Editorial Director, Chatto & Windus
Are you already an editorial director, or an ambitious commissioning editor ready to take the next step? This is a rare chance to take up a key role at Chatto & Windus, one of Vintage’s prestigious literary imprints.
About Chatto & Windus
Chatto & Windus publishes fiction, non-fiction and poetry across a wide range of subjects and styles, from memoir, campaigning books and science to Booker Prize-winning literary fiction, crossover bestsellers and genre-defying poetry. We seek to balance the highest quality writing with commercial potential in everything we do. Recent and forthcoming titles include Toni Morrison’s Recitatif, Anne Tyler’s French Braid, Warsan Shires’s Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, Margaret Atwood’s Burning Questions, Bryan Ferry’s Lyrics, NoViolet Bulawayo’s Glory, Claire Ratinon’s Unearthed, Christie Watson’s Quilt on Fire, Sadie Jones’s Amy and Lan and Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. We are also the proud publishers of Nigella Lawson, Amanda Gorman, Damon Galgut, Diana Evans, Emma Cline, Caroline Criado Perez, Edmund de Waal, Kerry Hudson, Kayo Chingonyi and Lauren Elkin.
The Opportunity
The Editorial Director will support the Publishing Director and Deputy Publishing Director in managing and developing our publishing, strategy and workflow to launch bestsellers and ensure quality of publishing. You will commission and publish a portion of the list directly, while having insight into the entire publishing programme, acting as an ambassador for the list and contributing to strategy for titles outside your own commissioning. You will help identify and build a case for new projects, negotiate contracts, position and launch books, galvanise colleagues across departments, solicit quotes, write great copy, brief and oversee jacket design, while being a primary point of contact for authors and agents.
Candidate Profile
The following qualities are preferred:
- A proven track record in editing, acquiring, proactively commissioning new ideas and profitably publishing literary non-fiction and fiction, with particular strength in non-fiction an advantage (NB this role will not include poetry).
- Creativity, energy, sound commercial judgement and editorial flair combined with the ability to follow through and keep on schedule and budget.
- Ability to build strong relationships with authors, agents and across the wider industry.
- A keen sense of Chatto & Windus’s and Vintage’s priorities and values, and what makes for an outstanding work of non-fiction, narrative non-fiction and fiction.
- Comfortable acting as an internal and external ambassador for Chatto & Windus, and as a leader within the imprint and as part of the wider Vintage editorial team.
- A strong team player with interpersonal sensitivity and emotional intelligence.
- Professional curiosity, and an appetite for innovation and problem-solving.
- A good understanding of the marketplace: retailers, media, audiences and competitors.
- Confident partner for Marketing, Publicity, and other internal teams to develop each book’s strategy, positioning, copy and design.
- Proven author care and negotiation experience.
Please apply with your CV and cover letter (addressed to Becky) by midnight on Monday 4 July. Early applications are encouraged.
What you can expect from us:
Salary £42,389 ‒ £56,519 dependent on how your skills and experience align with the role, plus 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:
• 27 days paid holiday entitlement in year one (plus bank holidays), increasing a day each year up to 30 days
• Medical cover
• Life assurance
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Discounted gym membership
• Generous pension scheme
• Summer working hours (role dependent)
• Volunteering policy and charity matching
• Employee Assistance programme
• Mentoring programme
• Extended gender neutral parental leave
• 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.