Contracts and Business Affairs Assistant - 7-Month FTC

Contracts and Business Affairs Assistant – 7-Month FTC

Are you interested in a career on the business side of the publishing industry? Are you organised with great attention to detail? We’re looking for an Assistant to join our busy Contracts & Business Affairs team on a 7-month FTC basis.

The role: Our Contracts & Business Affairs Department is an integral part of the business and is responsible for the preparation and negotiation of all publishing agreements within the business. The team works across all our Penguin Random House books.

Diversity is important to us, and we aim to grow, maintain and promote a diverse team. We support team members playing an active part of Employee Networks and aim to create a sense of belonging and inclusion in our team and in the business.

As a Contracts & Business Affairs Assistant, you’ll be ensuring the publishing contracts are properly processed and the data is captured, and you will be supporting on some contract drafting.  

You absolutely don’t need to have worked in Publishing before. We’re looking for someone who is eager to learn and approaches their work positively and proactively.

Key responsibilities:

• Drafting, checking, and negotiating contracts and managing a wide range of contract requests

• Processing signed contracts, ensuring contracts are returned to author/agent and maintaining contracts and correspondence files

• Liaising with colleagues across Editorial and Royalties

• Ensuring databases and records are up to date

• Being involved with projects (for instance, researching terms agreed with a particular agency)

• Providing general ad hoc administrative support across the team as requested. 

What you’ll bring

Preferred criteria:

• Curiosity. A willingness to question and challenge.

• Excellent personal organisation and a keen eye for detail.

• Adaptability and a willingness to embrace change.

• Strong interpersonal sensitivity and communication skills.

• Confidence in your abilities and the initiative to take on new challenges.

• A collaborative spirit and the ability to work effectively as part of a team.

Disability Confident

If you have opted into our disability confident scheme, below is the essential criteria you must meet to be considered for our interview scheme. Please note, there may be occasions where the volume of applicants means we can’t take all eligible candidates to interview.

• Proven written ability showcased through your application

• Experience/ Knowledge of MS Office Excel/Word/ Outlook

• Demonstrable understanding of managing multiple stakeholders at varying seniorities

• Demonstrable communication skills

Application instructions

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on Wednesday 28th January.

• 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. Typically, we expect the cover letter to be no more than one or two pages in length.

• We anticipate a two-stage interview process which will include a virtual first-stage interview and in-person second stage interview. We are happy to discuss this further with you throughout the recruitment process.

Salary

£27,500 plus benefits.

What you can expect from us

Our people are the heart of our business, and we work hard to support a culture of responsibility and recognition.

Our benefits include:

• Financial – discounted shopping, season ticket loan, rental deposit loan

• Wellbeing – healthcare cash plan, employee assistance, gym loan

• Lifestyle – taste card, tech scheme, free and discounted books

For our full benefits list please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/what-we-offer/

Hybrid working

While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. For this role we expect a minimum of three days per week in the office, and two days working remotely.

About Penguin

We’re the UK’s largest publisher; made up of some 2,000 people and publishing over 1,500 books each year. Our doors are open to all kinds of talent. In a constantly evolving industry, we work hard to stretch the definition of the word publisher. Here, you’ll work with a breadth of talent who all play their part to make each of our books a success. Together, we make books for everyone because a book can change anyone.

The recruitment process

You can read about our recruitment process at https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/how-we-hire/

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘Disability Confident’ section. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot take all eligible candidates to interview.

We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable to for us to support your request.

Please note, we are not able to accept agency CVs for this role. Any CVs sent speculatively will not be eligible for a fee.

Company: The Random House Group Limited 

Country: United Kingdom 

State/Region: London 

City: London 

Postal Code: SW11 7BW 

Job ID: 276990