Editorial Assistant – Penguin General/Viking (12m FTC)

Job description

Are you driven by an insatiable curiosity about the world – from history and politics to science and culture – constantly seeking out the latest ideas, debates and innovations? Are you fascinated to know more about the latest in non-fiction publishing? Are you fastidiously organised, a great team-player and able to remain meticulously attentive to detail while working quickly to tight deadlines across multiple projects simultaneously?

Penguin General/Viking is looking for an Editorial Assistant to work on our non-fiction publishing, for 12 months. The successful candidate will report to Viking Non-Fiction’s Editorial Director and provide support to this editor and two others.

The role will involve a wide array of editorial and administrative tasks, including:
• Providing general office administration e.g. booking meeting rooms, arranging couriers, minuting meetings, processing expenses, processing invoices, sending out proof mailings, arranging for author advanced copies
• Ensuring titles hit critical path deadlines e.g. preparing cover briefing documents, creating title information sheets
• Managing book and prize submissions
• Maintaining internal systems
• Proofreading book covers
• Preparing editorial material for the sales, communications and rights teams
• Researching book ideas
• Offering feedback on book proposals and manuscripts

We’d love it if you had…

• Has an insatiable curiosity for new ideas, wherever they come from, and ideally is a voracious non-fiction reader
• Is a team-player, with excellent verbal and written communication skills, and a knack for working closely with a diverse team (whether colleagues, authors or freelancers)
• Is highly efficient, organised and proactive, with the ability to prioritise a demanding workload
• Has a meticulous eye for detail and for spotting (and solving) problems before they arise

You don’t need previous publishing experience. You do need an interest in books, a willingness and ability to learn, and passion for our mission – to make books for everyone, because a book can change anyone.

Employer details

Penguin General is one of the eight publishing divisions that make up Penguin Random House UK. There are six imprints at Penguin General, of which Viking is the largest.

Penguin General is made up of extremely talented colleagues, who set a high bar in terms of quality of output, and who take pride in their work and strive for both individual and collective success. We advocate a ‘learning mindset’ by which we mean being curious and humble. We strive to create a working culture that is progressive, energizing and fun, where colleagues are treated with respect, stretched to learn and grow, and can turn up to work as their authentic professional selves. Our authors include Dolly Alderton, Antony Beevor, John le Carre, Natasha Lunn, Ben Macintyre, Robert Macfarlane, Hisham Matar, Ellie Middleton, Cal Newport, James Nestor, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Richard Osman, Elif Shafak, Simon Sinek, Zadie Smith, Art Spiegelman, Haemin Sunim, Claire Tomalin, Stanley Tucci and Alice Winn, and our catalogue includes books by Anne Frank, Mahatma Gandhi, David Niven and Malcolm X.

At Viking we love publishing books that combine brilliant writing with popular appeal, which hit the bestseller lists, win prizes and shed light on the world around us. In non-fiction, our authors range from world leaders to sporting legends, from cutting-edge scientists to prize-winning historians, and from distinguished journalists to eminent philosophers. Authors you’ll be working with closely include Julia Boyd, Russell Foster, Charlotte Fox Weber, Jean Garnett, Erin Goeres, Simon Jenkins, Daniel Lavelle, Jonathan Liew, Sinclair McKay, John Preston, William Ralston, Vaclav Smil, Paris Spies-Gans, Devi Sridhar, Yeganeh Torbati & Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, and Lyuba Vinogradova.