & Discovery 

• Support the Metadata & Discovery Manager in the provision of metadata feeds to discovery service suppliers and CrossRef, working closely with the Content Architecture team
• Assist in co-ordinating the creation of MARC records for all products and their distribution to customers and library intermediaries
• Assist with the supply of product title lists and other metadata to library customers, ensuring a consistent approach across all products
• Liaise with sales, marketing and customer services in communicating metadata updates across all products, and investigating and resolving customer queries 
• Support the implementation of the discovery strategy including new discovery partnerships and research with end users and library customers

Product Management 

• Ensure that content updates and enhancements for Bloomsbury Collections are performed to an agreed schedule
• Aid with site management by reporting bugs and issues to external software developers
• Use Bloomsbury’s platform admin interfaces to create and edit site pages and load content
• Liaise with sales, marketing and customer services to communicate addition of new content and product enhancements  
• Develop expertise on Bloomsbury Collections, becoming the ‘product champion’ who would respond to queries from sales, marketing and customers, troubleshooting and escalating issues as required, and contributing to its strategic development
• Provide regular website usage reports using Google Analytics and other tools, and help identify opportunities for improving site content and features 
• Assist in market research with end users
• Assist with regular product meetings
• Assist with identifying issues and bugs for new products, and User Acceptance Testing after launch

Key Skills and Experience:

• 1-2 years’ experience in publishing, web editing or digital product development
• Excellent implementation and time-management skills
• A keen eye for detail and a logical, problem-solving approach 
• Aptitude to learn and adapt to new workflows
• General knowledge of metadata and discovery current issues and challenges
• Experience in working with data management, XML and/or with Content Management Systems an advantage
• A proactive, “can-do” attitude and enthusiastic team player
• Curiosity and willingness to learn
• Passion and interest in developing a career in digital product management
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills (written and verbal)

The role is full time and permanent and based at Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP. Bloomsbury Publishing offers a competitive salary and generous staff discounts.

To apply, please email your CV, a covering letter outlining how you meet the requirements outlined in the ‘skills, knowledge and experience’ above, your salary expectations and notice period to workwithus@bloomsbury.com. 

The closing date for this role is Monday, 23rd September 2019