The Company

Usborne is an independent, family business, creating books which spark curiosity in children of all ages. These range from books for babies such as the bestselling THAT’S NOT MY® series of touchy-feely books, to YA fiction from acclaimed authors such as Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Ravena Guron – with everything from Sticker Dolly Dressing to Philosophy for Beginners in between.

Whilst the company is now a market-leader in children’s publishing and one of the best-known brands in children’s books globally, the company retains a friendly and familial feel. If you want to work somewhere close-knit enough for people to know your name, but which has a first-class reputation around the world, Usborne is the place for you.

The Team

Usborne Community Partnerships (UCP) is the direct sales division of Usborne Publishing. The UCP Marketing team supports thousands of Independent Usborne Partners, who are self-employed booksellers selling Usborne books in their communities – including to schools – across the UK and Europe. You can read more about UCP here.

The Role

We are looking for a proactive, well-organised, practical, and responsible individual to join our fast-paced, small, friendly team to assist with a range of marketing tasks. 

You will work as part of a close-knit team to ensure that Independent Usborne Partners are equipped with the information and assets they need to share Usborne books in their communities. This will include writing, editing, proof-reading, building and scheduling emails, creating engaging and informative copy for blogs, webpages, leaflets, and social media. 

A calendar of inspiring and motivating events is a key part of the Usborne Community Partnerships offering and there are opportunities for the successful candidate to make a valuable contribution to the marketing campaigns around these. All events are all-hands-on-deck so attendance would be expected and are a great way for you to meet and assess the needs of your target audience. 

Working closely with others in the UCP Marketing team, as well as the wider UCP division - and with colleagues in branding, digital and marketing across Usborne as a whole - this opportunity would suit a marketer keen to broaden their exposure and skill set.

Independent Usborne Partners depend on accurate communications from the UCP Marketing team to effectively run their businesses, so a thorough approach, a keen eye for detail, excellent time-management skills, and the ability to prioritise effectively are all essential skills. 

Experience 

The successful candidate will ideally have: 

• At least 2 years experience in a similar role 

• The ability to work to a high standard in a fast-moving environment where two days are never the same 

• Excellent time management and prioritisation skills 

• Excellent communication skills in order to work with a wide range of internal stakeholders 

• Demonstrable experience writing snappy, engaging and informative copy 

• An aptitude for continually improving systems and processes 

• Experience using Klaviyo or a similar email management tool would be beneficial 

The successful candidate will be expected to build a good working knowledge of Usborne's products and brand values, so an interest in children's books would be advantageous. 

Usborne Community Partnerships is a direct sales business, so a grasp of this type of operation and the opportunities and challenges it presents, would also be useful. 

Location and Benefits

We offer a 35-hour working week from our offices in Eynsham, Oxfordshire - although we are planning a local office move to Witney over the summer.

After a short initial induction period we offer a hybrid working mode of 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home which we feel optimises our opportunities for collaboration and contact with our colleagues. So you'll need to be able to get to and work from our office on those in person working days.

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

• 25 days paid holiday entitlement plus bank holidays

• Industry-leading Pension Scheme and Life Assurance

• Employee Assistance Programme through Health Assured and Mental Health First Aiders

• Healthcare cashback scheme

• Virtual GP service

• Paid Volunteering Day

• Rewards and discounts on services and shopping

• Cycle to Work Scheme

• 75% discount on Usborne books

Usborne is dedicated to building a diverse taskforce that reflects the wide range of communities that read our books globally. Decisions are made based on the individual’s skills and experiences and we particularly encourage applications from underrepresented demographics in Publishing.

We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role and therefore applicants must have the right to live and work in the UK.

Recruitment Process

After an anonymised shortlisting process, we anticipate first interviews taking place over MS teams through April and May 2025, with second round interviews in person shortly afterwards.

We are looking for the successful candidate to commence the role in June 2025.

Please let us know if you require reasonable adjustments at any point during the application and/or recruitment process.

AI notice

We kindly ask that you refrain from using any AI tools for your application.

Whilst AI is undoubtedly a useful tool in some instances, we need to see that you're able to demonstrate your ability to originate ideas and write them in a compelling manner, not just generate them using a tool.

Therefore, any suspected AI usage may result in your application being rejected.