Editor, Penguin Canada

Location: 320 Front Street, Toronto, Ontario. In office (minimum three days per week)  
 
Posting Type: This posting is for an existing vacancy, and we are actively accepting applications.  
 
Expected Compensation: The salary for this position begins at $69,056 and will be determined based on experience. 
 

Changing the world, one book at a time.

As a team of dedicated book-loving professionals, we discover, shape, and share content that nurtures thoughts, dreams, and conversations around the globe, ensuring that new and established voices are heard. 

Founded in 1934 by a booklover waiting for a train who couldn’t find anything good to read, Penguin is the proud publisher of great writers, gifted storytellers, beloved books and eminent works that cross borders and boundaries. Through celebrations and crises, Penguin has always made books for everyone. Books that can change your mood or your mind. Your commute or your community. The way you eat or the way you sleep.

Penguin Canada’s editorial team seeks out and enables talented people from all walks of life to tell their stories—and make sure they are heard. We make books for everyone, because a book can change anyone.

We’re looking for an entrepreneurial, culturally attuned, and commercially minded Editor to join the publishing team at Penguin Canada. 

Are you a curious, culturally aware, and ambitious thinker, with an enthusiasm for the world of book publishing? Do you read widely across genres, particularly in nonfiction? Do you value working with a close-knit team that considers your ideas and contributions vital to the group’s direction? Do you have the confidence and creativity to shape conversations and shift perspectives through the authors and books you publish?

If this describes you, we encourage you to apply and consider joining us as we write new chapters for Penguin Canada.

Your contribution to the story: 

Reporting to the Publisher, you will join the collaborative, focused Penguin Canada team committed to finding and publishing books that seek to inform, entertain, and illuminate. As an Editor, you will acquire and shape a dynamic list of titles while working closely with authors and cross-functional teams across the publishing process.

This role offers you the chance to work with some of Canada’s and the world’s leading thinkers and writers, strengthen your market and publishing knowledge, and build a community, both internally and externally, for your books and for your list at an award-winning, market-leading imprint.

What you’ll do:

• Acquire and publish 8-10 titles per year.
• Generate new book ideas based on talent, market trends, and opportunity; identify and develop new authors.
• Assess potential value submissions and advise on publication strategies, including titles/subtitles, jacket art, marketing and publicity campaigns.
• Work with authors on concepts, outlines, and revisions of manuscripts, including structural and line edits.
• Evaluate book proposals and research the opportunity, distinctiveness, and risk of potential acquisitions, including running P&Ls, pulling competitive titles, and creating pitches to build internal support.
• Develop and nurture relationships with agents, including contract negotiations.
• Engage and partner with authors to fully realize their vision, collaborating throughout the acquisition and production processes with them as well as with managing editor, designers, and production teams.
• Track manuscripts through all stages of editing, design, and production.
• Confidently partner with sales, marketing, publicity, and other internal teams to develop each book’s strategy, positioning, copy, and design.
• Represent the publisher, design, and production teams when working with the author, and represent the author when working with our publisher, design, and production teams.
• Position books in-house and externally for maximum success through compelling presentations and the preparation of strong market comparisons, and descriptive copy.
• Assume editorial responsibility for select authors already under contract.
• Identify legal issues and work on legal reviews with counsel as needed.
• Represent Penguin Canada at book launches and other industry events.

Experience and knowledge you’ll bring (qualifications):

• Commitment to championing books effectively across a myriad of stakeholders – authors, agents, production, design, marketing, sales, etc.
• Ensure our books meet and exceed the highest standards: culturally aware, well-planned, creatively exceptional, distinctive and engaging.
• Attentiveness to emerging business and cultural trends in and outside the publishing industry.
• 5+ years of editorial experience with a solid track record of acquiring and shaping commercially successful projects.
• Value high standards of quality, consistency and accuracy.
• Empower those around you by working in a collaborative way, while taking ownership of your work and contributing effectively across teams.
• Empathy and consideration towards different perspectives.
• Previous experience working with expert voices and the ability to assess the commercial viability of manuscripts.
• Passion for acquisitions combined with strong negotiation skills and business understanding.
• Impeccable copyediting and proofreading skills.
• Exceptional organizational and prioritization skills with the ability to manage multiple projects at the same time and stay on deadline.
• Entrepreneurial spirit with a proactive, solutions-oriented approach, identifying and acting on ways to improve the work.
• An inclusive approach, supported by cultural competency and a proven ability to collaborate with people from across a wide range of diverse backgrounds.
• Enhanced knowledge, awareness, and experience with the culture and history of any community that has faced marginalization is considered a plus.
• And of course, a deep passion for books!

This role requires a minimum of three days per week as per our schedule at our office located at 320 Front Street West in Toronto. As such, we require candidates to reside within commuting distance of our office.

To apply, please submit a resume and a tailored cover letter by Friday April 24, 2026. Within the cover letter, we would love to see a list of books you have recently read. We appreciate the interest of all applicants, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

We are actively seeking to add team members from communities with lived experiences of marginalization and underrepresentation. We respect and value each individual and their lived experiences and are committed to creating a more diverse team and establishing a culture of belonging. If you self-identify as Black, Indigenous, a person of colour, a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community or another marginalized group, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Please contact Human Resources at hrcanada@penguinrandomhouse.com or 416-364-4449 if you need accommodation at any stage of the application process or want more information on our accommodation policies.

We do not use artificial intelligence to screen or assess applicants. However, we may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as supporting administrative aspects of the recruitment process. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment at any part of the process. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us. 

Company: Penguin Random House Canada Limited 

Country: Canada 

State/Region: Ontario 

City: Toronto 

Postal Code: M5V 3B6 

Job ID: 288079