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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 opportunity for two Editorial Directors to join our non-fiction and 6+ fiction editorial team to work across the list from early chapter books through to young adult and crossover titles.

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

We’re looking for two experienced, commercially minded, and creative Editorial Directors to join our team.

Both of these roles will be responsible for managing a key list of authors and titles including established names and exciting debut talent. You will bring an unrivalled understanding of today’s sophisticated young consumers, knowing what and how they want to read to your work in editing, publishing and acquiring. Day to day you’ll need to work across the division; with sales, marketing, publicity, design, production, finance and rights to ensure a joined-up and commercially savvy approach, alongside the editorial team.

We have two Editorial Director roles available in the team. The first, reporting to the Publisher, will be acquisitions focused, bringing best-in-class writers to the Puffin list, whilst also working with some of our existing authors and publishing them to the highest standards. You will have experience working with a wide variety of authors and have exceptional author care, as well as having strong agent relationships and a track record of delivering author-led commercial bestsellers.

The second Editorial Director, reporting to the Publishing Director, will be focused on some of our biggest authors and brands. You will be able to manage multiple stakeholders successfully as well as publish bestsellers for all sectors of the market. There will also be space to acquire, with an eye on the biggest author names of the future. The right candidate will also have a proactive approach to finding author and illustrator talent.

Both roles will be responsible for:

• Line management of an Assistant Editor

• Soliciting, evaluating and acquiring manuscripts and book proposals.

• Editing acquired titles and writing editorial notes regarding plot, structure, character development etc.

• Maintaining and developing relationships with authors, agents and other external partners with a view to future acquisitions. This role is an ambassador for the team and expected to provide excellent external partner care at all times.

• Project managing previously edited books and preparing them for successful publication and beyond.

• Monitoring trends in the book market and popular culture and generating publishing opportunities to capitalise on them.

• Negotiating contracts which are consistent with commercial objectives.

What you’ll bring

You don’t need to have worked in Children’s publishing specifically to succeed in this role, but you’ll need broad experience within a trade publisher, editing, commissioning books to commercial successes, and feeding in to team and list strategy.

You’ll also bring:

• An unrivalled passion for your books and authors.

• The ability to work autonomously, make decisions and be constructively challenging when required.

• Creativity combined with sound commercial judgement and business sense.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively to a wide range of people and to influence others.

• Excellent market awareness, showing a demonstrable understanding of the marketplace, readership and competitors.

• Strong and proven negotiation skills.

• Leadership skills including self-confidence, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence and resilience.

• The ability to multitask and handle competing priorities.

• Scrupulous attention to detail.

• Visibility within the division and the wider company.

• A strong network of industry connections.

How to apply

If this sounds like your next role, please submit your CV and a Cover Letter by midnight on Sunday 21st May. Early applications are encouraged.

Do let us know which of the two Editorial Directors would be your preference.

In support of your application, please include no more than 200 words answering the following: Tell us about a title published in 2022 in the children’s or YA space that you thought was excitingly published, and why.

What you can expect from us:

Salary: circa £55,000 depending on how your experience and skills 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: 259863