Senior Desk Editor

Your team:
Picador has a rare opportunity for an exceptionally organized and detail-oriented Senior Desk Editor to join the Managing Editorial team. We’re looking for someone who’s passionate about working across fiction and non-fiction, commercial and literary titles, including classics. This is an important and varied role for an experienced candidate with a solid understanding of the editorial process and a passion for supporting authors and pre-press teams to create books of the highest quality.
Your role:
You will be working with the Managing Editorial team to bring our Picador and Macmillan Collector’s Library publishing programme to life, ensuring pesky typos and misplaced commas are ironed out, and driving progress of the critical path. The role includes managing your own frontlist titles through all aspects of the desk-editing and production process, as well as overseeing second formats, reissues and ebooks. It’ll suit someone with solid experience of complex project management who can work flexibly and thrive in a fast-paced environment.
A typical morning might see you responding to emails from commissioning editors and authors before moving on to artwork checks. You might work through a copy-edit collation, resolving queries with an author and preparing the file for the typesetter. In the afternoon you’re responsible for running a Collector’s Library progress meeting to discuss schedules with Editorial and Production, and follow it up with some schedule maintenance in Biblio to ensure critical path dates are achieved. Following the meeting you now know when to book a proofreader for one of your titles so you’ll be in touch with our brilliant freelancers. You might then check an ebook file ahead of distribution, check captions and maps in a non-fiction title, or be called on to proofread a pitch document for an exciting new acquisition.
Essential experience and knowledge you’ll need to succeed:

• A confident communicator with the ability to build strong relationships with teams across the business

• Substantial editorial experience in a similar project management role

• An impeccable eye for detail and an excellent understanding of the English language (grammar, punctuation and semantics, and the application of style guides)

• Excellent copy-editing and proofreading skills

• A strong track record of managing the coordination of text through the copy-editing and proofreading process, and the ability to draw up, manage and re-negotiate schedules in line with critical path

• Experience of working on complex non-fiction titles with indexes, references, maps and illustrations

• Self-motivated and highly flexible – happy to move between projects as priorities dictate and manage multiple projects effectively

• An excellent problem-solver

• A strong understanding of Microsoft Word (track changes) and Adobe (for digital mark-up).

Desirable skills we’d love you to have:

• Experience of suggesting and delivering improvements to workflow and processes

• Experience of training and mentoring, and the ability to motivate others

• A broad knowledge of, and interest in, literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry and classics, and a love of reading

• Familiarity with Google for Work (Gmail/Google applications)

• Experience of working with Biblio would be an advantage.

What you’ll get in return:
In return we can offer you a range of great projects, a supportive and collaborative working environment, and a competitive salary and benefits package.
This is a full time, permanent role, and will be based in our offices in Farringdon, London, with some flexibility to work from home each week.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK in order to be considered for this role.

Salary Starting From: £35,000

Closing Date: 25 March 2024

Some of the benefits we offer:

• 25 days annual leave increasing with years of service + bank holidays
• Generous pension scheme
• Discounted private medical insurance
• Group income protection scheme
• Enhanced family pay and leave
• Flexible working hours and summer hours (early finish on a Friday during summer months)
• 2 volunteer days per year
• 75% off all Macmillan books and regular staff book sales (highly reduced rates)
• Season ticket loan/advance
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts on shopping, Tastecard+ and gym memberships; Christmas club savings
• Daily free breakfast and monthly company lunch

At Pan Macmillan, we are highly committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion at every level of our organisation. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. Our efforts to promote DE&I is ongoing, and we continually strive to learn and improve our policies and practices. You can read our full Diversity & Inclusion Pledge is available here https://www.panmacmillan.com/about/diversity-and-inclusion
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