Job Purpose

Do you love picture books? Are you fascinated by facts? A fantastic, entry-level opportunity has arisen for an Editorial Assistant to join Farshore to support the Picture Book and Non-Fiction Team, publishing award-winning and bestselling books. Authors and illustrators include Julia Donaldson, Deborah Meaden, Alastair Campbell, Chris Packham, Michael Morpurgo, Sophy Henn, Smriti Halls and Sarah Massini. We’re looking for a friendly, efficient, self-starting person to join our busy team. The successful candidate will immerse themselves fully in the world of children’s books and help create profitable titles that contribute to our market growth and uphold the Division’s mission ‘to make every child a proud reader’.

Key tasks and accountabilities 

• The key tasks of the role will include but are not limited to the following:

• Supporting the Team in editorial and administrative tasks, including proofreading, taking meeting notes, updating the publishing programme, and liaising with other key departments, including Production, Sales, Marketing, PR and Pub Ops

• Building knowledge of the children’s and wider book market, staying up-to-date with trends and competitor titles, undertaking market research as required, and alerting the Team to possible new opportunities

• Liaising with authors, agents and freelancers on individual projects

• Keeping authors and illustrators notified of Rights deals and reprints

• Writing catalogue copy, bookfair guides, sales material and presentations

• Managing and processing invoices, royalty queries and clearing permissions

• Completing Advance Information sheets and inputting and managing metadata

• Ordering author/agent copies 

• Checking ebooks

• Managing reprints

• Representing the department at industry events, and communicating effectively via social networking and multi-media platforms

Skills required 

• Passionate about illustrated books for young readers, and non-fiction for children of all ages

• Extremely organised and efficient, able to juggle a varied workload 

• An ability to meet deadlines and a precise eye for detail

• Confident communication skills both internally and externally 

• Strong copywriting and proofreading skills 

• A creative and proactive approach

• Expertise in using the Microsoft suite would be an advantage

 Benefits

• Hybrid working model (3 days in the office)

• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays (option to buy and sell holiday days) 

• Enhanced pay for maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave 

• Private healthcare cover and life assurance 

• Summer Hours  

• Free access to HeadSpace, employee assistance programme (24 hour helpline), mental health first aiders, and a wellbeing portal 

• Season ticket loans (from day 1 for entry level) and cycle to work scheme 

• Relocation Rent Support Loan  

• Employee networks: HC All In (open forum), Elevate (for ethnic minority colleagues), HarperParents, Menopause at Work, Pride at HC, Social Mobility Network and Neurodiversity at Work

• Unlimited training on our Learning and Development portal, management courses (up to MA level) and mentoring programmes 

• Virtual GP and eyecare vouchers 

• Gym membership discount 

• Onsite physiotherapy (London only) 

• Charitable donation matching and 2 volunteering days 

• We're a certified Carbon Neutral company

• Green Electric/Hybrid Car Benefit Scheme (salary sacrifice)

• With Trees for Life we plant a tree in the Highlands of Scotland for every permanent hire

• Free e-books and audiobooks, digital newspaper subscriptions and discounts on books 

• Subsidised canteen and retail discounts 

• Onsite prayer room 

• 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 internships or entry level positions. For more information visit  https://www.btbs.org/

At HarperCollins, we value authenticity and integrity in our recruitment process. To ensure a fair and accurate evaluation of all applications, we ask that all responses to assessment questions reflect your own thoughts, experiences, and capabilities.  This allows us to fairly assess your knowledge, skills, and experience to determine how they align with the role. We value diverse perspectives and genuine contributions, even if answers are not perfect. The use of AI tools or external assistance to generate responses is discouraged unless explicitly permitted for specific tasks.

If you wish to discuss anything regarding this position and/or your application to this role, please reach out directly to stephanie.jemmett@harpercollins.co.uk with subject heading ‘Vacancy Query’ plus the job title and we will aim to get back to you within 5 working days.

Please note, if you are interested in the role you would need to submit your application via Applied. We do not accept email applications.