Publishing Director, Square Peg

Are you brilliant at discovering distinctive voices? Would you love the opportunity to publish bestselling books with purpose, that start conversations and stand out?

We are looking for an exceptional talent to join the Vintage leadership team as the new Publishing Director for Square Peg. This is an opportunity to have impact and show us your vision for publishing’s future. Existing experience in publishing is not required, but a passion for it is a must.

About Vintage and Square Peg

Read Boldly, Think Differently.

At Vintage, we publish thought-provoking writing from authors of all backgrounds, including trail-blazing classics and books that speak urgently to our times. Which means our broad family of authors ranges from world-class prize-winners to brand new, emerging talent. Think Amanda Gorman, Rukmini Iyer, Margaret Atwood, Caroline Criado Perez, Ian McEwan, Nigella Lawson, Ai Weiwei and Richard Powers.

Our youngest imprint, Square Peg, is a highly focused, commercial list of 10-15 books each year, from culture, activism and lifestyle to cookery, wellbeing and nature. The emphasis is on contemporary non-fiction, and we seek out the ideas and stories that can inspire how we live today.

We are proud of the voices we’ve championed so far, and we’re excited for what’s to come. This position will set the direction for Square Peg’s future.

The Opportunity

• Lead Square Peg, develop the imprint’s long-term strategy and own our acquisition and publishing

• Drive growth and profitability by balancing creativity and commerciality

• Shape and enhance the overall vision and reputation of Square Peg

• Attract and retain the best authors by ensuring an exceptional author experience

• Cultivate and support a strong team with great relationships across internal departments and the external publishing, cultural and media landscape

• Play a key role within the Vintage Leadership Team, contributing to the cultural, creative and commercial health of the division

Candidate Profile

• Strategic and imaginative, demonstrates determination, resourcefulness and purpose

• Understands audience needs and can identify the distinctive voices to match

• Experience creating high-quality content that drives conversation and sets trends

• Extensive negotiation experience, able to close deals effectively

• Entrepreneurial, curious, and positive, keen to collaborate for mutual commercial success

• Talented communicator, able to capture attention and build rapport

• Enjoys team leadership, able to mentor, challenge and support as an inclusive leader

• Excellent talent management and project management skills

• Seeks and refreshes relationships, keeping in close touch with internal and external contacts such as agents and colleagues

• Inspires trust and enthusiasm in others, strong emotional intelligence

• A great listener, welcomes questions and constructive feedback from all levels and can apply learnings

• Existing experience in Square Peg genres such as cookery is preferred

Please apply with your CV and cover letter by midnight on Monday 18th October.

What you can expect from us:

Salary: Circa £80k dependent 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.