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Are you passionate about children’s publishing? Do you have creative thinking and an eye for detail, and want to work on some of the biggest Children’s authors and brands?

We have an exciting new opportunity for Assistant Editor to join the Puffin team working across fiction and non-fiction children’s books ranging from early chapter books through to young adult novels.

About Puffin and the Children’s team

Changing lives through words – this is what we do. By entertaining and educating, we aim to publish for every child everywhere, and take young people on an incredible journey from their first independent reading experiences right through to their teen years and beyond. From Tom Fletcher to Malorie Blackman, Adam Kay to Karen McManus, our team works with some of the biggest names and brightest new authors and illustrators to bring stories to life.

The Opportunity

This role is varied, and you can expect no two days to be same. Reporting into the Editorial Director, you will be responsible for managing the editorial workflow and project managing a wide range of books through to publication. There will also be the chance to develop and hone your editorial skills working across the breadth of the Puffin list – both fiction and non-fiction - making this a well-rounded role where your development is as important as the support you’re giving.

You can expect to be:

• Responsible for keeping our books on their critical path, staying organised and keeping schedules up to date, including inputting information onto our systems

• Supporting the senior team on their books and brand projects and, in time, taking on independent management of these

• Having direct contact with our authors and agents, providing matchless care and being the first point of call

• Writing and editing text including our Title Information sheets and cover copy for the books

• Managing meeting set-ups and briefing internal and external stakeholders on current status of various projects

• Reading submissions - both those sent directly to you and as requested by other members of the editorial team - and contributing to discussions around potential acquisitions

You will have a confident and flexible approach and be able to work well under pressure without compromising quality. This is a rewarding, but busy role, so good organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects are essential.

What you’ll bring

You don’t necessarily need to have worked in Children’s publishing before, but you will have worked in or around books or words beforehand and bring a love for all things children’s literature.

This role would be ideal for a candidate who is looking to build a successful career in publishing and offers the opportunity to develop your own editorial tastes with the support of an experienced and exciting team.

You’ll be organised, have excellent attention to detail and will be a collaborative team player with an ambitious outlook towards your work. This role will work closely with a variety of editors, designers, authors, agents and brand owners as well as various teams internally from rights and production to sales and marketing colleagues, so you’ll be a confident communicator and ready to get stuck in!

How to apply

Please submit your CV and cover letter by midnight on Sunday 14th May.

As part of your cover letter, please answer the following question (in 200 words): What interests you specifically about working in children’s publishing and what do you think makes it different to adult publishing?

What you can expect from us:

Salary: Assistant Editor roles at Penguin Random House can pay between £29,500 - £34,500. An offer will be made dependent on how your skills and experience align with the role, plus bonus and benefits.

While our offices are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility about where you work is just as important for doing your best work and for your wellbeing. For this role, there are meetings and activities that you will need to attend in person at our offices in Embassy Gardens. We operate with a combination of days working from home alongside regular days in the office every week and can discuss this with you during the recruitment process.

Our creativity is inspired by different perspectives, so we want our culture to be one of belonging, where everyone feels welcome and where differences are celebrated.

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we're part of the offer an interview scheme. This is where disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role can opt in to get to the next recruitment stage. There may be some situations where volume of applicants means we can't take all eligible candidates to interview. We want to make sure disabled applicants can be their best at each step of the recruitment journey. If you need adjustments during the application process, we encourage you to get in touch with us at http://[email protected]. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable to for us to support your adjustment request. Find out more about our approach here: http://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/applying-for-roles-with-a-disability

We partner with The Book Trade Charity, who provide financial assistance for people looking to get into the publishing industry; you can find more information and talk directly here: https://btbs.org/grants

Please note, we are not able to accept agency CVs for this role. Any CVs sent speculatively will not be eligible for a fee.

Company: Penguin Books Limited

Country: United Kingdom

State/Region: London

City: London

Postal Code: SW11

Job ID: 259718