Publicity director

Closing date for applications: 13 November 2025

Salary: £55,000+ dependent on experience and location (+bonus +benefits)

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

Lead a dynamic publicity team to deliver innovative campaigns that champion both established and emerging authors and books.

Octopus publish books for everyone. We love to enlighten, nourish, entertain and inspire readers and listeners everywhere. Across the three strands of our publishing - Octopus Colour, Octopus Wellbeing, and Octopus Voices - we publish a wide range of books from award-winning cookbooks and wellness titles to ground-breaking thought leadership and beautiful illustrated editions across interiors, gardening, fashion, music and lifestyle, as well as as a select list of fiction. Octopus is a dynamic, supportive and creative environment where ideas flourish and collaboration is key. Octopus is a division of Hachette, one of the largest publishing groups in the UK, with 10 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

As publicity director at Octopus you will lead, inspire and develop a high-performing publicity team, managing a team of four publicists. You'll both oversee and execute strategic, creative publicity campaigns that drive awareness and sales. You will take the lead on some of Octopus' key authors and brands, working closely with the communications & brand director to ensure continued coverage that translates to growth in sales. The person in this role will be able to manage budgets effectively, ensuring impressive return on investment and encouraging a strong financial understanding within the team.

You will be both highly organised and someone who consistently drives innovation, spotting new trends and opportunities to engage the media and ultimately reach readers in fresh, engaging ways. You will already have outstanding relationships within the media, and will continue to build and nurture these as well as with authors, agents, and colleagues across Hachette UK and internationally. The publicity director will play an important role in key meetings and collaborate across the business, particularly with marketing, sales, and editorial.


Who we are looking for

We are seeking a publicity director that wants to create and oversee campaigns that truly make a mark, representing both firmly established and up-and-coming voices and brands in publishing.

We're looking for someone with a proven track record in leading impactful publicity campaigns in publishing (or a related creative industry), with experience managing and motivating teams to deliver outstanding results. Our ideal candidate will have strong media contacts and excellent relationships with event producers, booksellers and festival organisers, and the ability to open new doors. The role is perfect for a strategic thinker with commercial awareness and creative flair, with proven communication, negotiation and organisational skills, and who is confident managing budgets and prioritising and allocating resources effectively.


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

Our commitment

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

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.