Product Metadata Strategist

JOB SUMMARY

The Product Metadata Strategist leads product metadata strategy, standards, taxonomy, and governance across UMPH imprints and third-party products sold through Cokesbury. The role designs the product data model and establishes the requirements that support accurate product representation, discoverability, distribution, and fulfillment across physical, digital, audio, and subscription offerings. Working across departments and without direct supervisory authority, the position oversees metadata quality, approves records for distribution, and coordinates correction of incomplete or inconsistent data; contributing departments remain responsible for entering and maintaining their assigned data. The incumbent also partners with the intellectual property lead to incorporate rights information into product records and advises on systems and industry standards. This work supports UMPH’s mission by helping customers find and obtain materials that deepen Christian faith and practice.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT & AREAS OF IMPACT

Reporting Relationship & Peers

Reports to the Director of Operations Integration & Business Systems, as do:

- 3PL Services Vendor Coordinator - Business Manager - Marketing Technology Specialist - Merchandise Support Manager - Salesforce Administrator

Reporting Directly to This Job

EXTERNAL

- Outside metadata or conversion vendors

RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE

Essential Job Functions

PRIMARY

- Designs the product data model and lead metadata governance. Defines the relationships among works, editions, formats, components, and associated assets so that managed source data supports consistent records across products and channels. Establishes field definitions, ownership, validation rules, and change procedures within UMPH’s data governance framework. Resolves competing departmental and channel requirements and escalates unresolved conflicts through that framework. - Establishes and maintains metadata standards and taxonomy. Defines, documents, and applies requirements for metadata quality, subject classification using BISAC and Thema, keywords, and contributor identity. Assigns data stewardship responsibilities with department leaders, trains contributing staff, maintains guidance and workflows, and coordinates updates when standards change. Departments enter and correct their assigned data; this position establishes requirements, validates compliance, and directs corrective action. - Monitors industry standards and discovery technologies. Assesses changes to ONIX, BISAC, Thema, accessibility metadata, web structured data, and search and recommendation technologies. Identifies operational implications, recommends priorities and implementation timelines, and coordinates approved changes. Advises leadership on requirements, risks, and opportunities that affect UMPH products and channels. - Improves product discoverability through metadata. Develops classification, keyword, series, collection, comparable-title, and enhanced-content strategies with marketing and sales. Establishes metadata and asset-linkage requirements for product pages on UMPH web properties, including Cokesbury, Amplify, and Ministry Matters, as applicable. Monitors completeness and coordinates corrections with content owners; web and marketing teams retain responsibility for page design and content creation. Serves as the lead metadata contact for major retail and distribution accounts. - Ensures complete metadata and reliable distribution for UMPH-published products. Establishes required fields and deadlines for identifiers, contributors, descriptive copy, categories, pricing, rights, dates, and fulfillment attributes. Validates records and approves them for channel distribution when requirements are met. Defines outbound ONIX and other feed specifications and validation rules; coordinates implementation, monitoring, and troubleshooting with IT and distribution teams. Directs contributing departments to resolve omissions and errors and verify corrections. - Governs metadata for third-party products. Establishes supplier intake and normalization requirements for books and non-book products sold through Cokesbury. Oversees validation, duplicate resolution, and reconciliation of conflicting identifiers or attributes. Coordinates corrections with suppliers and internal data owners and ensures records remain distinguishable from UMPH-published products. - Integrates intellectual property data into operations. Partners with UMPH’s intellectual property lead to define how rights, permissions, territories, licensing restrictions, and contributor terms are represented in product records and systems. Translates approved rights information into usable data requirements and validation rules. The intellectual property lead remains responsible for rights determinations and interpretation of agreements.

SECONDARY

- Measures and reports metadata performance. Establishes and reports measures of record completeness, accuracy, timeliness, feed acceptance, and error resolution. Assesses category placement, search visibility, and channel sales with marketing and sales to identify opportunities for metadata improvement. Distinguishes metadata contributions from other factors affecting commercial results and recommend priorities for improvement. - Advises on new and complex product models. Guides editorial, production, and sales on metadata implications of new formats, series and collections, bundles, subscriptions, print-on-demand, and institutional or library lending terms. Supplies product data that drives fulfillment planning. - Defines metadata requirements for systems, vendors, and new channels. Participates in the evaluation and selection of systems that create, store, or distribute product or intellectual property metadata. Defines data and integration requirements, assesses vendor capabilities, and participates in configuration, migration, validation, and acceptance testing with IT and business owners. Recommends solutions and prepares metadata requirements for new sales channels. - Represents UMPH in industry standards bodies. Serves on BISG committees as assigned (e.g., Metadata Committee and Subject Codes (BISAC) Committee) and applies that work back into UMPH practice. - Manages product identifiers. Manages ISBN and other identifier assignment, including periodic ISBN purchases.

These essential job functions are not intended to cover all work details or the occasional performance of other tasks as assigned by the supervisor. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

Common or Complex Problem-Solving Challenges

- Reconciling conflicting partner requirements when a single title record must satisfy multiple channel specifications that do not agree. - Reconciling incomplete or inconsistent metadata from external publishers and vendors when source corrections are delayed or unavailable, while maintaining UMPH quality and channel requirements. - Classifying titles that sit between markets—academic, trade religion, congregational resource, and curriculum—where the subject code that best aids discoverability may not match internal product-line conventions. - Selecting accurate subject classifications that also support customer discovery; explaining recommendations when internal product-line conventions or preferred retail categories differ. - Diagnosing distribution failures in which a title is live in some channels but missing, mispriced, or miscategorized in others, often with little diagnostic detail returned by the receiving system. - Representing complex business models—digital and audio editions, library and institutional lending terms, bundles, and licensed content—in standards and systems built around print assumptions. - Representing availability and supply accurately across stocked, print-on-demand, short-run, and digital product, where the same title may carry different availability and ordering terms by channel. - Judging how far ahead to adopt a standard still in development at BISG, where moving early costs rework and moving late costs compliance. - Deciding when an exception to standards is justified and when granting one creates downstream failures across channels.

Authority & Accountability

- Authority to establish and enforce UMPH metadata standards, taxonomy, and data-entry requirements across contributing departments, within UMPH’s data governance framework. - Authority to approve product metadata records for distribution and to hold records that do not meet required standards. - Document the reason for a hold, required corrective action, and affected deadlines; escalate disputed holds and exception requests to the Director of Operations Integration & Business Systems under the applicable governance process. - Authority to assign and revise subject classification, keywords, and category placement for UMPH titles. - Authority to establish metadata feed specifications and schedules with distribution partners in coordination with IT and distribution teams, serve as the lead metadata contact for major retail and distribution accounts, and represent UMPH in assigned standards activities. - Authority to set metadata intake requirements for third-party products and to decline or hold records from outside suppliers that do not meet them. - Authority to define metadata requirements, evaluate proposed solutions, and recommend systems or vendors for any system that creates, stores, or distributes product or intellectual property metadata; final purchasing and system approval remain subject to UMPH’s established approval process. - Accountability for metadata quality controls, validation, release approval, and timely coordination of corrections across UMPH-published products; contributing departments remain accountable for the accuracy and timely maintenance of their assigned source data. - Accountability for compliance with partner specifications and industry standards, including ONIX version requirements and accessibility metadata for digital editions. - Accountability for monitoring and improving discoverability factors within the role’s control, including classification, keywords, structured data, and correct product representation; review search and sales outcomes with marketing and sales to assess effectiveness. - Accountability for documentation and training that enable other departments to meet metadata standards. - Accountability for documented metadata governance, clear data ownership, consistent application of standards, and timely resolution or escalation of conflicting requirements. - Accountability for defining and monitoring product-page metadata and asset-linkage requirements across UMPH web properties and coordinating completion with responsible departments. - Accountability for validation and accurate mapping of third-party metadata to UMPH sales channels, including categorization, pricing, and availability. Identify discrepancies and coordinate corrections; suppliers remain responsible for the accuracy of their source data. - Accountability for keeping UMPH current with industry standards development, and for advising leadership on its compliance and commercial implications early enough to act on.

Regular Contacts & Stakeholders

INTERNAL

- IT systems and integration staff – systems of record, feeds, and data flows

• Product Marketing – positioning and audience, keywords, category strategy, comparable titles, campaign and seasonal timing

- Editorial and Production – title setup, descriptive copy, on-sale dates - Sales – channel requirements and retailer feedback - Digital Production Services – digital and audio edition data, asset linkage - Content Distribution Services – channel feeds and partner requirements - Intellectual Property, Rights, and Permissions – operationalizing territories, licensing, and contributor terms in product data - Third-Party Logistics and Fulfillment – physical product and shipping data - Finance and Accounting – pricing and product identifiers - Customer Service and E-Commerce teams supporting Cokesbury

EXTERNAL

- The Book Industry Study Group (BISG), including committee service (e.g., Metadata Committee and Subject Codes (BISAC) Committee) - EDItEUR and other standards bodies - Online retailers and their vendor-facing teams - Trade distributors and wholesalers - Library and digital platform partners - Outside publishers, suppliers, and distributors whose product UMPH sells through Cokesbury - The ISBN agency and other identifier registries - Metadata, conversion, and data-service vendors

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Education, Experience, & Certifications

REQUIRED

- Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, English, library or information science, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and directly related experience will be considered - Five (5) or more years of experience in book publishing, publishing operations, or digital asset management, including direct responsibility for product metadata - Demonstrated working knowledge of ONIX, BISAC, and related industry metadata standards in a production environment

PREFERRED

- Experience with an ONIX 3.0 implementation, migration, or compliance project - Active participation in industry standards work (e.g., BISG committee or working group) - Experience administering or configuring title management, ERP, or product information management system - Experience designing a product data model or leading the selection of a metadata, rights, or product information system - Experience in religious, curriculum, academic, or church-market publishing - Coursework, certification, or continuing professional development in metadata, taxonomy, or library and information science

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

REQUIRED

- High level of knowledge of ONIX (including ONIX 3.0), BISAC Subject Headings, and publishing product identifiers (e.g., ISBN and GTIN) - Working knowledge of how industry metadata standards are developed and revised, and the ability to translate standards changes into internal practice - Advanced proficiency with spreadsheets, including pivot tables and lookup functions (VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP), and comfort working with large data sets - Familiarity with content management systems, relational databases, and structured data formats (e.g., XML and CSV), including the ability to read and troubleshoot a data file - Understanding of how retailer search, browse structures, and category placement affect product discoverability, and how metadata can be used to improve commercial performance - Understanding of structured data for the web (e.g., schema.org and JSON-LD) and how search engines and AI-driven discovery tools use product data - Ability to evaluate and normalize metadata supplied by outside publishers and vendors, including judging completeness and resolving conflicts against UMPH standards - Exceptional attention to detail and the discipline to apply standards consistently at volume - Strong analytical and problem-solving ability, including tracing a distribution or discoverability failure to its source - Clear cross-functional communication, including explaining technical metadata requirements to non-technical colleagues and documenting standards in plain language - Ability to lead cross-functional standards adoption, resolve competing requirements, and secure corrective action without direct supervisory authority - Ability to manage competing deadlines across seasonal publishing cycles and to set priorities independently

PREFERRED

- Working knowledge of Thema, mappings between subject classification schemes, and export and international metadata requirements - Familiarity with BISG working groups relevant to UMPH (e.g., Accessibility and Audiobook Best Practices) - Familiarity with accessibility metadata requirements for digital publications - Familiarity with library metadata (MARC) and institutional or library lending models - Familiarity with rights and permissions metadata and with rights management systems - Basic scripting or query skills (e.g., SQL, Python, or XSLT) used for data validation and bulk updates - Familiarity with print-on-demand and short-run supply models and the metadata they require

AI-Enabled Workplace

The United Methodist Publishing House is committed to maximizing the impact of artificial intelligence by adopting and integrating AI tools across our work. These technologies are vital to enhancing productivity, fostering creativity, and strengthening decision-making. All staff members are expected to engage thoughtfully and responsibly with AI as part of their professional responsibilities. Core expectations include:

- Responsible AI Integration – Leverage AI tools strategically to streamline workflows, generate actionable insights, and deliver exceptional outcomes that advance our mission. - Critical Evaluation & Oversight – Apply professional judgment and critical thinking when reviewing, refining, and validating all AI-generated content and recommendations to ensure accuracy and alignment with our standards. - Continuous Learning & Innovation – Maintain curiosity and adaptability toward emerging AI technologies, actively contributing to innovative practices within your area of expertise while supporting organizational growth. - Ethical & Secure Practice – Uphold UMPH’s commitment to ethical, transparent, and secure AI usage, ensuring all applications align with our mission, values, and community standards.