Product Manager - Travel

Location: New Scientist Headquarters 
Position: Permanent/Hybrid - 3days/week in office (9 Derry Street, HSK, London, W8 5HY)

Package Description

Our benefits package increases the longer you’ve been with us. Here’s what to expect:

• 29 days’ holiday
• Upon joining you will be automatically enrolled onto the Pension Plan at the minimum level of 5% employee contribution, 4% Company contribution. 
• Life cover under the Pension Plan of up to 4x your basic salary. 
• DMGT Discounts (for discounts on online shopping, vouchers and reloadable cards)
• Subsidised canteen
• Onsite gym (Northcliffe House only)
• Onsite nurse and GP clinics (Northcliffe House only)
• Our Employee Assistance Programme
• Discounted dining cards
• Private Medical Insurance – Bupa
• Flexible Working policy
• Free gym membership at Northcliffe House Gym
• Eye care assistance
• Family Friendly policies
• Employee Assistance Support
• Access to the magazine
• Access to newscientist.com, New Scientist app
• Invites to NS Events

Plus many other benefits….

Job Introduction

About Us

New Scientist is the world’s most popular weekly science and technology publication. Our website, app and print editions cover international news from a scientific standpoint, and ask the big-picture questions about life, the universe and what it means to be human. If someone in the world has a good idea, you will read about it in New Scientist.

Discovery Tours is the travel arm of New Scientist. Amazing science-inspired tours, cruises and short breaks across the globe. With experts on board, small group sizes, and in the company of fellow travellers who enjoy the discovery of science.

We are approaching our fifth year of operation and growing quickly. We have a start-up mentality but exist within a mature business, so we benefit from the best of both approaches. We act with a lot of autonomy, yet we have the backing of a credible and established business.

The Role

Primarily the role is focused on marketing and managing our product. The day-to-day focus is on supporting relationships with our tour operation partners, marketing to our core audience and supporting the operational delivery of our tours. The longer-term focus is on bringing new tours to market, developing new markets, establishing new partnerships and large-scale tour experiences. We are a small team therefore team roles are constantly evolving and we all get stuck in.

Main Responsibilities

The day-to-day activity includes the following:

Marketing

• Creating engaging and exciting email content to engage our readers and build demands
• Creating social media content including posts and reels.
• Attending consumer travel shows to promote Discovery Tours.
• Assisting with producing brochure content.

Tour production

• Copywriting and sourcing imagery that promotes our tours.
• Creating and maintaining downloadable tour itineraries.
• Curating content from articles featured in New Scientist website to share with guests pre-tour.
• Managing the administration of and liaison with the accompanying tour experts
• Assisting in the delivery and management of our inhouse UK short breaks.
• Communicating with our Tour Operator partners on tour creation.

Administration

• Customer liaison via the tours inbox.
• Gaining post-tour feedback from guests and summarising the learnings to help maintain and improve tour delivery.
• Administration of budget spend and invoicing our partners.

In addition to managing the day-to-day activity. there will also be the opportunity to develop and build tours, specifically:

• Research potential tour locations, themes and experts.
• Create tour itineraries with our tour operating partners, in-house editorial team and external experts.
• Sourcing and onboarding experts (scientists and journalists) who will accompany the tours.

The role will be working directly with the Director and Senior Product Manager of Discovery Tours and liaising with the New Scientist central Marketing, Commercial and Financial teams.

As we are a small team, we need to be able to support each other in all tasks relating to Discovery Tours, so there will be the opportunity to be involved in other aspects of the business. It’s ‘all hands on deck’.

Person Specification

This is an unusual role as there aren’t many travel companies within media publishing organisations.

• Travel industry knowledge, experience of working small group tours and with tour operators is beneficial but not essential.
• A degree of business nous combined with a passion for travel, locations and delivering amazing experiences is a must.
• Experience in copywriting, proofing and image selection.
• Comfortable jumping between prescriptive administrative and more lateral creative tasks.
• Customer service and quality focused.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office packages.
• Any experience working with WordPress and basic design software (such as Canva/Adobe) would be beneficial.
• Ability to balance a creative streak with an organised mind
• Confident credible communicating style (both written and verbal) and the ability to deliver at speed.
• A self-starter, who can juggle many different priorities and take ownership for delivery.
• New Scientist has a collegiate culture, so the ability to nurture relationships across the business is key.

 This is a really satisfying role for the enquiring mind of an entrepreneurial individual.

We are New Scientist 

In a world where true facts are in short supply, there has never been a greater need for a trusted, impartial source of information about what’s going on in the world – or a greater need for inspiration through great ideas. From artificial intelligence to climate change, from the latest innovations in health and the human mind, New Scientist (NS) covers the ideas and innovations that matter.

Our Commitment

We are committed to increasing diversity and maintaining an inclusive workplace culture. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability. We are Disability Confident Committed. Please let us know if you require any recruitment documentation in other formats or if you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process. Please be assured that any such information will be held separately to your recruitment application and will not be considered as part of the selection process.