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We have an exciting opportunity for an Editor/Commissioning Editor to join Viking’s innovative literary fiction team.

About Viking

Viking, an imprint of Penguin General, is home to one of the most prestigious literary lists in the industry. We publish a wide range of prize-winning, bestselling novelists and pride ourselves on our ability to launch brilliant new literary careers and take established authors to new heights, combining critical success with commercial ambition. We are also home to some of the greatest writers of the past century and never stop championing the timeless classics on our backlist.

The Opportunity

In this role, you will work as part of a collaborative and supportive team, curious and open to new and innovative ideas. We work hard to nurture individual talent as part of our collective success. At Penguin General, we strive for working life to be progressive, energising, motivating and rewarding for all our colleagues at every level.

Reporting to the Editorial Director, this role will include:

• Supporting the Editorial Director in the publishing of key authors

• Generating innovative ideas for backlist publishing, proactively seeking out new opportunities and taking on responsibility for some of Viking’s biggest backlist authors

• Acquiring, editing and publishing a select number of titles per year, on time and to budget

• Networking to maintain strong relationships with authors and agents in the UK and internationally

• Being a strong team player and an advocate for your books and the list within Viking and beyond

What you’ll bring

We are looking for a creative, highly motivated individual with proven knowledge of the literary fiction market. You will be confident in your taste and passionate about these areas of publishing. Ideally, you will have ideas on areas of the literary market into which Viking could expand. It would be a bonus if you were able to read in other languages, and/or kept up-to-date with the most cutting-edge literary magazines and reviews.

The ability to work effectively under pressure while keeping to schedule is essential, as are strong organisational skills and attention to detail. You will be an excellent communicator, able to write persuasive cover copy and make convincing verbal pitches, as well as giving matchless author care. You will enjoy working collaboratively within your own team as well as with colleagues across different departments. You will also actively engage with Penguin Random House’s diversity and inclusion goals.

This would be an ideal opportunity for progression for an existing Assistant Editor or Editor to make the next move in their career, or an established acquirer to join us to work across distinctive literary fiction.

If this sounds like your next role, please apply with your CV, a cover letter addressed to Isabel Wall, by midnight on Sunday 19th March. As part of your cover letter, we’d like you to write:

• 500 words on a recent work of fiction (not published by Viking) that you thought was well-published, and why you enjoyed it.

What you can expect from us:

Salary: £31,5000 - £37,000, depending on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits. An offer will either be made at Editor or Commissioning Editor.

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 Wednesdays 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 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: 258098