Jessica Ballance

Jessica Ballance

Bookseller

Followers of Jessica Ballance460 followers
location of Jessica BallanceLondon, England, United Kingdom

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  • Timeline

  • About me

    Product at Wonderbly

  • Education

    • SheCodes

      2022 - 2022
      Introduction to Web Development HTML, CSS, Javascript
    • Withington Girls' School

      2002 - 2009
    • University of Cambridge

      2010 - 2014
      Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) English
    • General Assembly

      2022 - 2022
      Product Management
  • Experience

    • Waterstones

      Jul 2009 - Dec 2010
      Bookseller
    • Jesus College Cambridge

      Sept 2011 - Feb 2012
      • Co-President/Student Ambassador - 1496 Society

        Nov 2011 - Feb 2012
      • Secretary - Jesus College Student Union

        Dec 2010 - Dec 2011
      • Student Caller - Fundraising Phone Campaign

        Sept 2011 - Oct 2011
    • Daunt Books

      Mar 2015 - Dec 2016
      Bookseller and Store Manager

      Manager of the Haverstock Hill branch of Daunt Books in North London, and full-time bookseller, managing a small team of full-and part-time booksellers.I was Editor of the Children's Short Story Competition, creating an anthology of children's short stories, published annually by Daunt Book. I secured Jim Field to illustrate the 2017 edition and author Philip Reeve to write the foreword, and secured Chris Riddell to illustrate and write the foreword for the 2018 edition.

    • Nosy Crow

      Jan 2017 - May 2018
      Digital Publishing and Marketing Assistant

      I worked across a range of digital platforms. I made all our StoriesAloud audio books (from studio recording, sourcing and layering different sound effects, right up to the final upload), and I worked on our award-winning range of children's app. I managed the production and created the source files for our interactive picturebook ibooks and add them to the itunes store. I also managed the Nosy Crow Instagram, proofed audiobooks, and created digital previews of our books for online retailers. In a typical week I worked across Photoshop, InDesign, Excel, iMovie, and Garageband, as well as writing content for the website's week-daily blog posts. I also pioneered and produced a range of monthly promotional books videos, which showcase and demonstrate our latest publications. I sourced props and highlighted novelty content and interactive elements in our publications through a mixture of live-action and stop-motion filming. Show less

    • Penguin Random House UK

      May 2018 - Feb 2023

      Commissioned and published multiple Sunday Times bestselling adult non-fiction titles. Successfully project-managed mono and full-colour titles from start to finish, working with internal and external teams and stakeholders to tight deadlines. Published debut and established authors, social influencers and subject-matter experts, as well as various commercial, national and international brands such as Soho House, Mindful Chef, and the Ministry of Defence.

      • Commissioning Editor

        Mar 2020 - Feb 2023
      • Assistant Editor

        Dec 2018 - Mar 2020
      • Editorial Assistant

        May 2018 - Dec 2018
    • Wonderbly

      Feb 2023 - now

      Leading daily standups and weekly sprint planning - making sure team is aligned and knows priorities and targets for the coming sprint. Managing backlog, and technical debt. Testing and optimizing new and existing features with AB testing, analysing data from across Looker, ContentSquare, GA4 and Optimizely. Planning long term roadmaps alongside CTO and VP Product. Reporting directly to VP Product, responsible for a a full-stack squad of 7 engineersDelivered and manage a range of products covering search and discovery, payments, taxonomy and backend systems upgrades, to internal infra and tooling improvements that lead to more performant teams and improved customer experiences. Show less

      • Junior Product Manager

        May 2024 - now
      • Product Executive

        Feb 2023 - May 2024
  • Licenses & Certifications