Senior Commissioning Editor (Fiction)

Nosy Crow; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading children's publishing company in Greater London seeks a creative Senior Commissioning Editor to join their fiction editorial team. You will manage multiple book projects, collaborating with authors and illustrators to produce innovative titles. The ideal candidate has significant experience in children's publishing and a passion for nurturing new talent. This full-time hybrid role offers a competitive salary starting at £45,000 per annum.

Benefits

Enhanced maternity/paternity leave

Cycle to Work Scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Free fruit and snacks in the office

Remote working anywhere in the world for up to 2 weeks per year

Qualifications

• Significant experience in a children’s editorial department.
• Experience managing multiple book projects independently.

Responsibilities

• Creating IP projects and confidently commissioning new titles.
• Independently project-managing titles from delivery to publication.
• Communicating directly with authors and illustrators.

Skills

Proven commercial commissioning experience in a children’s books editorial department

Excellent hands-on editorial skills including storyboarding

Excellent author care and communication skills

Proactive team player

Effortless organisational skills

Job description

We have an exciting opportunity for a creative, enthusiastic and highly organised Senior Commissioning Editor to join the Nosy Crow fiction editorial team.

Reporting to the Publishing Director, you’ll be joining a close-knit, vibrant team with whom you’ll work closely to create a wide range of fiction booksin a fast-paced, innovative environment. This role is ideal for a self-motivated team player with exceptional author care and significant experience in a children’s editorial department. It may suit a freelancer looking for a more permanent position. We are looking for someone with a particular passion for bringing fresh ideas to the table and creating IP, while also seeking out and commissioning new talent.

Nosy Crow is a multi-award winning, independent children’s publishing company with operations in both the UK and the USA. We make child-focused, parent-friendly children’s books for ages 0–12.

The role is a full-time position and is a hybrid role, working a minimum of three days per week in our office near to London Bridge. The successful candidates will have the right to live and work in the UK.

Purpose of the Job

The Fiction team work on a variety of books for readers ages 5-12, working closely with multi-award-winning and bestselling authors and illustrators, as well as creating story concepts in-house. Our focus is on creating and sustaining confident readers from the moment children can independently read for themselves and nurturing a love of stories.

The role of Senior Commissioning Editor includes creating IP projects and commissioning new titles that fit within the commissioning strategy for the list, independently managing a number of titles through the editorial process from manuscript delivery and cover briefing through to publication. It requires working collaboratively with authors, illustrators and in-house colleagues in Design, Production, Rights, Sales, Marketing and Publicity.

The Senior Commissioning Editor will report to the Publishing Director for Fiction, while working closely with the Editor and the Editorial Assistant.

Keyresponsibilities:

• Creating IP projects and confidently commissioning new titles that fit within the commissioning strategy for the list, galvanising the internal team to share the publishing vision for each project
• Independently project-managing titles, seeing them through from manuscript delivery to printer-ready files
• Communicating directlywith authors, illustrators and their agents, providing them with excellent nurturing care throughout the editorial process
• Liaising with other departments in Nosy Crow, working especially closely with Design, Production and Audioto keep titles on schedule and providing material to other departments as needed
• Liaising closely with our American partners and authors to produce Americanised editions of our titles
• Mentoring and assisting junior members of the team, including overseeing project development, author and illustrator care
• Maintaining and developing relationships with authors, illustrators, agents and freelancers
• Reading submissions, taking an active role in editorial meetings and contributing to creative brainstorms
• Writing excellent copy for covers, AIs and catalogues
• Taking responsibility for the Biblio upkeep on your own titles, ensuring the metadata is accurate and optimally commercial

Key skills, characteristics and capabilities:

• Proven commercial commissioning experience in a children’s books editorial department, ideally fiction and/or IP creation.
• Proven experience managing multiple book projects independently and working closely with authors and illustrators.
• Excellent hands-on editorial skills including storyboarding, structural editing, copy-editing, proofreading and copy writing
• Excellent author care and communication skills
• Passion and enthusiasm for creating books that make readers for life, as well as strong knowledge and commercial awareness of the children’s fiction market in the UK and internationally (including the US)
• Effortless organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to meet deadlines while maintaining the highest standards of quality, take initiative and prioritise your own workload in a busy and sometimes high-pressure environment
• A meticulous eye for detail and creative flair
• A proactive team player, able to galvanise cross-departmental support for your own titles while being a champion of the fiction list as a whole
• Christmas closure
• Summer hours
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Income Protection
• Critical Illness cover
• Group Life Assurance
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/partner/adoption leave
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Season ticket loans
• Up to 80% off RRP for Nosy Crow book purchases
• Emergency loans
• Free fruit and snacks in the office
• Moving day leave
• Charitable/socially beneficial leave
• Remote working anywhere in the world for up to 2 weeks per year

The salary for this role will be no less than £45,000 per annum.

To apply, please email your CV, accompanied by a covering letter of no more than 500 words outlining why you think you would be the perfect candidate for this exciting opportunity, to Rhianna Sandford ([e-mail]) with the subject heading Senior Commissioning Editor – Fiction, telling us where you heard about the job.

We ask that when submitting your covering letter, you authentically outline why you believe you are the perfect candidate for the advertised role, without the use of AI tools. We want to see your creativity shine through and gain an insight into who you are and what you can offer Nosy Crow. Using your own voice is the best way to express how you meet our selection criteria.

Please let us know if you are comfortable doing so, whether or not there are any reasonable adjustments that we should consider that would help during the recruitment process.

The closing date for applications is midnight (UK time) on Friday 28 th November 2025>

Nosy Crow is a Disability Confident, committed equal opportunities employer. We believe that employing a diverse workforce is an important factor in success and make recruiting decisions based on applicants’ experience and skills. We welcome applications from all members of society irrespective of race, age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, marriage or civil partnership.

Applications are treated with due confidentiality.

Nosy Crow is a member of the Living Wage foundation.

Deadline for applications: Friday, 28 November