Editorial Assistant – Viking (Fiction)

Are you passionate about literary fiction? We have a rare opportunity for an enthusiastic, energetic and highly organised Editorial Assistant to join the fiction team at Viking, Penguin General.

About the team

Penguin General is one of the publishing divisions that make up Penguin Random House UK. At Viking, we publish a select range of bestselling, prize-winning novelists to reach the broadest possible audience. Our authors include: Caleb Azumah Nelson, Jonathan Coe, Nick Hornby, Ann Napolitano, Hisham Matar, Nadifa Mohamed, Elif Shafak, Elizabeth Strout, Yael van der Wouden, Alice Winn and Benjamin Wood.

The role

You will work as part of a collaborative and supportive team who are curious and open, and who are committed to providing our authors with excellent care. You will provide editorial and administrative support to the Executive Publisher, Isabel Wall, across her list of titles, and also support a commissioning editor with specific tasks.

Key responsibilities:

• General administration e.g. booking meeting rooms, arranging couriers, taking calls and minuting meetings, processing expenses, coding invoices, sending out proof mailings
• Diary management: organising meetings, making reservations, organising schedules for book fairs and overseas trips
• Managing the internal book process under supervision, from acquisition to publication, to ensure that deadlines are met
• Reading submissions and sharing verbal and written feedback
• Managing the input and accuracy of title metadata on our publishing systems
• Acting as a point of contact for authors and agents, including accompanying authors on bookshop tours or events on occasion.

What you’ll bring

• An avid reader of literary fiction
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Ability to work to, and meet, deadlines
• Ability to respond and adjust to fast-changing priorities, and be calm and reliable under pressure
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Curiosity and willingness to learn
• Effective communication skills, with the ability to build strong working relationships across the business and with authors and agents.

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 23:59 on Thursday 6th August 2026. As part of the covering letter, please tell us about a recently published book you’ve read and why it stood out to you (no more than 300 words).

Please ensure you include a cover letter, 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.

We anticipate a two-stage interview process which will include a virtual first-stage interview and in-person second stage interview.

For this role we expect the successful candidate to work from our London-based office a minimum of three days per week, including Wednesdays and Thursdays, and offer the remaining two days to be worked remotely.