Senior production controller (12 month FTC)

Closing date for applications: 31st July 2025

Salary: £34,500 - £38,500 dependent on experience and location (+bonus +benefits)

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

Bring your production experience to previous Publisher of the Year award winner and help shape high-quality publications.

Little, Brown's identity is personified by our innovative, dynamic and free-thinking people. Across our thirteen imprints, you won't find a wider range of titles anywhere in UK publishing. We pride ourselves on quality and diversity. A repeat recipient of the Publisher of the Year award, we're one of the most successful and dynamic publishers in the UK.

Little, Brown 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

• Manage the production of colour and mono titles across several imprints
• Ensure cost-effective, timely and quality production of new publications, special editions and reprints
• Monitor budgets and production schedules
• Represent production at meetings to monitor and share information on the progress of projects, to influence and agree cost-effective budgets, processes and schedule
• For colour titles and non-scaled projects, negotiate print prices in order to maximise profitability for the division
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with suppliers and ensure contractual obligations are fulfilled

Who we are looking for

• Proven significant experience at senior/production controller level
• Knowledge and experience in production of colour and mono titles
• Experience in production of special editions for the likes of Fairyloot, Illumicrate etc.
• Strong communication skills
• Excellent negotiating skills
• Ability to work independently
• Meticulous eye for detail
• Organisational skills including planning ahead and independently managing multiple complex projects
• Budget management
• Problem solver, able to identify potential problems and propose solutions for consideration
• Highly collaborative and excellent team player
• Calm under pressure

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

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.