Digital operations assistant

Closing date for applications: 2 November 2025

Salary: £27,000 based in London / £24,840 based in Sheffield (+bonus +benefits)

Location: The role will be based at our London or Sheffield office, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and home working (2 days) per week

Help keep digital publishing systems running smoothly in a role with real opportunities to grow, learn, and develop skills in automation and coding.

Bookouture is a dynamic digital publisher of bestselling commercial fiction. Our unique publishing model and transformative campaigns have created unrivalled international author brands. We connect stories, authors and readers globally, publishing books that reflect the diversity of the societies we live in. Our submissions are always open as we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to share their story. Bookouture is a division of Hachette, one of the largest publishing groups in the UK, with 10 publishing divisions and over 60 imprints. Everyone here is proud to be in the business of opening doors and minds.

Our digital operations team plays a crucial role in the heart of Bookouture, where every day brings new challenges and opportunities to make a meaningful impact. From maintaining critical systems to spearheading strategic initiatives, our team is committed to driving operational excellence and delivering exceptional results. You'll start by handling the operational tasks that keep our digital systems running smoothly managing content delivery, maintaining data quality, and resolving day-to-day issues. As you grow in the role, you'll learn to automate these processes using scripting and no-code tools, with full support and mentorship from the team. Don't worry if your experience comes from personal projects, university, volunteering, or self-teaching rather than professional roles - we value all learning!


What you'll be doing

From day one

• Manage content setup and delivery to retail partners, ensuring files and metadata are accurate
• Maintain data quality, cleaning and validating data for our database (Airtable)
• Resolve operational issues as they arise, from metadata errors to rights conflicts
• Support the team with database queries and data management
• Assist in troubleshooting system issues following documented processes and escalate when needed

As you develop

• Learn to use no-code/low-code automation tools (like Zapier and Airtable automations) to streamline repetitive tasks
• Start writing simple scripts (with mentorship) to automate manual processes
• Take on more complex troubleshooting and work directly with vendors on integration issues
• Help identify opportunities to improve workflows and contribute to system optimisation projects

Who we are looking for

You are:

• Organised and reliable: you can manage multiple tasks, follow through on commitments, and keep track of details
• Curious about technology: you don't need to know how to code yet, but you're genuinely interested in learning how systems work and how to make them better
• Thorough and observant: you notice when details don't match up and you're comfortable working through problems step-by-step
• Motivated by improvement: you get frustrated by repetitive manual tasks and like the idea of finding ways to eliminate them
• Comfortable with learning: you're happy to read documentation, try things out, and gradually build new skills with support from the team

Nice to have (but we can teach you):

• Any experience with scripting languages (Python or JavaScript) or automation tools
• Exposure to application programming interface (APIs), databases, or technical troubleshooting

If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.


What we offer

Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:

• 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Generous pension schemes
• Rent deposit loans
• 2 community days per year
• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Wide-ranging training library
• Development programmes (including mentoring)
• Up to 70% off book purchases
• A charity bookshelf
• 12 Staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including AgeWise, Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing and religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

Our commitment

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic, regional and cultural backgrounds. If you are shortlisted and need us to make any adjustments to help you attend for interview, please let us know.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.