Senior Editor, Maternity Cover

12-month fixed-term contract – maternity cover

Your team:

The Brands and Media team is home to an exciting market-leading children’s character list that includes some of the biggest global brands and authors such as Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler, Rod Campbell, The Gruffalo, Tales from Acorn Wood, Moomin, Milly-Molly-Mandy and Sylvanian Families, to name but a few. We publish bestselling books for children aged 0–9 years, from lift-the-flap books for toddlers, novelty series and picture books for pre-schoolers and illustrated non-fiction titles for older children. 

You will be joining a team of six, working closely with the Publishing Director and Editorial Director to deliver exceptional children’s books in innovative new formats for a global audience.

Your role:
We are looking for a talented and highly organized Senior Editor with strong experience in children’s illustrated, pre-school or licensed publishing (for ages 0–10 years) to work on a fixed-term maternity contract. We are a small team and therefore this is a hands-on and varied position.

Your key responsibilities:

• Oversee the editing and production of titles within the Brands and Media list

• Manage individual book budgets and monitor title progress

• Work closely with authors and licensors throughout the publication process

• Maintain strong working relationships with all parties involved in the editorial and production processes to guarantee successful outcomes

• Identify licensed properties that would be a good fit for the Brands and Media list with a view to acquisition.

Essential experience, abilities and knowledge you’ll need to succeed:

• Demonstrable experience in children’s licensed and illustrated pre-school publishing, from commissioning through to final files

• Excellent project management and editorial skills

• An impeccable eye for detail and strong content, copy-editing and proofreading skills

• Ability to meet tight deadlines while managing multiple projects

• Highly numerate, with a good understanding of P&L and finance management of a designated list area

• Knowledge of the contemporary children’s book market.

Desirable skills we’d love you to have:

• A good knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc.) and publishing management systems (e.g. Biblio)

• Familiarity with the specific requirements of the creation of novelty books

• Prior experience of working in InDesign

• Have used or are familiar with Google Workspace (Gmail/Google applications).

What you’ll get in return:
In return we can offer you a range of great projects, a supportive and collaborative working environment as well as a competitive salary and benefits package.

Salary: £36,000

Closing Date: 7 July 2024

Some of the benefits we offer:

• 25 days annual leave increasing with years of service + bank holidays

• Generous pension scheme

• Discounted private medical insurance

• Group income protection scheme

• Enhanced family pay and leave

• Flexible working hours and summer hours (early finish on a Friday during summer months)

• 2 Volunteer Days per year

• 75% off all Pan Macmillan books and regular staff book sales (highly reduced rates)

• Season ticket loan/advance

• Cycle to work scheme

• Discounts on shopping, Tastecard+ and gym memberships; Christmas club savings

• Daily free breakfast and monthly company lunch

This is a full time, 12-month fixed-term role, and will be based in our offices in Farringdon, London, with some flexibility to work from home each week.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK in order to be considered for this role.

At Pan Macmillan, we are highly committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion at every level of our organisation. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. Our efforts to promote DEI are ongoing, and we continually strive to learn and improve our policies and practices. You can read our full Diversity & Inclusion Pledge is available here https://www.panmacmillan.com/about/diversity-and-inclusion

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