Senior Press Officer

Location: Vauxhall, London (Hybrid Post Probation)

Closing Date: 2nd April 2025

About Walker Books

Walker Books UK is part of the vibrant international Group that includes Candlewick Press, Holiday House, Peachtree and Pixel + Ink in the USA and Walker Books Australia. Renowned for its truly original publishing and outstanding quality, the Walker Books Group is home to a wide range of children's and young adult books.

Award-winning authors and illustrators for the group include Angie Thomas, Sydney Smith, M.T Anderson, Patrick Ness, and Jon Klassen. We are also enormously proud to publish beloved family brands including Lucy Cousin's Maisy, Michael Rosen's We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram's Guess How Much I Love You and Martin Handford's Where's Wally?

About the Role:

Walker Books are looking for an experienced and innovative Senior Press Officer to join their dynamic, creative and organised PR team. We are looking to appoint a keen individual who has some experience of managing high-level campaigns who is ready for the next step as Senior Press Officer, and has an interest in working across picture books, fiction, Young Adult and brand properties.

The position involves creating PR campaigns from start to finish including: providing excellent communications both internally and with authors and agents, pitching to journalists, growing new contacts, organising a wide range of events to drive author profile and book sales, and working with the marketing team to develop creative ideas for cohesive campaigns.

Key responsibilities:

• Create, implement and maintain budget on PR campaigns
• Liaise directly with authors and illustrators on campaign progress, festival opportunities and review coverage
• Communicate campaign plans, priorities, and progress to both external and key internal stakeholders
• Develop and demonstrate knowledge of the Walker books list and the children's book market
• Proactively pitch feature ideas to journalists; draft and distribute press releases and media statements
• Organise, implement and attend author events at schools, bookshops and more, with a strong focus on book sales
• Work with media influencers on content and title promotion
• Support the PR team in organising, managing and attending book festivals and conferences
• Build and promote Walker's profile with external stakeholders

Please note the above is not an exhaustive list and does not necessarily include all the duties the job holder may have to perform. This job description may be amended to meet changing needs of the business.

Skills and Experience:

To be successful in this role, you will be able to demonstrate evidence of the following skills and/or experience:

• Proven relevant experience of designing and executing creative publicity campaigns across different levels of book
• Experience with planning events and working with festival organisers and booksellers
• Interest in children's books, publishing and promoting books to young readers
• Experience of developing author care across campaigns as well as being proficient and timely in communication with authors and illustrators
• Knowledge of the children's publishing landscape and the publishing industry
• Strong relationship building skills
• Highly organised, able to prioritise multiple requests and manage a varied workload
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Confident computer user, particularly Microsoft Office applications

We offer:

• Hybrid work (at least two days in the office per week) once you have successfully passed probation
• 22 days annual leave per year plus bank holidays (with annual leave increasing with length of service up to 27 days)
• Enhanced Pension Scheme
• Health Insurance and Health Cash Plan
• Life Assurance
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay
• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Plus, other great benefits!

All children deserve to see themselves, their families, and their communities represented in the books they read. As children's book publishers, it is our goal to ensure that the books and content we publish authentically and joyfully reflect the world around us. As an employer, we are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive working environment where everyone is included, valued, and empowered to do their best and most creative work. As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome candidates from all backgrounds without regard to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, sex, or any other characteristic protected by law and those not yet protected by law.

If you have any queries about this role or require any reasonable adjustments for your application or throughout the recruitment process, please let our team know by contacting us at .

Please note we reserve the right to close vacancies before the closing date where we have received sufficient applications. We recommend submitting your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.