Commissioning Editor (Media and Entertainment - Ebury) London, England
Job description
Do you love great storytelling in books, TV, radio, and podcasts? Can you see publishing opportunities across all of pop culture? Can you take a hit series or podcast, or a standout talent, and identify the perfect book to publish with them?
We have an exciting opportunity for a Commissioning Editor to join Ebury, the UK’s largest dedicated publisher of non-fiction, where you can build a list across our imprints.
About Ebury
Part of Penguin Random House, Ebury is the UK’s biggest and most successful dedicated non-fiction publisher. We’re made up of four publishing hubs – Entertainment, Self, Smart, and Lifestyle – that together create the most diverse and commercially successful non-fiction list in UK publishing – and as an imprint, BBC Books publishes titles that feed into all four hubs. We’re home to some of the world’s biggest non-fiction talent, from Mary Berry, Monty Don and David Attenborough to Charlie Mackesy, Jane’s Patisserie, and Caitlin Moran; from Jon Sopel, Danny Robins, and Janina Ramirez to Fearne Cotton, Tom Felton and Nathan Anthony (Bored of Lunch). We also publish iconic brands like Doctor Who, Match of the Day, Desert Island Discs and Strictly Come Dancing. Ebury’s unique way of working involves empowering small, dedicated teams who live and breathe the books together from day one creating award-winning publications and campaigns. Our inclusive, creative culture is admired across the industry as a place to thrive and find your potential on your own terms.
The Opportunity
Reporting to the BBC Books Publishing Director, you’ll have a wide remit to publish books across comedy, sport, music, memoir, pop culture, and more – and you’ll demonstrate innovative ways to harness the energy around a programme or talent and transform it onto the page. With great contacts across the TV, radio/podcast and publishing industries, you will be a dynamic ideas generator who understands audience needs and can identify the right books to reach them.
Qualities we’re looking for:
Ability to spot book opportunities in popular culture, and develop ideas around shows and talent into commercial book pitches
Excellent relationships with agents, production companies, executive producers, and brand managers and across the wider publishing and television industries.
Strong and proven negotiation skills.
The ability to multitask and handle competing priorities.
An excellent understanding of the marketplace: retailers, media, audiences and competitors.
Confident partner for Marketing, Publicity, and other internal teams to champion each book across publishing strategy, positioning, copy and design.
If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you. Please apply with your CV and cover letter and two non-fiction ideas – one related to a TV programme or podcast, and one stand-alone (maximum 600 words in total) – by midnight on Wednesday 15th March.
What you can expect from us:
Salary: Commissioning Editor roles can attract between £33,000 - £50,000 within Penguin Random House. This role will likely be c£42,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to 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 Pimlico. 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.
For this role, there are meetings and activities that you will need to attend in person (mainly at our offices in Pimlico on Tuesdays and Thursdays). The exact balance of office to remote working will depend on the nature of your role and team needs, and we are open to discussing this through the recruitment process
Our employees are the heart of our business. We have a range of benefits to reflect our commitment to our employees, some of which are:
- 27 days paid holiday entitlement in year one (plus bank holidays), increasing a day each year up to 30 days
- Medical cover
- Life assurance
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Discounted gym membership
- Generous pension scheme
- Summer working hours (role dependent)
- Volunteering policy and charity matching
- Employee Assistance programme
- Mentoring programme
- Extended gender neutral parental leave
- Access to books and eBooks across Penguin Random House UK
- Each site has trained mental health first aiders
- We plant a tree for every new employee to our business
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: 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: http://booktradeentrysupport.org/
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: The Random House Group Limited
Country: United Kingdom
State/Region: London
City: London
Postal Code: SW11 7BW
Job ID: 238541
