Assistant Editor, Cornerstone

We are looking for a meticulous, efficient and creative Assistant Editor to work with Century fiction’s Publishing Director across a range of Crime and Thriller authors.

About Century 

Century is the home of the best in brand and genre fiction, known for our industry-leading event publications. Last year Century fiction published 36 Sunday Times bestsellers which spent a totoal of 88 weeks in the bestseller lists. Our authors include James Patterson, Harlan Coben, Lisa Jewell, Anthony Horowitz, Katie Fforde, Laura Jane Williams, Paige Toon and Gill Hornby.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the publishing director, Claire Simmonds, you will work across the James Patterson publishing programme and on a number of other Crime and Thriller author brands, shepherding titles through the editorial process to publication, with the potential to be involved in researching and commissioning future titles for the list too.

You will manage the internal book process, including title scheduling, writing cover briefs, writing jacket and cover copy, producing sales material, and liaising with other in-house departments, including production, design, sales, marketing and publicity. You will do some editing yourself, provide creative support for the list’s books and driving back-catalogue sales. You will be an integral part of each author brand team, working closely with colleagues on a varied year-round programme of publishing.

What you’ll bring

You’ll be able to communicate effectively with the key stakeholders as well as people across the company who will come to you for information. Organised and able to meet multiple deadlines, you will have great attention to detail and strong administrative skills. You’ll also be a keen reader across the Crime and Thriller genre, prepared to talk about your favourite authors and titles in this area.

This role is a great opportunity for someone who already has experience in publishing and who now wants to progress their career in an editorial department and to learn within a busy, fun and collaborative team. We’ll support you with your career development and you will be able to partake in a broad range of employee networks, with access to development schemes such as mentoring.

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.

How to apply: If you’re interested in the role, please apply with your CV and cover letter by Sunday 23rd June.

Salary: Circa £31,000 depending on how your skills and experience align with the role, plus bonus and 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 – discounted shopping, season ticket loan, rental deposit loan

• Wellbeing - healthcare cash plan, employee assistance, gym loan

• 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: We’re experimenting with a hybrid way of working that suits the needs of each team. 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. For this role we expect that you are working in the office on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays. Please note that over the course of 2024 all of our London-based teams will permanently relocate to our Embassy Gardens office in Nine Elms. We’ll be happy to answer any questions on this as part of the interview process.

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.