Rights Executive (12 months FTC)

Hachette UK Limited; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 annual leave days

Private medical insurance

Dental insurance

Generous pension schemes

Cycle to Work scheme

Book discounts

Job summary

Hachette UK Limited is seeking a Rights Executive to cover a parental leave and keep the department running smoothly in a busy, globally-connected publishing group. The role involves pitching titles, negotiating sub-rights and growing the rights list across markets, while supporting Trade colleagues and the John Murray Group Specialist.

You’ll join a dynamic team, coordinate rights catalogues, plan trips for book fairs, and liaise with agents and foreign publishers.

Qualifications

• Experience in rights, international sales or a similar publishing role.
• Strong written and spoken communication and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent organisation and attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Pitch our books to publishers worldwide by email, calls and at book fairs.
• Negotiate terms, grant options and close sub-rights deals.
• Grow customer base and work towards sales targets.
• Collaborate with Editorial on new titles that travel.
• Coordinate with Production and Art on production materials sales.
• Manage domestic rights and learn new processes.

Skills

Rights experience

Sales experience

Organisational skills

Communication skills

AI tools familiarity

MS Office

Databases knowledge

Tools

Microsoft Office

Databases

Job description

Who we are and what we do

About Hachette UK

Hachette UK is a creative powerhouse and the UK's second largest book publishing group. Our mission is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity.

We're made up of 10 autonomous publishing divisions and over 60 imprints with a rich and diverse history and an incredible range of authors. We're also the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest growing part of our business.

Our award-winning adult publishing divisions are Little, Brown, which won Publisher of the Year at the 2026 British Book Awards; Orion (2021 Publisher of the Year Award Winner); John Murray Press; Hodder & Stoughton; Headline; Octopus, and Bookouture. They publish fiction and non-fiction in digital, audio and print format, from the world's best and most diverse authors, including Brit Bennett, Candice Carty-Williams, Martina Cole, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Nelson Mandela, Stephenie Meyer, Maggie O'Farrell, Delia Owens, Ian Rankin, J.K. Rowling, Colson Whitehead, and Malala Yousafzai. Hachette Children's Group publishes a wide and vibrant range of books for children across all age ranges, while Hachette Learning is a market leader in resources for both primary and secondary schools.

Hachette UK is part ofHachette Livre, the world's third largest trade and educational publisher. As well as our headquarters in Carmelite House, London, and our state-of-the‑art book distribution centre in Didcot, Oxfordshire, we have recently opened five new offices in Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. The UK region also includes offices in Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the Caribbean, and Ireland.

It's an exciting time to join our business because the publishing market continues to grow and thrive. The UK remains the largest exporter of physical books in the world and book adaptations for film and TV are the foundation of the UK's creative industries.

What you'll be doing

Fast-paced. Hands‑on. Never dull.

We’re looking for a Rights Executive to cover a parental leave and keep the department running smoothly.

It’s a busy, varied role: one minute you’re pitching a new title to a publisher overseas, the next you’re sorting out a contract, a rights catalogue or a book fair schedule.

You’ll be supporting our John Murray Group Specialist and Trade colleagues, so you’ll never be short of something to do.

Ready for your next step? If you’re currently an Assistant in Rights or International Sales, this is a great chance to take on a new challenge.

Sell

• Pitch our books to publishers worldwide, by email, on calls, at book fairs
• Negotiate terms, grant options and close sub‑rights deals
• Grow your customer base and work towards sales targets
• Work on new titles with our Editorial departments to find stories which travel
• Work with Production and Art colleagues on production materials sales
• Look after some of our domestic rights and always be ready to learn something new

Support

The admin is the engine of every good sale, and you’ll own it. You’ll:

• Support the John Murray Group Specialist and Trade colleagues with the day‑to‑day admin tasks
• Plan trips, book fairs and more
• Create rights catalogues, and send out submissions
• Process and chase contracts and invoices
• Arrange cover and jacket approvals with agents and foreign publishers
• Send working and finished copies to publishers, authors and agent
• Manage reversions and renewals
• Keep databases and records accurate and up to date

Who we are looking for

About you

• Experience in rights, international sales or a similar publishing role, and a good sense of the book market
• Some sales experience, or a real hunger to build it
• Great organisation skills and an eye for detail
• Strong written and spoken communication, and ease building relationships at every level
• Confidence with Microsoft Office and databases, comfortable with using AI tools
• A positive, can‑do attitude and the energy to juggle many things at once

What we offer

Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:

• 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Generous pension schemes
• Rent deposit loans
• 2 community days per year
• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Wide‑ranging training library
• Development programmes (including mentoring)
• Up to 70% off book purchases
• A charity bookshelf
• An active range of staff‑led employee networks that are voluntary, including AgeWise, Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing, Women in Techand religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

The role will be based at our London office, with a blend of in‑office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Our commitment

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio‑economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.

We want everyone to have the opportunity to perform at their best during our recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, you can let us know at the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application. We’ll make sure you’re supported throughout the process.

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit https://btbs.org/grants