Closing date: 7th November 2024
Salary: £37,750 to £50,000 per annum dependent on experience (+bonus +benefits)
Are you a successful, ambitious, and experienced non-fiction commissioner? Are you looking for a new challenge in a dynamic and commercial team and the opportunity to run your very own list?
Headline Welbeck Non-Fiction is seeking a senior commissioning editor/editorial director to lead its future and acquire across a wide range of subject areas.
Headline was founded in 1986 with a single promise at its heart: to publish the books people want to read. Sometimes, the simplest ideas are best. Headline has spent over three decades creating bestsellers and our passion for the commercial means we are home to some of the UK's biggest-selling authors and continue to invest in new talent with stellar sales potential. The non-fiction team publishers a host of bestselling authors including Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Perry, Carol Vorderman, Paul Merson, Warren Gatland, Theresa May, Pamela Anderson, James Acaster, Neil Ruddock, Bryony Gordon, Bolu Babalola, Flea of the RHCP and Ben Stokes. We are a close-knit, ambitious team with a reputation for outstanding author care and a mission to make our list as profitable as possible.
A part of the Headline Non-Fiction team, you will be responsible for the Headline Welbeck Non-Fiction imprint and will have the freedom to commission across a broad range of genres. You might want to spend your first 100 days hunting down the next personal development podcast star; or perhaps you'll be signing up an exciting commercial historian; or it could be that you'll have a brilliant new IP idea and need to find the perfect author to write it. This is a unique opportunity for the successful candidate to reframe the identity of - and future strategy for - the imprint, including renaming and rebranding it for a dynamic new future.
We are looking for a creative self-starter who can make a tangible impact to our non-fiction publishing, adding breadth and depth to the team. The job title will be shaped around the right person, and the role will be reporting into Headline Non-Fiction's deputy publishing director.
Who we are looking for
- An ideas-focused commissioner with a focus on true crime, popular history, business, sport, personal development, memoir, gift, humour and pop culture to take charge of the Headline Welbeck Non-Fiction list.
- You will be motivated by success, have a reputation for driving their books on the bestseller lists, and have an impeccable network of contacts, and can develop and execute IP ideas of your own, as well as attracting the very best agent submissions.
- IP development is a core priority for Headline and we are excited to hear your ideas and help you find the right authors to deliver them.
How to apply
Within your Cover Letter, could you please give details of one specific book you would like to commission. It could be a sports memoir, a smart-thinking podcast, gift, humour or trivia idea, influencer approach, or popular history.
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
Please state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.