Job title: Product Manager, Bloomsbury Digital Resources
Company: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Location: London or Oxford
Salary: Competitive
Is the role permanent? Yes
Is the role full-time? Yes
Contact details: for general enquires only - [email protected]
Closing date: 19 March
Job description
The opportunity
We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Digital Product Manager to join our Product Innovation team, reporting to the Head of Innovation, Visual and Performing Arts.
You will be joining a dynamic, growing and friendly team, who are re-imagining Bloomsbury’s academic publishing for a digital environment. The role’s focus will be on managing the Bloomsbury Video Library, a major new streaming platform, and Screen Studies product sites. You will be central to shaping, developing, launching and managing these digital products.
Our team is part of Bloomsbury Digital Resources, which sits within the wider Bloomsbury Academic and Professional Division.
Bloomsbury is a key player in scholarly publishing and winner of The Bookseller’s Academic, Educational & Professional Publisher of the Year Award 2021. The Academic & Professional Division is growing and recently acquired ABC-Clio, Red Globe Press (from Macmillan Education Ltd), Zed Books and Oberon.
Bloomsbury values the importance of life–work balance and we offer flexible working options. This full-time role is only expected to be in the office 2 days per week (Wednesdays and Thursdays) 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
Product Development
- Work with Editorial Project Leads to develop new digital product ideas from initial concept to proposal stage, by researching content and feature requirements, carrying out competitive analysis and library market research, and contributing to Business Case documents and P&Ls, including costs, market sizing and sales forecasts.
- Act as Product Management Lead during the Design & Development Phase of new products, working alongside the Editorial Project Leads and User Experience (UX) team to define requirements, taking responsibility for scope and Minimum Viable Product.
- Carry out market research with librarians and end-user interviews and work with UX team to ensure that product requirements meet user needs (both before and after launch).
- Use the Bloomsbury Publishing Platform admin interface to build and configure new sites, working with Marketing, Editorial and the UX team to agree site layout and visual design elements.
- Perform User Acceptance Testing during product development, reporting and ticketing bugs to ensure that the sites meet the agreed requirements.
Product Management
- Manage products after launch to ensure that content updates and enhancements are performed to an agreed schedule and within the agreed budget.
- Liaise with external software developers on day-to-day site management and bug-fixing.
- Manage the work of external suppliers throughout the project, as required.
- Liaise with sales, marketing and customer services to communicate addition of new content and product enhancements.
- Monitor sites for bugs and improvements, respond to customer and sales requests for product enhancements, and prioritise requirements based on business priority.
- Act as ‘product champion’, using product expertise to respond to queries from sales, marketing and customers, troubleshooting and escalating issues as required, and contributing to strategic development of those products.
- Provide regular website usage analytics reports and advise on opportunities for improving content & features based on analytics.
Content Management
- Manage the content requirements for new products, liaising with Content Architecture and Production teams on data planning, content conversion and content loading.
- Responsible for subject indexing of content (either directly, or overseeing work of outsourced indexers), working with Editorial on the development of taxonomies.
- Liaise with partner organizations over content supply and data requirements.
Strategic Planning and Staff Development
- Assist with recruitment and training of new team members and take on line management responsibility, as required.
- Ensure consistency and best practice across the team in areas such as SEO, user engagement, analytics and usage reporting.
- Identify improvements to the team’s processes and workflows.
Representation
- Provide training and guidance for Editorial teams on technical requirements.
- Promote the Product Management team within the wider company, and demonstrate an aptitude for more managerial tasks.
- Represent the company externally, e.g. at meetings with partners, conferences, and presentations to customers.
- Channel feedback from the market by meeting end-users through user testing sessions, focus groups, conferences or sales visits
Key Skills and Experience
Essential
- Sustained experience of digital product management, with a demonstrable record of delivering successful digital products, preferably for the academic market.
- Understanding of the needs of the academic library market and library systems.
- Understanding of project management and development processes.
- Experience of conducting quantitative and qualitative market research.
- Excellent implementation and time-management skills.
- An eye for detail and a logical, problem-solving approach.
- Experience of working with XML and Content Management Systems.
- A demonstrable understanding of web usability issues.
- A proactive, “can-do” attitude.
- Demonstrable interest in developing a career in digital product management
- Excellent communication skills (written and verbal).
- Line management experience is preferable, but not essential.
Desirable
- Experience of working with and managing suppliers/vendors.
- Experience of working with video content.
- Experience of gathering and interpreting web usage analytics.
- Line management experience.
Additional information
The role is a full-time and permanent position.
The role can be based at either our London office (50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP) or at our Oxford office (Kemp House, Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9PH) on a hybrid working pattern of 2 days office based / 3 days home based (or fully office based if preferred). Allocated office days for this role are Wednesday and Thursday.
Please apply with a CV and covering letter addressed to Human Resources (Word or PDF format only) via the ‘URL’ below detailing how you meet the requirements outlined above for this role by Sunday 19th March 2023.
https://bloomsbury.current-vacancies.com/Jobs/Advert/3033070?cid=2029
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:
- Two paid Personal Wellness Days
- 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
- Company culture – Employee Voice Meetings, Staff Networks (Bloom (BAME), Accessibility, Mental Health, Pride, and Parents, Guardians and Carers), 9 Mental Health First Aiders trained across the UK offices, Publishing Events and access to free Publishing Resources
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.