Press officer

Closing date for applications: Tuesday 3rd February 2026

Salary: £28,500 - £30,000, dependent on experience

Location: London

Department: PR

Reporting to: Head of Campaigns

Working hours: Full Time

Help tell the stories of children’s and young adult books through inventive publicity campaigns and meaningful audience connections.

Walker Books UK is part of the vibrant international Group that includes Candlewick Press, Holiday House and Peachtree in the USA and Walker Books Australia. Renowned for its truly original publishing and outstanding quality, the Walker Books Group is home to a wide range of children's and young adult books. Award-winning authors and illustrators for the group include Angie Thomas, Sydney Smith, M.T Anderson, Patrick Ness, and Jon Klassen. We are also enormously proud to publish beloved family brands including Lucy Cousin’s Maisy, Michael Rosen’s We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram’s Guess How Much I Love You and Martin Handford’s Where’s Wally?

This is an exciting opportunity to join our friendly PR team and work across the full Walker list. This role will be responsible for independently planning, implementing and driving effective publicity campaigns for Walker as directed by the Head of Publicity, while also working alongside the rest of the PR team, including a Publicity Manager, Senior Press Officer, and Publicity Assistant. This role will also have oversight and be the key contact for schools, libraries and literacy charity work.

What you'll be doing

Planning and implementing publicity campaigns for lead Walker titles across all media

• Developing creative and integrated campaigns for the launch of key titles across the list within an agreed budget
• Identifying opportunities to boost sales via PR activity for titles across the list, including potential backlist opportunities
• Arranging in person and online events for authors to promote their books, reach new audiences and increase sales
• Implementing publicity plans for Walker titles across national, regional, broadcast and online media

Liaising with authors, illustrators and agents, keeping them updated with PR plans, activity and coverage

• Responding to author, illustrator and agent requests, queries and other communication efficiently, responsibly and in a timely manner.
• Sharing press coverage with authors, illustrators and agents
• Sharing campaign plans, where necessary, with authors and illustrators

Co-ordinate and implement events and festivals for Walker to promote our books, authors and illustrators

• Pitching author and illustrator events and activity to bookshops, conferences and for tours as required
• Organising author tours to promote new titles for the public and in schools
• Organising travel and hotel bookings for authors and Walker staff
• Attending events where required (including some weekend and evenings)
• Identifying relevant online opportunities for events where these may have greater reach or if in person events are not possible
• Supporting with schedule building and admin of major festival appearances for authors and illustrators

To have a specific responsibility for developing schools, libraries and literacy charity relationships, including:

• Oversight of relationships with literacy charities and library organisations that support educational and community engagement with our publishing. Work to connect these organisations with PR specific work such as involving authors & illustrators in their campaigns and offering content from them, supporting media campaigns, event opportunities etc.
• Representing Walker at librarian conferences, coordinating with the sales team to organise event stands, pitch partnership opportunities and manage author and illustrator participation.
• Creating relevant materials to support PR work with schools such as discussion guides and resources.

Additional responsibilities

• Undertaking any additional duties as required to support the Sales, Marketing & PR department, working closely with team members to ensure cohesive campaign work
• Proactively developing opportunities for positive coverage of Walker titles
• Processing invoices that come into the publicity department in a timely fashion, keeping the budget document updated
• Liaising regularly with editorial, sales and marketing teams to co-ordinate all activity and gather advance information
• Ad hoc tasks as required

Please note the above is not an exhaustive list and does not necessarily include all the duties the job holder may have to perform. This job description may be amended to meet changing needs of the business.

Who we are looking for

To be successful in this role, you will be able to demonstrate evidence of the following skills and/or experience:

• Proven relevant experience in a publicity role, or in promoting books/arts/culture/literacy
• Highly organised, able to prioritise multiple requests and manage a varied workload
• Highly self-motivated and proactive
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Confident computer user, particularly Microsoft Office applications
• Knowledge and enthusiasm of children’s book publishing or media industry is not essential but would be advantageous

Why join Walker Books?

We offer:

• A supportive working environment where all voices are respected and creativity is not hierarchical
• Competitive Salaries
• Hybrid work (at least two days in the office per week) once you have successfully passed probation
• 22 days annual leave per year plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (with annual leave increasing with length of service up to 27 days)
• Enhanced Pension Scheme
• Health Insurance and Health Cash Plan
• Life Assurance
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay
• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Plus, other great benefits!

All children deserve to see themselves, their families, and their communities represented in the books they read. As children’s book publishers, it is our goal to ensure that the books and content we publish authentically and joyfully reflect the world around us. As an employer, we are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive working environment where everyone is included, valued, and empowered to do their best and most creative work. As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome candidates from all backgrounds without regard to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, sex, or any other characteristic protected by law and those not yet protected by law.

If you have any queries about this role or require any reasonable adjustments for your application or throughout the recruitment process, please let our team know by contacting us at recruitment@walker.co.uk.

Please note we reserve the right to close vacancies before the closing date where we have received sufficient applications. We recommend submitting your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.