Closing date: 18 November 2024
Salary: £27,000 based in London, £24,840 based in Sheffield (+bonus +benefits)
Octopus Publishing Group is looking for the right candidate to fill the role of Production Assistant in its friendly and industrious production department.
Octopus publish books for everyone. We love to enlighten, nourish, entertain and most of all inspire readers and listeners everywhere.
Octopus is a division of Hachette, one of the largest publishing groups in the UK, with 12 publishing divisions and over 60 imprints. Everyone here is proud to be in the business of opening doors and minds.
Octopus Publishing Group's production department organize the manufacturing of our publishing programme within a framework of operational best practice, creativity, time, and budgetary constraints. We supply the expertise to allow the publishing teams to realise the creative and commercial possibilities of our publications.
What you'll be doing
If you bring an eye for detail, communication skills and a willingness to learn, we'll give you the tools to:
- Work on reprints and ebooks across the Octopus imprints, with the potential to progress to the production of new titles.
- Administer the Hachette Group IT systems, including Biblio, SAP and B3 DAM.
- Communicate and report progress in regular scheduling meetings.
- Liaise with internal colleagues and external suppliers.
- Quality control our product to the highest standards.
- Contribute to the improvement of working practices.
Who we are looking for
As this role is entry level, no previous experience of the production process is required, although demonstrable experience of the following would be to your advantage:
- Computer literacy.
- Personal organisation.
- Numeracy.
- Communication skills- verbal and written.
- Problem solving.
- Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
- Adaptability.
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!
This role can be based at our London or Sheffield office, 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 include in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.
