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Publisher, Ladybird Trade (12-month FTC)

Would you love the chance to join Penguin Random House Children’s to help cultivate and grow an inclusive and creatively interesting list for Ladybird Trade? We are seeking a strategic, imaginative, and collaborative leader to work with us on a 12-month fixed term contract starting in early 2022.

About Children’s and Ladybird

By bringing together the greatest stories, brands and authors of any global children’s publisher, Penguin Random House Children’s are here to help create and rediscover heroes for each new generation.

Ladybird makes growing up the best story ever. Sharing a Ladybird book with a child is a great way to start exploring the world around them. Whether it’s snuggly bedtime favourites, buggy books that accompany adventures, or bath books for playtime, Ladybird books open up whole new worlds and spark learning, creativity and curiosity.

Ladybird Trade create titles that sell to the general consumer in the UK and worldwide, including brands such as Ten Minutes to Bed and Baby Touch. Trade sits alongside the Ladybird Licensing team, with preschool brands such as Peppa Pig, while the Ladybird Education team publishes for global educational markets. In this Trade role, you’d work on inclusive books for children aged 0-7 including novelty, picture books and non-fiction.

The Opportunity

  • Lead the Ladybird Trade editorial team, managing and developing a team of four

  • Partner closely with the Ladybird Publishing Director and Ladybird Trade Art Director to create and support long-term plans for the list

  • Work closely with key creatives, experts and writers, as well as other internal departments

  • Represent titles and the team both internally and externally; some international travel may be required

  • Support inclusivity at the heart of everything the team does

Candidate Profile

  • Leadership skills that inspire trust, confidence and motivation in team members

  • Creativity combined with sturdy commercial judgement for a global trade and custom market

  • A proactive approach to generating new ideas for our target market, understanding the importance of how narrative and illustration can work together

  • A solid understanding of our contemporary 0 –7 consumer, their families, carers and development stages

  • Comfortable working autonomously and confident making decisions

  • The ability to communicate effectively to a wide range of people and to influence others, including working with international partners

  • A confident negotiator who is not afraid to constructively challenge when required

  • A great listener who operates with self-confidence, empathy and emotional intelligence

  • Excellent financial, project- and time-management skills

  • Collaborative and supportive

Please apply with your CV and cover letter (addressed to Shannon) by midnight on Thursday 21st October.

What you can expect from us:

Salary: Up to £57,000 depending 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.

Publisher, Ladybird Trade (12-month FTC)

Contract, Full-time
Children's Publishing, Publisher
Administration, Publishing, Management, Communications, Trade, Business Development, Project Management, Editorial
Reference: 
Publisher, Ladybird Trade (12-month FTC)
Salary description: 
Up to £57,000 depending on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits

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