Assistant Editor

Do you have a keen eye for children’s trends and engaging content? Are you a creative person with a high attention to detail? You could be our next Assistant Editor for words & pictures, an imprint of Quarto Kids, working in our office in London Southbank. Quarto creates inspiring books for adults and children published across the globe.

As an integral part of the words & pictures creative team, the Assistant Editor will help liaise with authors, illustrators, and other departments to produce high quality children’s books on time and to budget.

Contract: Permanent
Working hours: 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday. We currently operate a discretionary hybrid model, with three days in our London office and two working from home.

About the role: An exciting opportunity for a driven Assistant Editor to join the creative team behind words & pictures and make their mark in this newly relaunched imprint as we enter a period of significant growth. We publish a dynamic list of children’s illustrated non-fiction reference, picture books and profile-led titles. Reporting to the Associate Publisher, you will work closely with a small and collaborative team.

What you will be involved in:

• Developing and maintaining strong working relationships with authors, editors and designers throughout the publishing process
• Project managing five to ten frontlist titles a year
• Co-ordinating out-of-house editorial processes such as fact checking, proofreading, sensitivity reads, Americanization and indexing as necessary
• Managing the metadata and admin for the list
• Managing the reprints list
• Maintaining and managing the imprint’s social media platforms
• Contributing to new idea generation – staying on top of current trends in the children’s entertainment space through independent research, store visits and consumer research

About you: You’ll be an aspiring, highly creative, and organised person with strong editorial skills, an eye for design and a keen interest in children’s trends. You will be able to show you can:

• Maintain excellent editorial standards across the imprint, working with the in-house style guide
• Work with Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe Acrobat and InDesign
• Communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing
• Work collaboratively with colleagues
• Meet deadlines and prioritise tasks
• Work well without supervision
• Use your passion for children’s content and trends to bring new ideas to the table

What we can offer: A supportive, open environment with development opportunities, as well as the following benefits:

• 25 days paid holiday per year (increasing up to 30 days per year), plus bank holidays
• Cultural appreciation day (to honour a cultural holiday which is significant to you, separate to your holiday entitlement)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Staff discounts on selected shops, retailers, and restaurants
• Health Cash Plan
• Pension
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Summer hours
• Active social and diversity committees
• Open plan, hot-desking office environment

How to apply: Please send a CV and cover letter to talent@quarto.com by the closing date and state the vacancy name in the email subject title. Ensure you cover the following:

• Your motivation and what appeals to you about this particular role
• What key skills, experience and achievements you have that you think are relevant to this role, and why. Please provide examples of how you have used or demonstrated those.
• Where you saw the vacancy advertised

All applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK in order to be considered for the vacancy. We employ individuals based on their abilities and welcome applicants from all backgrounds regardless of disability, ethnic origin, gender, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, belief, age, or sexual orientation. As a Disability Confident Committed employer, we aim to ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible for disabled people. Therefore, we encourage you to inform us of any reasonable adjustments you may require during your interview process. Please note, you only need to disclose information that you are comfortable sharing in order for us to accommodate your request. Please note that due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are only able to respond to candidates selected for interview.