Editorial Director, Non-fiction (Transworld)

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Editorial Director to join the Transworld Non-fiction team. Reporting to the Publisher, we’re looking for someone who is an experienced, passionate, go-getting commissioner, immersed in the latest news and culture, a self-starter ready to innovate and build a list with a particular focus on personal development, self-help, and inspiring advice from business leaders and entrepreneurs.

About Transworld and our Non-fiction team

Transworld is home to writers who are the very best at what they do: experts across all genres whose books introduce ground-breaking new ideas, and whose remarkable true stories open doors to new worlds and become bestsellers. Transworld’s non-fiction books are defined and united by unique voices and exceptional content.  Our authors include Bob Iger, Chip & Dan Heath, Derren Brown, Ed Catmull, Eric Collins, Sara Davies, Jake Knapp, Mary Portas, Reid Hoffman, Viv Groskop, and many more.

The Opportunity

• Create and deliver a strategy to develop a list of books through every stage of their life from acquisition to publication.

• Develop a distinctive, personal commissioning style

• Cultivate relationships with authors, agents and wider industry contacts

• Take responsibility for always maintaining reputation and quality

• Determine viability and profitability, in line with commercial objectives

• Lead and contribute as a senior member of the Transworld Non-fiction team

Candidate Profile

• Brimming with ideas and insight on who’s going to be the next author to break through and how you’d package their book as next season’s big hitter.

• Creativity combined with strong editorial skills and sound commercial judgement.

• Confident negotiator who can challenge when required.

• Great at communicating publication strategy to authors and agents and as you lead an in-house team.

• Eye for detail, with a flair for good copy and design.

• Well-practised in prioritising, multitasking, and working to deadline.

• Experience of managerial responsibility, ensuring high-quality work through developing, supporting and appropriately challenging.

• Keen team player, who is collaborative, but also comfortable working autonomously and making decisions.

• Passion for, and ideally experience in, personal development publishing is preferred.

Please apply with your CV and cover letter by midnight on Wednesday 27th October.

What you can expect from us:

Salary: banding £42,000 - £56,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.

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 

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://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

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: http://booktradeentrysupport.org/

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