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Commissioning Editor (Science), Penguin Press

Scientifically speaking, a butterfly is at least as mysterious as a superstring.

 - Freeman Dyson

Penguin Press, a leading UK publisher of bestselling serious nonfiction, is looking for a Commissioning Editor with an interest in science to join the team on a permanent basis.

As Commissioning Editor, you’ll report in to the Publishing Director and will be responsible for acquiring, evaluating, developing and editing manuscripts. In this role, we are specifically looking for authors to publish in the Allen Lane, Penguin and Pelican imprints alongside such writers as Carlo Rovelli, Steven Pinker, Michio Kaku, Max Tegmark, Jared Diamond and Richard Feynman.

Your main areas of responsibility will also involve:

  • Acquiring an agreed number of titles per year for the list
  • Soliciting and evaluating proposals and developing ideas for new books
  • Maintaining and developing relationships with authors and agents with a view to future acquisitions
  • Building and developing a wide author list which has stability and longevity
  • Developing proposals for books and pitching them at new project meetings and acquisitions meetings in order to get team buy-in
  • Determining viability and profitability of acquisitions – which includes drawing up proposals and generating profit and loss estimates according to forecasts agreed by sales colleagues
  • Dealing with negotiations around the book within agreed tactics and values before and after acquisitions meetings
  • Actively promoting and selling their books in-house
  • Developing a distinctive, personal commissioning style
  • Showing regular and notable success and profitability of commissioned titles from year to year
  • Exploring backlist opportunities to find new ways of increasing sales
  • Undertaking the structural edit (this may be in conjunction with other members of the team)
  • Managing the internal book process of specified titles. This includes scheduling, compiling the jacket and cover copy, collating proofs, populating Advanced Title Information, liaising with the author, agreeing a delivery date, and liaising with Production, typesetters and designers
  • Managing all stages of the editorial process. This includes copy edit, jacket design, legal read, indexing and proofreading

The ideal candidate will be actively engaged with the worlds of science and science writing, and will have a commercial mind-set. An experienced publisher, you’ll bring your own distinctive and personal commissioning style to the table and will be able to manage key internal and external relationships with ease.

You’ll be confident in your own judgment and will be able to work autonomously in this role to achieve outstanding results. Excellent communication, organisation and entrepreneurial skills will be essential.

If this role is of interest to you, please apply with your CV and Cover Letter by midnight on Sunday 7th November 2021.

Salary: c.£48,000 depending on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits

We will be starting a trial of hybrid working across our company and we’re happy to discuss flexible working options at interview stage. This role will be based at our new office in Embassy Gardens, Nine Elms.

What you can expect from us

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:

•    25 days paid holiday entitlement in year one, plus bank holidays
•    Medical cover
•    Life assurance
•    Cycle to Work scheme
•    Discounted gym membership
•    Personal Learning Allowance
•    Generous pension scheme
•    Summer working hours (role dependent) 
•    Volunteering policy and charity matching
•    Employee Assistance programme
•    Mentoring programme
•    Extended Parental Leave policy 
•    60% Discount on Company books
•    Each site has trained mental health first aiders 
•    We plant a tree for every new employee to our business  

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://PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk

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

Please note, we are not able to accept agency CVs for this role. Any CVs sent speculatively will not be eligible for a fee.

Commissioning Editor (Science), Penguin Press

Full-time, Permanent
Publisher
Administration, Commissioning Editor, Editor, Publishing, Management, Communications, Business Development, Editorial, Acquisitions
Reference: 
Commissioning Editor (Science), Penguin Press
Salary description: 
c.£48,000 depending on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits

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An experienced publisher, you’ll bring your own distinctive and personal commissioning style to the table and will be able to manage key internal and external relationships with ease