Job Description

A rare and exciting opportunity has arisen for a creative, curious and highly organised individual to join the Penguin Press team as an Editorial Assistant on a permanent basis.

About Penguin Press

In the world-famous Penguin Classics library and on its prize-winning contemporary poetry list, Penguin Press publishes established and future classics by authors such as Marcus Aurelius, Bash\xc5\x8d, Jane Austen, George Orwell, Shirley Jackson, Sam Selvon, Tove Ditlevsen, Kathy Acker, Claudia Rankine and Caleb Femi. Press is also home to the non-fiction imprints Allen Lane, Pelican and Particular Books.

The opportunity

As Editorial Assistant, you\xe2\x80\x99ll work closely with two members of the Editorial team, with a particular focus on supporting the running of the Penguin Classics list and providing daily administrative and editorial support on the classic and contemporary poetry lists. You will have a wide range of duties such as:

Assisting the Publishing Director (Classics) and Senior Commissioning Editor (poetry) with the editorial process on specified books; for example, clearing permissions, drafting cover copy, liaising with translators and academics, despatching editing, proofreading and populating Title Information sheets

Providing general administrative support for the Penguin Classics library \xe2\x80\x93 e.g., by responding to queries, organising corrections and updating copy

Liaising with departments across the business, including Publicity, Marketing, Production, Sales and Rights

Acting as a point of contact for authors, estates and agents, answering questions where possible and escalating other queries where appropriate

Organising mailouts to authors, agents and for endorsements

Managing title metadata and monitoring online retailer feeds

Managing the Publishing Director\xe2\x80\x99s and Senior Commissioning Editor\xe2\x80\x99s diaries, including arranging appointments and organising schedules; for example, book fairs and trips

Preparing agendas and taking/circulating minutes for meetings

Processing expenses and invoices, booking meeting rooms and sorting post.

What you\xe2\x80\x99ll bring
The role will be best suited to someone who has a keen attention to detail and the ability to work on a variety of projects and tasks simultaneously, sometimes under pressure. You will be proactive in your approach to work and will be able to keep things moving in a timely and efficient manner to meet deadlines in this fast-paced environment.

You don\xe2\x80\x99t need previous publishing experience to be considered, but you do need to be an avid and sensitive reader of classic literature and quality contemporary poetry and have an interest in the books published by Penguin Press. You will also need to have strong administrative and organisational skills, be hard-working, capable of taking initiative and show real ambition to develop a career in publishing. You will need to possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills (especially in writing) as you will be working closely with authors and agents.

How to apply
Please apply with your CV and Cover Letter by 23:59 on Tuesday 9th January.

As part of your application, we\xe2\x80\x99d like you to respond to the following question in your Cover Letter (no more than 300 words):

Please tell us about an underappreciated classic of either fiction, non-fiction or poetry that you would recommend, and why.

About Penguin:

We\xe2\x80\x99re the UK\xe2\x80\x99s largest publisher; made up of some 2,000 people and publishing over 1,500 books each year. Our doors are open to all kinds of talent. In a constantly evolving industry, we work hard to stretch the definition of the word publisher. Here, you\xe2\x80\x99ll work with a breadth of talent who all play their part to make each of our books a success. Together, we make books for everyone because a book can change anyone.

Salary: You\xe2\x80\x99ll start on \xc2\xa326,500. Expect a \xc2\xa31,000 increase on your first anniversary in this role to reflect your growing contribution.

Competitive benefits package: Our people are the heart of our business, and we work hard to support a culture of responsibility and recognition.

Our benefits include:

Financial \xe2\x80\x93 discounted shopping, season ticket loan, rental deposit loan

Wellbeing - healthcare cash plan, employee assistance, gym loan

Lifestyle \xe2\x80\x93 taste card, tech scheme, free and discounted books

For our full benefits list please visit:

Hybrid working: We\xe2\x80\x99re experimenting with a hybrid way of working that suits the needs of each team. While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. For this role, there are regular meetings occurring on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday that you will need to attend in person, mainly at our office in Pimlico, and otherwise by agreement with the Publishing Director and Senior Commissioning Editor.

The recruitment process: You can read about our recruitment process at

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 encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing . Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable to for us to support your request.

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: SW1V 2SA

Job ID: 266902

Penguin Books