Books editor

The Sunday Times is seeking a books editor.

The successful candidate will be an experienced editor with excellent literary contacts. They will commission, write and edit engaging book reviews across a wide range of subjects as well as conceive and deliver original feature ideas. They will work to attract new digital audiences while retaining the loyalty of our existing readers by thinking innovatively about how we cover books across all our digital platforms.

This is a rare opportunity for an organised and creative journalist with a keen interest in literature and the ability to display breadth of reading across many disciplines.

Apply with a covering letter and your CV by July 17.

Responsibilities

• Successfully manage productive relationships with the editor, the culture editor and journalists across the newsroom

• Work with production colleagues in design, pictures and sub-editing to produce Books content as efficiently as possible, meeting deadlines

• Conceive and deliver exclusive stories that appeal to Sunday Times readers

• Work with journalists and writers to commission distinctive and engaging content

• Commission and edit digital packages that increase engagement and support subscriber growth

• Write and edit book reviews across a range of subjects

• Pitch stories for the Culture section and write on literary matters elsewhere in print and digital when required

• Act as an information point for the paper as a whole about new books and new trends

•  Manage relationships with marketing and commercial

• Attend news conference as required and present to the editor

• Manage the budget for the department

• Manage the books department, develop talent and support progression of staff 

• Maintain and develop our relationships with outside organisations - literary festivals and others - that support and promote the Sunday Times Books brand

• Maintain and develop prizes and promotions, including the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award

Skills and experience

• Experience working as a senior editor on a national newspaper or magazine

• Ability to display breadth of reading across many disciplines

• An ability to work under pressure, to tight deadlines and with rigorous accuracy·  

• Able to commission content for multi-platform digital products

• Able to use social media platforms to engage current and new audiences for The Sunday Times

• Persuasive presentation skills, well-developed interpersonal skills, with the ability to problem-solve and negotiate positive outcomes

• Able to communicate succinctly and effectively

• A strong understanding of editorial compliance and regulatory issues

Life at News: At News UK we believe our people are our heartbeat - they are the driving force behind our brands and we want the ways we work to enable people to thrive.  Some of us work flexibly, in many different ways. We encourage you to talk to us about the flexibility you would like. We can’t promise to offer exactly what you want, but do provide multiple flexible working options.  Many of us work in a hybrid way between one of the News UK & Ireland offices and remotely.  

We champion diversity and inclusion, we strive to maximise and encourage every individual’s potential and ensure everyone feels valued. We support this through our Diversity Board, D&I  strategy & training, creating more diverse content and our intern and apprenticeship programmes.  We also have 8 employee-led networks; Cultural Diversity, News is Out, GenZ, Sustainability Champions, News for Parents, Women in Tech, News UK Christian Fellowship and we are awaiting the launch of our Women’s Steering Group. 

We take pride in looking after our amazing talent at News UK supporting the Health and Wellbeing of our staff. We offer private medical insurance covering pre-existing conditions, discounted gym memberships, ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual HIIT, yoga and run club classes, and a ‘Bikes for Work’ scheme, as well as offering opportunities for physio/massage, counselling and legal support. 

In addition we also offer:

• A generous pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5%;

• 30 days holiday and up to 4 volunteering days per year;

• Maternity  leave up to 18 weeks full basic salary & paternity leave up to 2 weeks;

• Wide range of training available, plus full LinkedIn Learning access.

We want to ensure that everyone we meet has the opportunity to perform to their best when interviewing, so feel free to let us know, at any stage, whether you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, and we will do our best to accommodate.  

News UK is an official partner of the Journalism Diversity Fund, founder of the Journalism and Disability Forum, and proud member of the Valuable 500. At News UK, we will continue to promote an inclusive and diverse workplace, to help people with visible and non visible disabilities create careers in media and aim to make our content accessible to all.