Jessica Ballance

Experience

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  Waterstones

  Jul 2009 - Dec 2010

  Bookseller
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  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
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  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

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  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
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  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