Senior Managing Editor, Transworld

Bertelsmann; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits package

Hybrid work

Office Embassy Gardens

Job summary

Transworld, a Penguin Random House imprint, is seeking a Senior Managing Editor to lead fiction and non-fiction titles from manuscript to final files. You’ll work with acclaimed authors and a collaborative editorial team, ensuring high editorial standards and robust processes.

You’ll deputise for the Managing Editorial Director when needed and help shape workflows, mentoring colleagues and driving continuous improvements across the department.

Qualifications

• Proven track record managing fiction and non-fiction titles.
• Excellent desk-editing and copy-editing skills.
• Strong editorial judgement and autonomous work style.
• Excellent organisation and time-management skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage fiction and non-fiction titles from manuscript to final files, collaborating with authors, editors, designers, freelancers and Production colleagues.
• Deputise for the Managing Editorial Director when required and help handle complex editorial matters.
• Ensure copy-editing and proofreading are carried out to a consistently high standard.
• Help develop and improve departmental and group progress-monitoring systems.
• Assist with appointing, management and support of freelance copy-editors and proofreaders.
• Help maintain and update house styles and editorial guidelines.
• Contribute to weekly progress and production meetings and proofread marketing and publicity materials as required.
• Share your experience and expertise with colleagues, including supporting less experienced members of the team.

Skills

Editorial judgement

Attention to detail

Organisational skills

Communication

Team leadership

Tools

Excel

Power BI

Job description

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We’re looking for an experienced Senior Managing Editor to join Transworld and play an important role at the heart of its publishing operation.

About Transworld

Home to bestselling and award-winning authors across fiction and non-fiction, Transworld publishes an incredibly varied range of books – from the biggest commercial brands, including Dan Brown and Lee Child, and landmark, conversation-starting non-fiction such as Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, to literary bestsellers and exciting new voices such as Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash.

The role

As Senior Managing Editor, you’ll join an experienced Managing Editorial team and manage fiction and non-fiction titles from manuscript through to final files, including high-profile authors and complex non-fiction projects.

Alongside managing your own titles, you’ll provide editorial expertise and support across the department, deputising for the Managing Editorial Director when required. You’ll also have the opportunity to contribute ideas about how the team’s systems, processes and ways of working can continue to develop.

Key responsibilities

• Manage fiction and non-fiction titles from manuscript to final files, working closely with authors, editors, designers, freelancers and Production colleagues.
• Deputise for the Managing Editorial Director when required and help handle complex editorial matters.
• Ensure copy-editing and proofreading are carried out to a consistently high standard.
• Help develop and improve departmental and group progress-monitoring systems.
• Assist with the appointing, management and support of freelance copy-editors and proofreaders.
• Help maintain and update house styles and editorial guidelines.
• Contribute to weekly progress and production meetings and proofread marketing and publicity materials as required.
• Share your experience and expertise with colleagues, including supporting less experienced members of the team.

What you’ll bring

You’ll be an accomplished managing editor with excellent editorial judgement, strong attention to detail and the ability to handle complex projects. Collaborative and highly organised, you’ll bring plenty of initiative and enjoy being part of an experienced team where you can share your expertise.

• Strong experience managing a varied list of fiction and non-fiction titles, including complex projects, and balancing multiple books at different stages.
• Excellent desk-editing and copy-editing skills, with exceptional attention to detail and a strong command of grammar, spelling and proofreading.
• Strong editorial judgement and the ability to work autonomously, manage authors and resolve complex queries.
• Excellent organisation and time-management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities efficiently.
• Strong communication, influencing and interpersonal skills.
• A collaborative approach and the ability to contribute effectively as a senior member of the team.
• Confidence using Word and other Microsoft systems, alongside an aptitude for learning and working with different digital tools.

Preferred criteria

• In-house managing editorial experience within publishing.
• Experience using systems and data to monitor publishing workflows, such as Excel or Power BI.
• Experience supporting less experienced colleagues.

Circa £50,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.

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 that you will work three days a week in our Embassy Gardens office.

AI

Here at Penguin, we believe in the power of authenticity and human creativity. When you apply for a position, we want to encourage you to showcase your unique voice. Throughout our recruitment process, please share your own thoughts, experiences, and skills. This helps us get a true sense of who you are and what you might bring to our team.

We celebrate creativity and diverse perspectives, so please be yourself!

Disability Confident

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. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘What you’ll bring’ section. 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 [e-mail]. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable with, for us to support your request.

Additional Information

Disclosure requirements pertaining to the collection of your personal data:

Responsible for processing the information provided in your application is the company specified in the job advertisement, with its registered office as indicated. The company processes your data for the purpose of establishing an employment relationship on the basis of Art. 6 (1) b GDPR / Section 26 (1) sentence 1 BDSG.

The retention period for your data is determined by the statutory time limits applicable in the respective country, beginning upon completion of the recruitment process. You can find these here .

You can contact the company’s Data Protection Officer at the above-mentioned postal address.

Further information on data protection and your rights can be found here .