Editorial assistant

Closing date: 9th April 2025

Salary: £27,000 +bonus +benefits

Location: The role will be based at our London office, Carmelite House, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Can you take initiative and keep a team running smoothly? Are you passionate about great literature, great ideas and world events?

Orion is looking for an enthusiastic and meticulous Editorial Assistant to support its award-winning publishing at W&N.

At Orion, we believe every story matters. Open, agile, passionate and innovative, our mission is to bring the best publishing to the greatest variety of people. Ambitious to continually raise the bar, we believe good stories can come from anywhere and so encourage and value contributions from everybody here.

Orion is a division of Hachette, one of the largest publishing groups in the UK, with 11 publishing divisions and over 60 imprints. Everyone here is proud to be in the business of opening doors and minds.

What you'll be doing

Reporting to the Publishing Director and additionally supporting two other editors working across fiction and non-fiction, you will be responsible for a wide range of areas, including:

• General office administration
• Running our internal systems
• Organising meetings
• Keeping minutes
• Overseeing our publishing timelines
• Updating Biblio
• Processing invoices
• Submitting book for prizes
• Organising book proof mailouts and generally assisting the editorial team.

Specific duties will include:

• Proofreading covers
• Writing sales copy
• Reading and commenting on the large number of books and proposals submitted to the editors you assist quickly and efficiently
• Preparing paperback editions for production
• Dealing with author and agent queries and making corrections for reprints.

While the role sits within W&N, you will work across the business with colleagues from the wider Orion Literary team and neighbouring imprints, as well as managing editorial, design, production, sales, marketing, publicity and beyond.

Who we are looking for

Previous office experience is essential, and some publishing experience would be a strong advantage. Knowledge of a language other than English is very welcome but not essential. The ideal candidate will be:

• Highly organised with a meticulous eye for detail
• Able to multitask and prioritise effectively
• Confident with excellent written and verbal communication skills
• A competent administrator with knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
• Motivated, flexible and cheerful
• Passionate about both serious non-fiction and literary fiction
• Well informed and curious about the world

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)
• Private medical 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
• 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.

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

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