Commissioning Editor, Ebury Self (Faith and Spirituality)

We are recruiting a Commissioning Editor to join a dynamic, high performing team at an exciting moment of growth and momentum for Ebury, the UK’s largest non-fiction publisher and publisher of the year for 2024.

Ebury Self, through our Vermilion, Rider and Happy Place imprints, is one of the most consistently commercially successful parts of Penguin Random House and home to world-leading authors across wellbeing, personal development, health, parenting, religion and spirituality. Our unrivalled roster of experts and gurus includes Wim Hof, Brené Brown, Kirsty Gallagher, Aliyah Umm Raiyaan, Deepak Chopra and Gabor Maté.

The Opportunity

Over the last 100 years the Self hub’s Rider imprint has published some of the most influential religious and spiritual thought leaders across the world from The Pope, the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu.

Rider is now looking for an entrepreneurial Commissioning Editor to expand our offering in faith focused publishing, a key growth area of the market. Reporting to the Publishing Director you’ll be tasked with owning and developing this area of the list, acquiring around 15 titles a year with a strong focus on religion and spirituality.

This is a new role in the hub, and you will work as part of a collaborative and supportive team on a mission to publish bestselling books that inform, empower and spark new directions. As well as developing relationships with US partners, particularly Christian imprints, to acquire titles with significant international potential you’ll also be encouraged to generate ideas and nurture UK based talent and communicate publishing ambitions with clarity and vision.

What you’ll bring

What’s important to us is that you understand this area of the market and can speak to its audience.  Perhaps you’ve worked in campaigns or in communications in the religion/faith sector or for a charity where this was at the forefront.  We can provide you with the training and support you’ll need to publish the books but you’ll also:

• Have excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively to a wide range of people.

• Be engaged with the outside world and bring a commercial mind-set.

• Be a self-starter who thinks entrepreneurially.

• Have confidence in your own judgement.

• Have the ability to work autonomously using initiative.

How to apply

If this sounds like your next role, please apply with your CV and cover letter by midnight on Monday 30th September.  

As part of your cover letter tell us about the book you wish you’d published and why.

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.

Salary:  c.£38,000 dependent 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 – income protection, life assurance, childcare allowance

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

• Lifestyle – enhanced parental leave, tech scheme

 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 you’ll be in our London office 2 days a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will discuss this with you through the recruitment 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 offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. 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: The Random House Group Limited 

Country: United Kingdom 

State/Region: London 

City: london 

Postal Code: SW11 7BW 

Job ID: 273239