Octopus
Editorial
Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London, United Kingdom, EC4Y 0DZ
£28,250 (+bonus +benefits)
Full Time Permanent
Octopus
Sunday, 16th August 2026
We are looking for a highly organised, well-read and passionate editorial assistant to join the Brazen team. Brazen launched in 2021 as the bold literary arm of Octopus Publishing Group, publishing boundary-pushing literary fiction and select narrative non-fiction. Our authors include Fern Brady, Monika Kim, Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka SELF ESTEEM), Meena Kandasamy and many more, and we have had a string of Sunday Times bestsellers and prize listings since our inception. We are looking for an analytical, erudite assistant to help support and contribute to the business at an exciting time in our growth.
Core Duties:
- Efficiently managing all admin for the team and supporting the smooth running of the imprint, reporting to the Brazen Publisher
- Ensuring the team are adhering to the publishing critical path by conducting a team weekly progress meeting and attending key progress meetings in the company on behalf of the team
- Communicating with internal and external stakeholders professionally, maintaining good relationships as appropriate
- Being an advocate and ambassador for Brazen titles in communications with internal and external stakeholders
- Proofreading covers and sales copy with accuracy, as well as writing high-quality sales copy
- Suggesting and submitting books for awards in a timely manner
- Preparing materials for international presentations
- Minuting key weekly meetings
- Informing authors of sales figures and promotional deals as required
- Managing corrections and prelims for paperbacks and reprints
- E-book file checks for all titles
- Ordering contractual copies and coordinating author publication gifts
- Setting up new titles on Biblio and maintaining and managing correct information on Biblio, including metadata
- Writing title information (TI) copy and sales points
- Admin including processing invoices, meeting room bookings and diary management
- Researching for Acquisitions meetings, including comp titles and sourcing sales figures through Bookscan
- Drafting lists for potential endorsers and mailing review copies (proofs)
- Reading and feeding back on manuscript submissions
Key Performance Indicators:
- Proactively demonstrating competence in managing administrative duties independently
- Proactively fostering and developing both internal and external relationships
- Delivering high-quality editorial support
- Delivering excellent, analytical reader reports on submissions
The right candidate will demonstrate:
- A high standard of organisation
- Strong multitasking skills
- Adaptability and proactivity
- Excellent attention to detail
- A team-player attitude
- Excelling copywriting
Please note that this is an admin role. We are looking for a candidate who will be willing to prioritise this aspect of the position.
Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:
- 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
- Private medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Generous pension schemes
- Rent deposit loans
- 2 community days per year
- Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
- Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Eye care vouchers
- Wide-ranging training library
- Development programmes (including mentoring)
- Up to 70% off book purchases
- A charity bookshelf
- An active range of staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including AgeWise, Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing, Women in Tech and religious networks
- Season ticket loans
- And much more!
The role will be based at our London office, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.
Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.
We want everyone to have the opportunity to perform at their best during our recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, you can let us know at the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application. We’ll make sure you’re supported throughout the process.
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 junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org
