Do you have experience of securing impactful media coverage for new book releases? Would you like to work with expert authors on their books in a range of non-fiction subject areas?

Penguin General is looking for a creative, experienced and proactive senior PR professional with a passion for history, science, politics and memoir to join our award-winning Communications team as Senior Campaigns Manager to cover a period of parental leave. Our authors include Ben Macintyre, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Vaclav Smil, Diane Abbott as well as new names in areas such as history, politics, psychology, sport and more.

The Opportunity

You will be lead and execute the PR element of launch campaigns for 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 that values individuality, champions creativity, and celebrates individual and team successes.

You can expect to:

• Create and implement ambitious, strategic PR campaigns for authors and titles across all the Penguin General imprints, primarily Viking but also Hamish Hamilton, Fig Tree, Sandycove, Penguin Life and Penguin Business.

• 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

• You will 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

You’ll have a proven track record of independently producing standout PR campaigns.  You will have a sense of what makes a good story, and be practiced at working with authors on talking points to land the most impactful media coverage for a diverse range of subjects. You will be tapped in to news cycles and media trends. You will have market knowledge of the non fiction and an understanding of different audiences, as well as strong relationships with key media contacts.

You’ll also:

• Have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and be confident pitching and presenting internally and externally

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

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

• Be confident and have a positive and resilient disposition

• Be highly organised with excellent time management to juggle concurrent projects with different lead times

• Think in innovative and creative ways to create buzz for our books

• Be well networked with media contacts and be knowledgeable and curious about all forms of media

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.

How to apply: If this sounds like you, please apply with a CV and cover letter. If you are invited to interview there will be a task to prepare. Closing date for applications is midnight on Monday 1st April.  

Salary: Up to £44,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to 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: For this role we expect that you will work from our London office on Vauxhall Bridge Road, attending key meetings and working as part of the team usually three days per week, with home working on the other days. We are open to discussing the exact balance of office to remote working through the recruitment process. Please note that over the course of 2024 all of our London-based teams will permanently relocate to our Embassy Gardens office in Nine Elms. We’ll be happy to answer any questions on this as part of the interview.

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'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 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: SW1V 2SA 

Job ID: 268979