Product Manager, Humanaties and Social Sciences BDR (Mat cover) – London

Bloomsbury Digital Resources is looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Digital Product Manager to join our Product Management team on a Maternity Cover basis, reporting to the Head of Product Innovation for Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). Our team is part of Bloomsbury Digital Resources, which sits within the wider Bloomsbury Academic and Professional Division.

As a Product Manager, you will play a key role in 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 in HSS, you will be central to shaping, developing, launching and managing products some of our multi-award-winning suite of digital platforms.

Bloomsbury strives to be an inclusive employer and publisher, and is the 2022 winner of the London Book Fair Inclusivity in Publishing Award. This year, once again, we have been nominated for The Bookseller’s Academic, Educational & Professional Publisher of the Year Award.

The role

To be the Product Management lead for a successful and growing list of products across a broad range of subject areas, including (but not limited to) Theology and Religious Studies; Music and Sound; Food Studies, ensuring that the products meet the needs of academic users through delivering timely product launches, content updates and functional enhancements.

Product Development

• Work alongside Business Owners and Editorial leads to shape and develop new digital product ideas from initial concept through to proposal stage
• Act as Product Management Lead during the Design & Development Phase of new products, working alongside the Editorial Project Leads, taking responsibility for defining product requirements, scope and Minimum Viable Product
• Carry out user experience research with librarians, academics, teachers and students pre and post-launch to ensure that products meet user needs
• Use the Bloomsbury Publishing Platform to load content and configure HTML pages for new sites, working with Marketing and Editorial to agree site layout and visual design
• Perform User Acceptance Testing during product development, reporting and ticketing bugs to ensure that the sites meet the agreed requirements

Product and Content 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 content requirements for new products, liaising with Content Architecture and Production teams on data planning, content conversion and content loading
• Liaise with partner organizations over content supply and data requirements
• Monitor sites for bugs and improvements, respond to customer and sales requests for product enhancements, and prioritise requirements based on business priority
• Provide regular website usage analytics reports and advise on opportunities for improving content & features based on analytics

Product Representation

• 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 training and guidance to Editorial and other teams on technical requirements
• Liaise with sales, marketing and customer services to communicate addition of new content and product enhancements
• Channel feedback from the market by meeting end-users through user testing sessions, focus groups, conferences or sales visits

Strategic Planning & Team Development

• Line management of the Assistant Product Manager for HSS
• Resource management and planning for the HSS product pipeline
• Ensure consistency and best practice across the team in areas such as user engagement, analytics and usage reporting
• Identify and implement improvements to the team’s processes and workflows

Knowledge, skills and experience 

• Demonstrated experience of digital product management, with a demonstrable record of delivering successful digital products
• Understanding of the needs of the academic library market and library systems
• Understanding of project management & development processes
• Experience of gathering & interpreting web usage analytics
• Experience of conducting quantitative and qualitative market research
• Excellent implementation and time-management skills
• An excellent eye for detail and a logical, problem-solving approach
• Experience in editing XML and working with Content Management Systems
• A firm grasp of web usability issues
• A proactive, “can-do” attitude
• Passion and interest in developing a career in digital product management
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal)

Additional information

The role is a temporary, 12 month maternity cover position.

Salary Pay Point: £40,000 per annum

The role is based at our London office 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP 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 ‘APPLY NOW’ button detailing how you meet the requirements outlined above for this role by end of 20 May 2024.

For best results, please use a desktop to apply as some mobile browsers may not fully support the application portal.

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 30 minutes earlier in the week
• Season Ticket Loan
• Share save Scheme
• AXA Healthcare Plan (Private Medical Insurance)
• In-house Doctor
• Eye care Voucher Scheme

Company culture – Employee Voice Meetings, Staff Networks (Bloom (BAME), Accessibility, Mental Health, Pride, and Parents, Guardians and Carers, Multi-Faith) and 21 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 – Bloomsbury Publishing do not sponsor visa applications 

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.