Editorial Director (Maternity Cover, FTC)

Are you a dynamic and experienced children's Editorial Director eager to bring fresh ideas to the market? If so, we have the perfect role for you: leading a program of innovative illustrated books from novelty pre-school titles through to humorous picture books and accessible, commercial non-fiction.

Contract

Fixed term contract, full time. We would also consider part-time at 28 hours per week, i.e. 4 days a week.

From £45,500 per year, full-time.

Working hours

35 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 9.30am - 5.30pm. We currently operate a discretionary hybrid model, with three days in our London office and two working from home.

About the role

An exciting opportunity has come up to work on one of Quarto's newest children's imprints, Happy Yak. Launched in June 2021, Happy Yak publishes award-winning pre-school, picture books and illustrated non-fiction for children aged 0-8.

The main tasks:

• In collaboration with the Creative Director, lead the publishing program for Happy Yak, overseeing a team of commissioning editors and designers to maintain the brand identity and assess gaps in the market.
• Continue driving forward the new list, liaising regularly with Sales and Marketing in both the UK and US to ensure growth of the imprint.
• Commission and acquire new titles for the list, to be presented at the weekly Publishing meeting.
• Run P&Ls, assess title profitability and advise on author and illustrator fees and royalty rates.
• Comment on book covers, layouts and circulations at various stages of development.
• In conjunction with the Creative Director, take joint responsibility for achieving the budget set by the Finance Team / CEO for the given year.
• Manage key stakeholder relationships including with important authors and brand partnerships.
• Keep abreast of trends in publishing/the wider world to ensure our publishing program reflects the demands of our consumers, suggesting fast turnaround drop-ins where appropriate.
• Approve co-edition deals where relevant, sign off royalty statements for contributors, advise on inventory and stock requests, sign author and illustrator contracts and invoices.
• Manage day-to-day queries from in-house departments and out-of-house third-party collaborators.

Line Management

• Line-manage the Happy Yak editorial team.
• Work closely with the Creative Director on imprint growth and strategy.
• Carry out quarterly and annual line reviews with direct reports, working to establish goals and a clear plan for how they achieve those goals.

About you

The ideal candidate will have experience working at Editorial Director level across a range of Children's formats. Understanding of early years development and pre-school publishing including novelty board books, bath and cloth books would be a bonus, alongside strong commercial insight and an awareness of current trends in the market.

You will be able to show that you can:

• co-ordinate, support and motivate an editorial team
• enhance a publishing programme creatively and commercially
• focus on details while also seeing the bigger picture
• take responsibility and deliver results
• manage tight deadlines and juggle multiple urgent tasks
• negotiate with and provide guidance to authors, designers and illustrators
• create and oversee budgets and schedules

What we can offer

A supportive, open environment with development opportunities, as well as the following benefits:

• 25 days paid holiday per year (increasing up to 30 days per year), plus bank holidays
• Cultural appreciation day (to honour a cultural holiday which is significant to you, separate to your holiday entitlement)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Staff discounts on selected shops, retailers, and restaurants
• Health Cash Plan
• Pension
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Summer hours
• Active social and diversity committees

How to apply

Please send a CV, cover letter and portfolio (pdf or link) to by the closing date and state the vacancy name in the email subject title.

Ensure you cover the following:

• Your motivation and match with the role requirements
• What appeals to you about this particular role
• What key skills, experience and achievements do you have that you think are relevant to this role, and why. Please provide examples of how you have used or demonstrated those.
• Where you saw the vacancy advertised

All applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK in order to be considered for the vacancy.

We employ individuals based on their abilities and welcome applicants from all backgrounds regardless of disability, ethnic origin, gender, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, belief, age, or sexual orientation.

As a Disability Confident Committed employer, we aim to ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible for disabled people. Therefore, we encourage you to inform us of any reasonable adjustments you may require during your interview process. Please note, you only need to disclose information that you are comfortable sharing in order for us to accommodate your request.

Please note that due to the high volume of applications we receive, we will only be able to respond to candidates selected for interview.