The Company

Usborne is an independent, family business, creating books which spark curiosity in children of all ages. These range from books for babies such as the bestselling That’s not my… series of touchy-feely books, to YA fiction from acclaimed authors such as Holly Bourne and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – with everything from Magic Painting to Politics for Beginners in between. In the last five years Usborne fiction titles have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Costa Book Award, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the National Book Awards, the Books Are My Bag Readers Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Diverse Book Award.

Whilst the company is now a market-leader in children’s publishing and one of the best-known brands in children’s books, the company retains a friendly and familial feel. If you want to work somewhere close-knit enough for people to know your name, which has a first-class reputation around the world, Usborne is the place for you.

The Role

We are looking for a motivated, highly organised and proactive individual with excellent administrative and communication skills to join our busy Foreign Rights Department for a fixed term of 9 months.

Usborne’s Foreign Rights team negotiates and sells translation licences and co-editions, essentially printing multiple language versions of our books. We sell to, and negotiate with, international customers right across the world, as well as being responsible for the sale of audio, educational and film & tv rights, and dealing with permission requests.

See here for more information on working in our Rights team

This exciting opportunity will involve supporting the Foreign Rights team in managing a wide range of administrative and operational activities including:

• Departmental support in managing the sales material process and organising the delivery of the departmental PPT for the front list publishing programme.
• Drafting letters, acknowledging orders, contracts and schedules.
• Preparation of sales invoices and managing of payments.
• Assisting in the arrangements for Book Fairs, including scheduling of appointments and gathering presentation materials.
• Ensuring printing schedules are maintained with our Production department.
• Managing distribution of incoming proofs and advance copies.
• Dealing with all permission enquiries.

The successful candidate will:

• Have excellent communications skills and be able to confidently communicate verbally and in writing.
• Be able to work with a wide range of individuals including our foreign publishers, customers and internal staff.
• Be diligent with excellent attention to detail and be comfortable undertaking detailed work where accuracy is essential.
• Have a good working knowledge of Office 365 software.
• Whilst we are not specifically seeking any prior knowledge or experience of Foreign Rights or publishing, a passion for children’s books is a must.
• Foreign language skills would be an advantage but are not essential.

Location and Benefits

We offer a 35-hour working week from our Farringdon office in London, where after a successful induction period we offer a hybrid working model of 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home.

In addition to our transparent salary grading structure, for this role we also offer a range of benefits including:

• 25 days paid holiday entitlement plus bank holidays
• Healthcare Scheme for you and your dependents
• Comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
• Free fruit in the office
• 50% Discount on Company Books
• Industry leading Pension Scheme and Life Assurance