We are hiring! We are looking for an experienced and dynamic Content Editor to join our growing editorial team to help bring to life the world of the Booker Prizes to audiences across the globe

The Booker Prize Foundation is building a new editorial team to take responsibility for our website and our wider digital portfolio across social, video and audio platforms, as well as our work with other digital partners. We are looking for a Content Editor with experience as a digital producer and/or editor to assist on the planning and lead on the delivery of our online content.

The successful candidate will have excellent knowledge of digital media and superb editorial judgement, as well as first class writing skills, creative flair and a passion for quality fiction and the place the Booker Prizes hold in our culture.

This position has now been filled. For other roles, please visit our ‘We are hiring’ page.

 

Role Summary

Job Title: Content Editor
Reports to: Head of Editorial, Booker Prize Foundation
Contract: Employee, preferably full-time
Location: UK based, at present working remotely
Salary: £40-45,000
Application details: Email CV and covering letter to [email protected] 

Winning author Damon Galgut with Maya Jasnaoff

Organisation Description

The Booker Prizes have a unique place in the literary sphere, enjoying an enviable reputation as a cultural institution that is highly respected, much loved and hotly debated throughout the world. Over the past 50 years, more than 500 extraordinary books have been brought to the attention of the public, influencing reading tastes and transforming culture in Britain and beyond, along with the careers of hundreds of authors from around the world.

The Booker Prize Foundation is a registered charity, established in 2002, whose purpose is to promote the art and value of literature for the public benefit. The best-known way it fulfils this mission is by awarding the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize. Other aspects of the foundation’s work include reading initiatives in prisons, writers’ visits to universities, the distribution of books to disadvantaged readers and the funding of Braille and audio editions of Booker Prize books through the RNIB. The UEA Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship is awarded annually to a candidate for the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. Many past scholars have since met with acclaim as published authors.

In 2021, we launched a new digital strategy at thebookerprizes.com to showcase ‘our’ nominated books alongside their exceptional authors in one unique online space. Called the Booker Library, it aims to be a unique and entertaining cultural destination that brings fresh attention to our books by combining 1) new content; 2) archive material from our authors, publishers and partners as well as our own physical archive at Oxford Brookes University; and 3) curated content from across the web.

We’ve identified the concept of the Booker ‘Golden Thread’, a strand that runs through all our books, authors, themes and subject matters. We aim to bend and stretch this thread in many directions to help our audiences explore our world with the goal of encouraging more people to read more books. We want to bring new insights and attention to the books, their themes, subject matter and the art of fiction writing itself. We are building a small editorial team to take responsibility for executing this plan.

We strongly welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Bernardine Evaristo 2019

Job Description

The Booker Prize Foundation is looking for a skilled Content Editor to be responsible for producing, publishing and updating a wide range of content to our website and social channels that will bring ‘our’ books to life online. This will cover all longlisted, shortlisted and winning books for both the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize in their combined 53-year history, as well as those nominated each coming year.

Working closely with and reporting to the Head of Editorial, the Content Editor will play an integral role in devising detailed plans for individual packages of new content for our books, authors, themes and prize years. They will take hands-on responsibility for producing and launching this content for maximum impact and reach, and will be involved in the entire publishing process, from ideation to execution, including building articles, writing headlines and selecting visuals.

They will be responsible for managing, finessing, updating and improving our substantial catalogue of existing evergreen digital content, from practical information about the Prizes themselves and the shortlisted books, to in-depth long reads, and they will be tasked with surfacing and repurposing this content in imaginative ways. This role requires an individual with a thorough understanding of best practice in digital content as well as how to nurture and represent a high-profile and respected cultural brand.

The Duchess of Cornwall speaks with Douglas Stuart on screen

Responsibilities

• Reporting to the Head of Editorial, publishing engaging copy (from practical information to interviews and features), videos, photography, audio and interactive content for the books nominated for the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize each year as well as from the past 53 years

• Assisting the Head of Editorial in project-managing external commissions, including liaising with high-profile writers, photographers, artists, film makers, audio and interactive producers as required

• Taking delivery of material, editing copy to the highest possible standard and launching it with maximum impact and reach

• Working closely with editorial colleagues to identify and prioritise content around our prizes, from features, interviews and video to practical information, to ensure the annual Booker Prize and International Booker Prize reach the widest possible international audience

• Working with editorial colleagues to help deliver effective social media and newsletter content to support the Booker Prizes and the wider Booker Prize Foundation portfolio of activities

• Identifying and working with third parties – including agencies and individuals - on potential content and partnerships

• Taking responsibility for the Booker Prizes’ digital archive of images, video, audio, copy, archive assets and other materials to ensure they are catalogued and managed with the correct data and permission

• Ensuring all digital activity is on brand and consistent

• Supporting the Head of Editorial in planning and budgetary control of all digital activities

• Undertaking analysis of the Booker Prizes’ online activities to track performance against goals, reporting results and adapting activities accordingly

Geetanjali Shree, winner of the International Booker Prize 2022 for Tomb of Sand

Experience

• Demonstrable experience as either a digital content producer or digital editor, or both, ideally in a journalism, book publishing or cultural institution environment, working to tight deadlines when required

• Demonstrable experience of producing creative copy, images, video- and audio-based digital content for websites and social media, including links to a portfolio if possible

• Experience of working with and editing high-profile writers, producers, artists and other talent

• Experience of website development, using CMS systems and Photoshop/image software (ability to use video/audio editing software and Adobe After Effects a bonus)

• An appreciation of photography and experience of selecting and curating visuals for online platforms

• Experience of using social media, newsletters and SEO analytics in a professional context

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Organised and reliable with excellent attention to detail

• Comfortable conducting analysis using data

• Self-starter who can work on their own initiative as well as collaboratively within a team and with third parties or external individuals/companies

• Able to prioritise, handle multiple simultaneous tasks and work in a newly created team

• Knowledge of - and passion for - contemporary fiction and literature definitely a plus!

To apply please send your CV and a covering letter explaining why you think you’re the right person for this role to [email protected] 

Marlon James, 2015