Bibliographic Data Manager at Usborne Publishing

The Company

Usborne is an independent, family business. With over 285 staff based across our London, Oxford, Wolverhampton and German offices we publish over 300 distinctive, engaging, accessible new books each year, and have nearly 3000 titles in print. These range from books for babies such as the bestselling That’s not my… series to YA fiction from acclaimed authors such as Holly Bourne – with everything from Magic Painting to Politics for Beginners in between.

The Role

We are looking for a highly organised, proactive and motivated Bibliographic Data Manager with excellent communication and training skills to join our Inventory, Data and Process Team in our busy Production Department.

This role will be responsible for effectively managing our Bibliographic metadata across all Usborne Imprints. With a thorough knowledge of Biblio3 you will ensure our entire list data is current and meets the requirements of our international aggregators, including Nielsen. With a top-level view of data workflows, you’ll identify problems at an early stage and implement solutions to ensure data optimisation.

Usborne’s Inventory, Data and Process Team have a unique position in the company where we liaise with every department across all four Usborne Offices. It allows us to have an overarching understanding of publishing processes and workflows, enabling us to advise, train and implement them using BiblioLIVE.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee and manage the metadata process from start to finish across all Imprints, liaising internally to ensure bibliographic fields are inputted and signed off at the correct stages.
• Work with sales teams to build relationships with data aggregators, wholesalers, retailers and libraries to make sure the metadata supplied meets their requirements.
• Oversee the delivery of Usborne’s metadata through the domestic and international supply chain, co-ordinating with sales teams regular audits of our catalogue on external platforms.
• Ensure workflow controls are in place to meet deadlines and prevent external parties from receiving information too early.
• Be the primary point of contact for all Internal Bibliographic queries, devising reports for Management on Categories, and Identifying and optimising metadata output for discoverability and conversion of titles through online stores and the Usborne website.
• Keep aware of the changing digital landscape, upcoming hardware and software developments that might impact Usborne’s metadata supply chain and discoverability.
• Revise Bibliographic processes as required, reporting them directly to the Business Process & Inventory Director and rolling them out once signed off.
• Ensure the company is up-to-date with all current and future UK and rest of world Bibliographic standards.
• Organise and lead BIC/THEMA & any other applicable Bibliographic Standard training for Editorial and Sales new joiners, leading seminars throughout the year as required when updates across the Standards occur.

Experience:

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in a Bibliographic Data Executive or Managerial role or similar.
• Must have a thorough knowledge of Biblio3, with feed generation and reporting key.
• Be an expert in categorising Publishing Products with BIC, CMBC and THEMA Codes.
• Must be well-organised, meticulous and committed to ensuring the data is accurate.
• Have strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills and be comfortable leading and delivering training.
• Must be self-motivated and able to work independently.
• Expert Level Excel and confident in manipulating large volumes of data.

Desirable:

• Be an expert in categorising Publishing Products with BISAC Codes.
• Microsoft Power BI
• Google Analytics

Location and Benefits

We offer a 35-hour working week from our Farringdon offices in London with flexibility on some working from home after a successful induction period.

In addition to our transparent salary grading structure, for this role we also offer a range of benefits including:

• 25 days paid holiday entitlement plus bank holidays increasing with service
• Healthcare Scheme for you and your dependents
• Comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme for you and your family
• 50% Discount on Company Books
• Industry leading Pension Scheme and Life Assurance