Publishing Director

Who we are and what we do

At Orion, we believe every story matters. Open, agile, passionate and innovative, our mission is to bring the best publishing to the greatest variety of people. Ambitious to continually raise the bar, we believe good stories can come from anywhere and so encourage and value contributions from everybody here.

Gollancz is the oldest specialist Science Fiction and Fantasy publisher in the UK. Founded in 1927, this imprint of the Orion Publishing Group is home to a galaxy of award-winning and bestselling authors. This is a chance to work with bestselling global superstars as well as some of the most innovative and original new voices writing today.

Orion is a division of Hachette, one of the largest publishing groups in the UK, with 12 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

A rare opportunity has arisen for an experienced publisher to join the award-winning Orion editorial team. You will be responsible for publishing some of our New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling authors. Reporting directly to the Deputy MD, the successful candidate will lead the strategy and publishing for the Gollancz imprint, one of the most prestigious lists in the world, which will soon celebrate its centenary. You will enhance and refine the existing strategy and drive growth across the frontlist and backlist in home and export, and across all formats. The Publishing Director will be responsible for the Gollancz P&L and will be a senior leader in the business.

Activities will include but are not limited to:

• Act as the senior internal and external ambassador for Gollancz at books fairs, with agents, rights personnel, sales and authors
• Responsible for overseeing and delivering the annual Gollancz budget
• Responsible for overseeing and delivering 3-year strategic growth plans
• Responsible for managing existing team members, recruitment and staff retention
• Responsible for delivering innovation, staying ahead of the market, and the competition
• Responsible for backlist, executing reinventions and reissues to enhance readership
• Responsible for best in industry author care
• Responsible for driving Hachette’s overall group mission: better understanding consumers, changing the story, promoting an owner mentality and promoting a growth mindset

Who we are looking for

You will be an experienced Publisher with a network of industry contacts and a respected leader. This is an opportunity for someone to lead one of the best biggest and most successful lists across the industry, to manage the P&L and lead a team so we are looking for someone who is highly driven and with a proven track record of commercial success. Knowledge of and experience with genre publishing is preferred but not essential – we are looking for a visionary publisher who can deliver exceptional publishing for our authors.

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
• 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!

The role will be based at our London office, Carmelite House, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Our commitment

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.

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