Office Manager, Penguin General

TN United Kingdom; London; Hybrid; GBP 29,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job description

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Are you an experienced office manager, or have experience working in a creative environment organising, providing administrative assistance, and generally keeping everything on track?

We're recruiting for an Office Manager to work in our Art Studio at Penguin General. This is a central figure in the day-to-day operations of the Art Department, managing the workflow of the creative team. This pivotal role oversees, troubleshoots, and manages the schedule, providing admin support as well as project management, generally being the first point of call for all queries.

This opportunity is offered on a 12-month fixed-term contract covering parental leave, from December/January.

About Penguin General

At Penguin General, winner of Publisher of the Year 2019, we publish a broad range of books from prize-winning novelists and top 10 bestsellers like Richard Osman, Elif Shafak, Sathnam Sanghera, and Bernardine Evaristo in many genres including lifestyle, business, history, crime, and popular fiction.

The Art Department is a team of 8 who work on designing covers and insides for up to 300 books a year, including hardback and paperback titles.

Key responsibilities of the role

Reporting to the Art Director, this position will ensure all our book covers are on track and that deadlines are met for UK and International sales teams, marketing, and publicity teams, ensuring the smooth running of the department.

Responsibilities include:

1. Managing the day-to-day operations of the Art Department
2. Managing the design production schedule and sign-off process
3. Updating and maintaining relevant aspects in Biblio (our internal system)
4. Providing administrative support to the immediate and wider team
5. Tracking and processing invoices promptly
6. Facilitating the implementation of new operational systems in the Design team
7. Having basic working knowledge of InDesign and Photoshop (training can be provided)
8. Attending cover/briefing meetings and taking minutes
9. Working with the Art Director to set the agenda for cover meetings
10. Chasing briefs on the Biblio system, cover copy, author sign-off to ensure schedules are met
11. Representing the team in non-design related meetings
12. Providing backup and support for the Art Director

What you’ll bring

The Office Manager is a key member of the team, responsible for ensuring book covers and jackets meet deadlines at each stage of production. We are looking for someone with demonstrable experience in project management, office management, or senior administrative/support roles. Prior experience in a creative environment is not mandatory but preferred. You’ll also:

• Be calm, personable, and able to encourage others while enforcing deadlines
• Confidently deal with stakeholders at all levels, from designers to editors, sales, and marketing colleagues
• Have excellent prioritisation and organisational skills to manage workloads
• Have good system and technological understanding to manage a busy team
• Be solutions-oriented, proactive in resolving issues

How to apply

If this sounds like your next role, please apply with your CV and cover letter by 11:59 pm on Tuesday 8th October.

About Penguin

We’re the UK’s largest publisher, with around 2,000 employees and over 1,500 books published annually. We welcome all talent and are committed to diversity. Our team works to make each of our books a success, creating books for everyone because a book can change anyone.

Salary: Up to £35,000, dependent on skills and experience, plus bonus and benefits.

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 the full benefits list, please visit:

Hybrid working: We’re experimenting with a hybrid work model. While our offices across the UK are places to connect and collaborate, we value flexibility. For this role, you’ll be expected to work in our London office at least 2 days a week. This will be discussed during the recruitment process.

The recruitment process: You can read about our recruitment process at [link]. As a Disability Confident committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria and opt-in on their application. Please inform us of any reasonable adjustments needed by emailing [contact email].