Publicity Director, Vintage (7-month FTC)

Lead innovative and impactful media and events campaigns for this trailblazing imprint of Vintage - a division of Penguin Random House, the world’s leading book publisher.

The Opportunity

We are recruiting a Publicity Director for the Harvill Secker imprint at Vintage, Penguin Random House, to cover a period of parental leave from July 2024 to February 2025.  Part of the award-winning publicity team at Vintage, the role will report to the Divisional Director of Publicity.

You can expect to:

• Independently create and deliver high-impact, innovative and strategic media and events campaigns for Harvill Secker’s major fiction and non-fiction titles, including new books from Haruki Murakami, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Joseph O’Connor, Monique Roffey.

• Oversee publicists working on the imprint’s campaigns.  

• Play a key role in the acquisition of new books, providing PR feedback and contributing to and attending pitches to acquire new talent.

• Communicate effectively with internal departments, including sales and marketing, editorial, rights and international colleagues. 

• Maintain excellent relationships with high-profile and influential stakeholders, such as authors, literary agents, journalists, events producers and global publishing partners. 

• Contribute to the imprint’s strategic priorities and work closely with its editorial team.

• Author crisis management where appropriate including scenario planning and reactive communications.

What You’ll Bring

A creative individual who loves to innovate, you will have a proven track record of delivering standout and successful book publicity campaigns to reach target audiences and drive book sales.   A high-level networker across the publishing industry and the media, you will understand what moves the dial and be proactive in finding new promotional opportunities for our books and authors.   

You will also:

• Be confident writing engaging press materials and organising large scale events. 
• Be an excellent communicator, both written and in person, and be confident pitching and presenting internally and externally. 
• Have strong personal organisation and time management skills, the ability to multitask and manage competing priorities.  
• Be a strong influencer with excellent powers of persuasion. 

About Harvill Secker and Vintage

At Harvill Secker we publish books that cross borders and genres. Our outlook is international and we’re proud of our range. We seek out the most exciting voices from the UK and around the world, inspired by our founders’ mission to ‘overcome the barriers between people.’

We look for writers who thrill and transport readers, with ground-breaking literary novels, bestselling crime and thrillers, immersive historical fiction and culturally engaged non-fiction and memoir. Our authors represent some of the finest talent from more than fifty countries, including Nobel and Booker Prize-winners, and a new generation of charismatic voices taking us into the future.

For more than 100 years, we have celebrated curiosity, discovery and understanding – and we are proud to continue to do so today.

At Vintage, we are dedicated to bold publishing.

Our books encourage all sorts of readers all over the world to think differently in big and small ways. We make a book the best of its kind, with publishing expertise and world-class design. Our heritage gives us confidence to find the next big thing, knowing the most exceptional is yet to come.

Making books is a team effort, and whether that’s a team of two or 82, we share every triumph. We pour care into our craft, our authors and each other – because there’s no limit to a good book.
 

Application Instructions
If this sounds like your next role, please apply with your CV and cover letter by 11:59pm on Sunday 14th April.

About Penguin:

We’re the UK’s 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’ll 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: Between £43,500 and £48,000, depending on how your skills and experience align with the role, plus benefits

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 – income protection, life assurance, childcare allowance

• Wellbeing - healthcare cash plan, critical illness cover, health checks

• Lifestyle – taste card, tech scheme, free and discounted books

For our full benefits list please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/what-we-offer/

Hybrid working: 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. At Vintage, we consider what environment enables the best work for individuals, teams and the company. Vintage colleagues work from our Embassy Gardens office on Tuesdays and Thursday and, once team and divisional considerations have been taken into account, have the flexibility to choose where to work on other days of the week.

The recruitment process: You can read about our recruitment process at https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/how-we-hire/

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 PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. 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.