Head of Marketing, Ebury Food

Head of Marketing, Ebury Food & Lifestyle (12-month FTC)

Are you in your element when you create high-profile, audience-first marketing campaigns?

Do you have experience working on successful campaigns and managing a creative marketing team?

We're looking for a Head of Marketing for our Ebury Food and Lifestyle list who is passionate about cookery and excited about creating future bestsellers.

This is a role to cover parental leave, and we are open to talent from inside and outside the publishing industry – this is a great chance to shape how we reach new audiences across the food and lifestyle landscape.

About the team

Ebury's hub model blends editorial, publicity and marketing, and feeds on idea flow from every area of the team. It's a thriving and ultra creative team and space.

In the Ebury Food Hub, our mission is to make life tastier and easier, to introduce more readers to new and established food voices and to make connections in the most joyful way possible: through cooking and eating. As the No.1 cookbook publisher in the UK, the list is simply unrivalled. From Mary Berry, Yotam Ottolenghi, Rick Stein to Suzanne Mulholland aka the Batch Lady, Hayley Dean, Jane's Patisserie and the Bored of Lunch phenomenon, the depth of talent is exceptional.

In the Ebury Lifestyle Hub, our mission is to create beautiful solutions for everyday needs. From Tim Minchin, Mackenzie Crook, Will Kirk, Dolly Parton and Charlie Mackesy– you'll be working with a broad range of authors whose work spans the lifestyle genre, covering home and garden, fashion, self-expression and giftable humour books.

The role

As Head of Marketing, you'll lead innovative, audience-first campaigns across our stellar list, shaping how we connect readers with the most exciting voices in food and lifestyle.

You'll guide and inspire a talented team of marketers, championing creativity, collaboration and strategic thinking across our campaigns. A versatile leader, you'll balance key title launches with long-tail opportunities, use audience insights to spark fresh ideas, and bring your passion for food and lifestyle to every campaign.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead the marketing team for the hub
• Take responsibility for all aspects of the marketing strategy for our books from acquisition through to publication and beyond both as an individual and supporting the team
• Build a close partnership with the publishing team to set the agenda and contribute to acquisition and growth strategy
• Represent the Ebury Food and Lifestyle list internally and externally, generating buzz around our content
• Build and develop excellent relationships with authors, agents, brand partners, influencers and internal and external stakeholders
• Champion innovation and creativity at the heart of every campaign
• Lead campaigns for high-profile launches

What you'll bring

Essential criteria:

• Versatile leader and marketer
• Creative approach to finding new ways of targeting, engaging and broadening audiences
• Passionate about food and lifestyle; professional or personal experience of working with foodie influencers and trendsetters. Experience with audience-led marketing or publicity in this space.
• Ability to focus on both new launches and take advantage of promotional opportunities for catalogue titles
• Great understanding of how media and effective communication impacts a campaign, across both print and digital
• Accustomed to using consumer insight to better understand audiences
• Talented multi-tasker who can prioritise, set direction, problem solve, brainstorm, and negotiate
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Comfortable building relationships and influencing effectively across a wide range of stakeholders
• Resilient, and calm under pressure
• Established media or brand relationships would be advantageous
• Proven team management experience is preferred; determination to help a team thrive is essential

Application instructions

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on Sunday 4th January 2026.

Here at Penguin, we believe in the power of authenticity and human creativity. When you apply for a position, we want to encourage you to showcase your unique voice. Throughout our recruitment process, please share your own thoughts, experiences, and skills. This helps us get a true sense of who you are and what you might bring to our team.

We celebrate creativity and diverse perspectives, so please be yourself While we recognise AI tools can be helpful, we recommend using them thoughtfully to ensure your responses reflect you.

Salary

Circa £50,000 - £55,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.

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 that you'll spend a minimum of two days per week at our Embassy Gardens office (three days in the first three months).