The Company

Usborne is an independent, family business, creating books which spark curiosity in children of all ages. These range from books for babies such as the bestselling That’s not my… series, to YA fiction from acclaimed authors such as Holly Bourne and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – with everything from Magic Painting to Politics for Beginners in between.

While Usborne is now a market-leader in children’s publishing and one of the best-known brands in children’s books, the company retains a friendly, family feel. If you want to work somewhere close-knit enough for people to know your name, but which has a first-class reputation around the world, Usborne is the place for you.

 The Department

You will be part of a team of editors in our Wolverhampton office. This department creates a wide variety of books including sticker books, puzzle books, activity books, sound books and nature spotter’s guides, as well as jigsaws.

The Role

We are looking for an aspiring editor/writer to join Usborne’s friendly and talented editorial/writing team, working on all stages of our award-winning illustrated information and activity books for children. You will be involved in working on and developing a range of our titles and series, and broadly the role includes:

•  Assisting other members of the editorial team with proof-reading and researching.

• Writing new books, or parts of books, as well as updating text in existing books. This is carried out under close supervision and with support from senior editors.

• Collaborating with other editors, designers and production staff on the creation of new books.

• Writing back cover blurb and providing the sales and marketing teams with information and copy to assist with the promotion of new books.

• Coming up with ideas for new titles and series that will be commercial in a diverse, international market, to appeal to children of all ages.

 Experience and Skills

This is an entry-level role within our team and we will provide full on-the-job training to the successful person. What we will be looking for from the successful candidate is:

• Excellent written skills and a sound grasp of grammar.

• The ability to write with flair on a wide range of subjects, from science and history to retellings of classic stories, and be able to put together clear instructions for activities, games and puzzles.

• Delight in making information irresistible to children, with a sense of what children of different ages understand and enjoy.

• The ability to think logically, creatively and visually, with a clear sense of how words and pictures can work together.

• Methodical research skills and a meticulous eye for detail.

• A degree or equivalent experience and skills.

 Location and Benefits

We offer a 35-hour working week from Wolverhampton office, where after a successful induction period we offer a hybrid working model of 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home which we feel optimises our opportunities for collaboration and contact with our colleagues.

This role is not able to be undertaken on a remote-only basis.

In addition to our transparent salary grading structure, for this role we also offer a range of benefits which include:

• 25 days paid holiday entitlement increasing with service to 30 days plus bank holidays;

• Industry-leading Pension Scheme and Life Assurance;

• Employee Assistance Programme through Health Assured and Mental Health First Aiders;

• Healthcare Cashback scheme;

• Virtual GP service;

• Enhanced Family Friendly benefits;

• Paid Volunteer Day;

• Rewards and Discount services and shopping;

• Cycle to Work Scheme;

• 50% discount on Usborne books.

We particularly encourage applications from Black and minority ethnic candidates who are currently under-represented within this area.

Unfortunately we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role and therefore applicants must have the right to live and work in the UK.

We anticipate first interviews will be held via MS Teams from w/c 2nd April 2024 with successful candidates being invited to complete a spec and subsequently a final stage in person at our offices in Wolverhampton later in April.