Editorial Assistant – Children’s (Licensing and Education)
Are you a highly organised, detail-oriented and creative individual ready to support two friendly and dynamic teams? Do you have excellent communication skills and the ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment? Are you interested in what children are into and how to get them into reading?
We’re looking for a dedicated and proactive Editorial Assistant who is good at juggling a varied and often very busy workload to deadlines, and being flexible, resilient and resourceful, to join our teams at Penguin Random House Children’s.
About the teams
Our Licensing team creates readers by bringing children to books through the brands and characters they already love. We build on and deepen those connections, expanding the brands through our books. We use our consumer expertise to connect with fans who will grow up with us. We’re the home for their first friendships, first loves and the brands they will be fans of for life. We make books for children and inner children, at every age, in every genre. We create the best possible books with the best possible licenses.
Our Education team publishes books for children learning to read, and learning English as a foreign language. We work with the biggest authors and brands across Penguin to make sure our educational content is inspiring and fun!
The role
Key responsibilities:
- Provide efficient and organised administrative support to two editorial teams, Licensing and Education
- Book meeting rooms, prepare agendas and take accurate minutes for editorial meetings
- Manage diaries, meeting arrangements and room bookings
- Send contractual copies to authors, illustrators, agents and licensors
- Assist with reprints and help maintain up-to-date publishing schedules
- Maintain accurate departmental systems and data, including updating schedules on online platforms and managing information within Biblio
- Manage content uploads to our Education websites (Ladybird Education and Penguin Readers)
- Act as a key point of contact for internal stakeholders across Design, Production, Rights, Sales, Marketing and PR
- Communicate clearly and professionally with authors, illustrators and licensors
- Contribute to team meetings and creative discussions
- Support pitches for new projects and assist with drafting copy for sales and marketing materials
Develop editorial skills through hands-on involvement at all stages of the publishing process
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What you’ll bring
Essential criteria:
- Strong admin skills
- Highly organised, with excellent time-management skills and the ability to manage multiple tasks and competing priorities
- Strong attention to detail and a methodical, accurate approach to work
- Proactive and enthusiastic, with the confidence to take initiative and a positive, can-do attitude
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships
- Comfortable working collaboratively as part of a team, as well as independently
- Able to adapt quickly in a busy and varied role
- A genuine passion for licensed brands and/or educational publishing
Eagerness to learn, contribute ideas and develop editorial skills
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Disability Confident
If you have opted into our disability confident scheme, the above are the essential criteria you must meet to be considered for our interview scheme. Please note, there may be occasions where the volume of applicants means we can’t take all eligible candidates to interview.
Application instructions
Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on 11 th June 2026. As part of your cover letter, please provide an answer, in no more than 200 words, to the following question:
What is your favourite children’s media brand and why?
- Please ensure you include a cover letter, as it is a crucial part of our assessment process. The cover letter offers an opportunity to show how your experience and interests align with the role requirements. Typically, we expect the cover letter to be no more than one or two pages in length.
- Please note we are looking for someone to join the team as soon as possible, but we are also happy to accommodate a reasonable notice period for the right candidate.
We anticipate a three-stage interview process which will include a virtual first-stage interview and in-person second stage interview. We are happy to discuss this further with you throughout the recruitment process.
Here at Penguin, we believe in the power of authenticity and human creativity. When you apply for a position, we want to encourage you to showcase your unique voice. Throughout our recruitment process, please share your own thoughts, experiences, and skills. This helps us get a true sense of who you are and what you might bring to our team.
We celebrate creativity and diverse perspectives, so please be yourself! While we recognise AI tools can be helpful, we recommend using them thoughtfully to ensure your responses reflect you.
Salary
£29,000 plus benefits.
Hybrid working
While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. For this role we expect the successful candidate to work from our London based office a minimum of three days per week (including Wednesdays) and offer the remaining two days to be worked remotely.
