Director, Metadata Operations role at Universal Music Group
Music is Universal
It’s the passionate and dedicated team at Universal Music who help make us the world’s leading music company. From A&R to finance, legal to digital, sales to marketing, Universal Music is the place to grow and develop your career within a truly commercial and innovative business that leads in everything it does.
Everyone is welcome to apply for our roles, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment because of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief, age, marital status, background, pregnancy, or caring responsibilities. We also recognise the importance of diversity of thought within our teams and are fully committed to embracing the talents of people with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other forms of neurocognitive variation.
We will always seek to make appropriate adjustments to recruitment, workplaces, and work processes to be fully inclusive to people with different needs and working styles. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments for you from application onwards, including alternatives to the online form or to disclose a neurocognitive condition, please email UniversalMusicCareers@umusic.com.
Job Summary
We are Universal Music Group UK, the UK’s leading music-based entertainment company. We exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. We help UK artists produce, distribute and promote the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music to inspire and entertain fans at home and around the world.
The Role
We’re looking for a thoughtful and detail-oriented Director, Metadata Operations to help shape the future of music metadata at Universal. This is a key role within our Metadata Operations team, leading projects that improve the clarity, structure, and accuracy of the data behind our artists, recordings, and repertoire. From global chart-toppers to classical composers, our metadata underpins the way the world discovers and experiences music. Your work will directly support that mission by leading large‑scale metadata cleanup projects, mentoring colleagues, and contributing to the improvement of systems and processes across the business. You’ll regularly lead team initiatives, guide others, and act as a senior voice in the room – especially on complex or high‑volume metadata projects. While the role has focused heavily on party metadata to date, it is designed to flex across the full spectrum of repertoire metadata.
What You’ll Do
Data Transformation & Cleansing
* Lead structured metadata improvement projects that restore, enrich, or streamline our metadata.
* Identify legacy issues or inconsistencies and design smart, scalable approaches to correct them.
* Create workflows that support both high‑volume cleansing and nuanced data refinement.
Metadata Quality & Musical Context
* Apply a strong understanding of how metadata supports music discovery, attribution, and rights across all genres – from mainstream pop to complex classical works.
* Understand how recorded music is created and prepared for release – including processes like tracking, mixing, mastering, remastering, and remixing – and how these affect versioning, credits, and metadata structures.
* Demonstrate a clear understanding of how sound recording rights are owned and exploited by record labels – including how metadata supports commercial delivery, DSP standards, neighbouring rights registration, UGC monetisation, and physical product workflows.
* Have a working understanding of how musical works are owned and monetised by songwriters and publishers – and, critically, be able to distinguish between recording rights and publishing rights, and how metadata for each flows through the industry.
Cross‑Team Collaboration
* Support and work closely with the Director of Metadata Operations on key departmental objectives.
* Partner with colleagues across operations, technology, and business teams to deliver results.
* Represent metadata cleansing in meetings and workshops related to data strategy or platform development.
* Collaborate with Senior Metadata Support Managers to align long‑term projects with day‑to‑day operational priorities.
Platform & Process Support
* Provide input into how internal metadata tools can evolve to meet user and business needs.
* Participate in feature testing and feedback cycles, bringing practical metadata insight into platform development.
* Support effective communication and rollout of new tools and functionality.
Mentoring & Supervision
* Guide and support colleagues, including temporary staff and newer team members, during large‑scale metadata projects.
* Share best practices and help others develop clarity and confidence in their metadata work.
* Contribute to building a collaborative, music‑aware team culture.
Documentation & Communication
* Produce clear, accessible documentation for processes, transformation workflows, and project updates.
* Ensure reference materials are easy to find, easy to follow, and kept up to date.
* Draft internal communications about data milestones, platform updates, and project progress.
About You
Skills and Experience Required
* Brings a genuine enthusiasm for music and an appreciation for how metadata connects audiences with artists, releases, and recordings.
* Understands the distinct data needs of both pop and classical music, and the roles of contributors across different genres and formats.
* Has experience delivering large‑scale data or metadata projects, with a keen eye for structure, accuracy, and consistency.
* Communicates clearly and builds strong, trusted relationships with colleagues across teams and disciplines.
* Takes initiative, supports others, and contributes positively to a collaborative team culture.
* Is confident taking ownership and finding solutions – even when working through ambiguity or change.
Bonus If You Have
* Experience working in metadata roles within the music, media, or entertainment industry.
* Familiarity with industry bodies and standards (e.g. ISRC, ISWC, ISNI, IPN) and party‑work‑resource‑release relationships.
* Exposure to internal tools such as R2, Identify, Jira, or Confluence and a willingness to learn them.
* Knowledge of naming conventions, contributor roles, or catalogue structures – particularly in classical music.
Bonus Tracks: Your Benefits
* Group Personal Pension Scheme (between 3% and 9%)
* Private Medical Insurance
* 25 paid days of annual leave
* Interest Free Season Ticket Loan
* Holiday Purchase scheme
* Dental and Travel Insurance options
* Cycle to Work Scheme
* Salary Sacrifice Cars
* Subsidised Gym Membership
* Employee Discounts (Reward Gateway)
Job Category
Universal Music Group
Job Details
* Seniority level: Director
* Employment type: Full‑time
* Job function: Management and Manufacturing
* Industries: Entertainment Providers
* Company: Universal Music Group
The company presents this job description as a guide to the major areas and duties for which the jobholder is accountable. However, the business operates in an environment that demands change and the jobholder's specific responsibilities and activities will vary and develop. Therefore, the job description should be seen as indicative and not as a permanent, definitive, and exhaustive statement.
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