Senior Publicity Manager, Penguin Michael Joseph (12-month FTC)

Do you love working on an exciting range of fiction and non-fiction? Can you create stand-out campaigns to capture attention and drive sales?   

Penguin Michael Joseph is looking for a creative, experienced and proactive senior PR professional with experience working on both a wide variety of fiction (from bestsellers to debuts) well as non-fiction titles (from news-led to celebrity campaigns) to join our award-winning Publicity team as Senior Publicity Manager to cover a period of parental leave, beginning in early March 2025. 

About Penguin Michael Joseph 

Penguin Michael Joseph is a leading commercial fiction and non-fiction imprint of Penguin Random House, publishing best-selling titles across an array of genres such as crime and thriller, romance, cookery, memoir and lifestyle. Our authors include household names like Marian Keyes, Jojo Moyes, Dawn French, Nadiya Hussain, Jamie Oliver and Stephen Fry. 

The role 

In this role you will lead and execute the PR element of campaigns for both fiction and non-fiction books.  You will build strong working relationships with authors and agents to provide the highest level of author care.  You will strengthen existing contacts within the media.  You will get to work with some of the most creative publishing colleagues in the business, alongside a team of experts in a friendly and inclusive environment.   

Key responsibilities: 

• Create and implement ambitious, strategic PR campaigns for authors and titles across the Penguin Michael Joseph list.  

• Maintain and develop excellent relationships with high-profile and influential stakeholders, such as authors, agents, journalists and global publishing partners.  

• Communicate and collaborative effectively with internal departments, including sales and marketing, editorial, rights and international colleagues.  

• Play a key role in the acquisition of new books, providing feedback on the PR potential, contributing to and attending pitches to acquire new talent. 

What you’ll bring: 

• Proven track record of independently producing standout book PR campaigns.*   

• Great market knowledge of both fiction and non-fiction and an understanding of different audiences, as well as strong relationships with key media contacts.* 

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, confident pitching and presenting internally and externally.* 

• Strong sense of what makes a good story, practiced at working with authors on talking points to land the most impactful media coverage for a diverse range of subjects.* 

• A good listener, who can take multiple viewpoints into consideration.  

• A strategic thinker, adaptable, curious and inspiring, bringing new ways of thinking and ideas to the team. 

• Confident and have a positive and proactive disposition. 

• Highly organised with excellent time management to juggle concurrent projects with different lead times. 

• Ability to think in innovative and creative ways to create buzz for our books. 

• Knowledgeable and curious about all forms of media. 

Application instructions 

Please apply with your CV and cover letter by 11:59pm on Sunday 24th November.  

Please ensure you include a cover letter, as it is a crucial part of our assessment process. The cover letter offers an opportunity to show how your experience and interests align with the role requirements. Typically, we expect the cover letter to be between 500 and 1000 words. 

Salary 

Up to £43,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.  

What you can expect from us 

Our people are the heart of our business, and we work hard to support a culture of responsibility and recognition.  

Our benefits include: 

• Financial – income protection, life assurance, childcare allowance 

• Wellbeing – healthcare cash plan, critical illness cover, health checks 

• Lifestyle – enhanced parental leave, tech scheme, free and discounted books 

For our full benefits list please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/what-we-offer/ 

Hybrid working 

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 will typically work three days per week from our Embassy Gardens office.  

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. 

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 offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are marked with an asterisk* as part of the ‘What you’ll bring’ section. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot 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. 

Company: Penguin Books Limited 

Country: United Kingdom 

State/Region: London 

City: London 

Postal Code: SW11 7BW 

Job ID: 275296