Assistant to the Executive Publisher

Introduction to the Role
Specialising in commercial fiction, non-fiction and innovative digital publishing, HQ is an ambitious and award-winning division in HarperCollins Publishers. With HQ, Mills & Boon, Akan and Pavilion as its imprints as well as the soon to be launched Juniper.

We are looking for an Assistant to provide key support to and work closely with the Managing Director and Associate Publisher as well as help facilitate and support the smooth-running of the HQ division.

The nature of the role is to primarily support the Managing Director as well as the Associate Publisher with diary management, organising and co-ordinating internal and external meetings, managing appointments and messages and providing a key point of contact for all authors, agents, and internal colleagues. There are additional expected responsibilities for divisional administrative tasks including but not limited to setting up suppliers and raising purchase orders, staff locker management, liaising with Technology/Facilities, market research and process documentation.

Responsibilities
To provide direct support to primarily the Managing Director, also the Associate Publisher:

• Complex diary management – both ad hoc and iterative meetings – logging and communicating as required
• Arranging meetings both internally and externally
• Managing room bookings and catering when required
• Organising travel bookings and schedules
• Restaurant bookings and support occasional ad hoc party invites/management
• Recording and submitting expenses on SAP Concur
• Ensuring MD has relevant, accurate and up-to-date documents for meetings as required
• Undertaking research on projects, gather market data and sales figures as requested
• Pulling together sales analysis to support decision making and author comms
• Answering author queries and posting copies as requested
• Key point of contact for external visitors to the building
• Co-ordinate and digitally distribute the quarterly author newsletter
• Key point of contact internally and externally when the MD is out of the office
• Taking meeting minutes as necessary

General Administrational Support For The Division

• Awareness and alignment to divisional author KPIs and objectives
• General office management of divisional working environment including managing locker allocation, staff books sales and giveaways, book display shelves and reporting/resolving general facilities/technology issues
• Maintaining process documents including New Joiner Welcome Pack, Author Welcome Pack
• Managing post and parcel deliveries into and out of the office
• Supporting sales, marketing & publicity teams on book mailings for author copies, influencers, PR etc
• Updating record of upcoming weekly author visits to send to CEO office
• Maintaining the author and agent database and assisting with author comms and mailings
• Updating and managing the external resources and team contact list
• Supporting pulling together internal and external presentations
• Maintain divisional top title tracker with latest information
• POs management, supplier set up for marketing and publicity division
• Liaising with Travel supplier to booking travel/accommodation for author publicity events
• Managing the Akan Books submissions log and other administrative duties

The Ideal Candidate

• Demonstrable experience as an PA or EA ideally for a senior manager or above
• Excellent administrative experience including diary management
• Knowledgeable in handling sensitive and confidential information
• Experience of working in a fast-paced company

Skills

• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Highly proactive with an excellent sense of initiative
• Good team player
• Ability to work calmly and effectively under pressure and meet deadlines
• Highly organised and able to handle and prioritise multiple tasks
• Awareness of budget / financial management for expenses, events, catering
• Effective communicator at all levels, discrete and sensitive in communication
• Excellent IT skills, including advanced MS Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams
• Basic design/Canva skills also desirable

Overview of the HQ Division
Specialising in commercial fiction, non-fiction and innovative digital publishing,
HQ
is an ambitious and award-winning imprint. It launches debuts, builds brands and publishes bestselling authors such as Adele Parks, Linwood Barclay, Sarah Morgan, Erica James, Louise Candlish, Caroline Hirons, Trinny, Davina MacCall and June Sarpong. HQ prides itself on publishing books that are bold, brave, inclusive and always with a compelling story to tell.

Promising happily-ever-after for over 100 years,
Mills & Boon
is the UK's #1 publisher of romantic fiction Mills & Boon publish the hugely successful Virgin River series by Robyn Carr, now a major Netflix series, Georgia Toffolo's Sunday Times bestselling 'Meet Me' series, and Sunday Times bestselling novel, Her Heart for a Compass, by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.

Pavilion specialises in illustrated non-fiction. Expert global publishers, the list is defined by the long-term successes of their award-winning authors, brands and partners. Pavilion publish the very best, forward-thinking books on food and drink, art and craft, design, gardening and nature, travel, wellbeing, self-development, gift, and nostalgia. As visual leaders, they prioritise distinctive design, well-researched content and uncompromising production values to offer their partners a bespoke publishing experience.

Benefits

• Hybrid working model (3 days in the office)
• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays (option to buy and sell holiday days)
• Enhanced pay for maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave
• Private healthcare cover and life assurance
• Summer Hours
• Free access to HeadSpace, employee assistance programme (24 hour helpline), mental health first aiders, and a wellbeing portal
• Season ticket loans (from day 1 for entry level) and cycle to work scheme
• Relocation Rent Support Loan
• Employee networks: HC All In (open forum), Elevate (for ethnic minority colleagues), HarperParents, Menopause at Work, Pride at HC, Social Mobility Network and Neurodiversity at Work
• Unlimited training on our Learning and Development portal, management courses (up to MA level) and mentoring programmes
• Virtual GP and eyecare vouchers
• Gym membership discount
• Onsite physiotherapy (London only)
• Charitable donation matching and 2 volunteering days
• We're a certified Carbon Neutral company
• Green Electric/Hybrid Car Benefit Scheme (salary sacrifice)
• With Trees for Life we plant a tree in the Highlands of Scotland for every permanent hire
• Free e-books and audiobooks, digital newspaper subscriptions and discounts on books
• Subsidised canteen and retail discounts
• Onsite prayer room

At HarperCollins, we value authenticity and integrity in our recruitment process. To ensure a fair and accurate evaluation of all applications, we ask that all responses to assessment questions reflect your own thoughts, experiences, and capabilities. This allows us to fairly assess your knowledge, skills, and experience to determine how they align with the role. We value diverse perspectives and genuine contributions, even if answers are not perfect. The use of AI tools or external assistance to generate responses is discouraged unless explicitly permitted for specific tasks.

If you wish to discuss anything regarding this position and/or your application to this role, please reach out directly to Tarni.Crossley- with subject heading 'Vacancy Query' plus the job title and we will aim to get back to you within 5 working days.

Please note, if you are interested in the role you would need to submit your application via Applied. We do not accept email applications.