Audio editorial assistant (12 month FTC)

Closing date: 2nd March 2025

Salary: £27,000 based in London; £24,840 based outside London (+bonus +benefits)

Location: This role can be based at our London or Edinburgh office, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Play a key role in producing award-winning audiobooks at Hachette UK.

Hachette UK is a creative powerhouse and the UK's second largest book publishing group. Our mission is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity.

We're made up of 11 autonomous publishing divisions and over 60 imprints with a rich and diverse history and an incredible range of authors. We're also the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest growing part of our business.

The audio team are responsible for managing the end-to-end audio publishing process for all divisions across Hachette UK. We work closely with all divisional publishing teams including Editorial, Production, Marketing, Publicity and Digital Sales, internal and external studios and producers, agents, authors and voice talent to create bestselling and award-winning audiobooks, and other audio projects.

The Audio Editorial Assistant is an essential part of the audio team. You will be working closely with colleagues across the team and the wider business, providing administrative support for audio production and publishing processes, helping to ensure cost-effective, timely and high-quality production and publication of new audiobooks, and enabling the company to fulfil its audio publishing programme to a very high standard. 

Responsibilities

You will support the whole audio team by undertaking administrative work associated with audio productions and publication. This will include, but is not limited to:

• Issuing weekly pre-order distribution instructions
• Processing incoming audio assets from production partners
• Liaising with internal systems and teams and external retailer parties to ensure timely and efficient distribution of audio assets to customers
• Assisting in the resolution of distribution failures and mothballs
• Assisting with paperwork associated with audiobook production and licensing
• Managing purchase orders and payments
• Assisting in the creation and processing of audiobook marketing assets and audio clips
• Promoting and communicating our audiobooks/productions both internally and externally (Newsletter, X, Soundcloud)
• Organising meetings and travel
• Assisting with author/agent care and paperwork
• Attending company meetings as required and feeding back to wider team
• Piracy checks
• Contributing to continuous review of working practices, and helping to implement new working procedures.

Additionally, the Audio Editorial Assistant will be responsible for managing the production of no less than 12 audiobook projects per annum.

Who we are looking for

The ideal candidate will be detail-oriented and proactive, with strong attention to detail and the ability to prioritise and multi-task. They will be:

• Computer literate
• Knowledgeable about, or have an aptitude for, relevant applications/systems
• Highly organised and deadline-driven
• Strong communicators (written and verbal)
• Understanding or interested in digital formats and workflows
• Able to work collaboratively as part of a team
• Customer and team focused
• Meticulous and detail-oriented
• Adaptable
• Passionate about audiobooks and audio storytelling

This is an entry-level role. The ideal candidate will have work or other experience demonstrating reliability, responsibility and receptiveness to learning new skills, not necessarily in publishing or audio-focused roles.

What we offer

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)
• 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
• 12 Staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing and religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

Our commitment

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.

If you are shortlisted and need us to make any adjustments to help you attend for interview, please let us know.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.

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