Job Description

We’re looking for an enthusiastic and highly organised Editor / Senior Editor with a passion for craft and creativity to join our illustrated publishing team at Quadrille.

Quadrille has an internationally respected craft list, publishing beautiful, authoritative and inspiring books in partnership with some of the most exciting names in the craft world. Our authors and brand partners include The Great British Sewing Bee, Peter Rabbit, Merchant & Mills, Malabrigo, Tilly Walnes and Alexandra Brinck, among many others. Our publishing spans a broad range of craft subjects, from sewing, knitting and crochet to art and beyond, combining strong practical content with distinctive design and exceptional production values.

The role

Working closely with the Editorial Director of our craft list, you’ll help to bring beautiful and commercially successful books to life. You’ll be someone who loves the world of craft and making, has their finger on the pulse of emerging trends and creative communities, and is excited by the opportunity to work with talented authors, brands, makers, designers, photographers and illustrators.

Alongside a strong creative eye, you’ll be a confident and skilled project editor with experience of working on practical craft titles, and able to manage complex illustrated books from acquisition through to publication. You’ll understand the particular editorial demands of instructional publishing – from ensuring projects, patterns and step-by-step techniques are clear and accurate to bringing together text, photography, illustration and design in an accessible and beautiful way.

You’ll combine excellent editorial judgement with meticulous organisation, confidently balancing schedules, budgets and multiple creative stakeholders while ensuring every book is produced to the highest standards. You’ll be comfortable working regularly in InDesign and confident navigating complex illustrated layouts.

Key responsibilities:

• Managing a range of practical craft and illustrated titles from acquisition through to publication, ensuring projects are delivered on time, on budget and to a high creative standard.
• Project editing practical and instructional craft content, ensuring projects, patterns, techniques and step-by-step instructions are clear, accurate and accessible.
• Building strong relationships with authors and brands, providing excellent author care and acting as a supportive point of contact throughout the publishing process.
• Commissioning, briefing and managing freelance editors and creative contributors, including designers, photographers, illustrators and stylists.
• Planning and running photoshoots, working closely with creative teams to ensure photography and styling meet the needs of the book.
• Liaising with Production, Design, typesetters and other suppliers to take books from manuscript and layouts through to finished product.
• Working regularly in Adobe InDesign to review, edit and develop illustrated pages and layouts.
• Writing compelling commercial copy, including jacket copy, subtitles and creating and maintaining accurate metadata and Advanced Title Information throughout the publishing process.
• Championing titles internally and collaborating with Marketing, Publicity, Sales and Rights to help each book to reach its audience in the UK and internationally.

What you’ll bring

Essential criteria:

• Strong editorial or project-editing experience, including hands-on experience working on practical craft titles from manuscript through to publication.
• A genuine passion for craft, with strong knowledge of the market and wider craft community, including makers, brands and social-media communities, and a keen eye for emerging trends, talent and opportunities.
• Confidence using Adobe InDesign as part of the editorial process.
• Excellent organisational and project-management skills, with the ability to manage schedules, budgets, competing priorities and deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Creative initiative and confidence, with the ability to contribute ideas while working collaboratively towards an established publishing vision.

Preferred criteria:

• Experience across a range of craft categories, such as sewing, knitting, crochet and art.
• Familiarity with Biblio.

Application instructions

Please apply with your CV and cover letter (both in pdf format) outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on Monday 31st of August. The cover letter should be uploaded as an additional document.

• Please ensure you include a cover letter (in pdf format), as it is a crucial part of our assessment process. The cover letter offers an opportunity to show how your experience and interests align with the role requirements. Typically, we expect the cover letter to be no more than one or two pages in length.
• Please note we are looking for someone to join the team as soon as possible, but we are also happy to accommodate a reasonable notice period for the right candidate.
• We anticipate an three-stage interview process which will include a virtual/in-person first-stage interview and in-person second stage interview. We are happy to discuss this further with you throughout the recruitment process.

Salary

Circa £33,000 to £43,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.

Use of AI tools

Here at Penguin, we believe in the power of authenticity and human creativity. When you apply for a position, we want to encourage you to showcase your unique voice. Throughout our recruitment process, please share your own thoughts, experiences, and skills. This helps us get a true sense of who you are and what you might bring to our team.

We celebrate creativity and diverse perspectives, so please be yourself! While we recognise AI tools can be helpful, we recommend using them thoughtfully to ensure your responses reflect you.

Disability Confident

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘What you’ll bring’ section. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot take all eligible candidates to interview.

We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable with, for us to support your request.

Hybrid working

While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. For this role we expect that you will be in our London – embassy gardens office twice a week with our core days being Tuesday and Wednesday.

Additional Information

Disclosure requirements pertaining to the collection of your personal data:

Responsible for processing the information provided in your application is the company specified in the job advertisement, with its registered office as indicated. The company processes your data for the purpose of establishing an employment relationship on the basis of Art. 6 (1) b GDPR / Section 26 (1) sentence 1 BDSG.

The retention period for your data is determined by the statutory time limits applicable in the respective country, beginning upon completion of the recruitment process. You can find these here

You can contact the company’s Data Protection Officer at the above-mentioned postal address.

Further information on data protection and your rights can be found here

Recruiting-Platform powered by SmartRecruiters