Bertelsmann
In-Market Campaigns Manager, Penguin General (12-month FTC)
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Job Description
We’re looking for a Campaigns Manager, in-market to join our communications team on a 12-month fixed term contract. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of an innovative new marketing capability at Penguin General, delivering creative, insight-led campaigns that help our books build on their success and reach more readers.
About Penguin General
Penguin General is home to Viking, Hamish Hamilton, Fig Tree, Penguin Life and Sandycove. With roots stretching back to the original Penguin Books and Allen Lane’s founding vision, we publish an extraordinary breadth of fiction and non-fiction, driven by curiosity about the world and a passion for great storytelling. We look for books that stand out, connect and endure — carefully chosen books by exceptional authors, published with ambition, imagination and care, for readers of all kinds.
Our authors include Richard Osman, Emily Henry, Arundhati Roy, Marlon James, Han Kang, Robert Macfarlane, Elif Shafak, Ben Macintyre, Dolly Alderton, Zadie Smith, Ali Smith, Stanley Tucci and Meera Sodha, as well as major international voices including Michelle Obama and Barack Obama.
About the Penguin General Communications Team
The Penguin General Communications team connects books with readers. We bring publicity and marketing together in one integrated team, creating imaginative, reader-led campaigns across an extraordinary range of books, authors and subjects.
We’re an attentive, curious and collaborative team. We stay alert to culture and changing reading habits, combining creativity, insight and judgement to give every book the best chance of finding its audience. We’re always learning — paying attention to what’s connecting, trying new approaches and adapting as opportunities emerge.
We welcome people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. You don’t need a traditional publishing background to thrive here — what matters is curiosity, initiative, a willingness to learn and a desire to connect great books with readers.
The Role
As a Campaigns Manager, in-market you’ll plan and deliver marketing campaigns for published titles across Penguin General, using audience insight and data to drive discoverability, sales and help sustain long-term commercial value.
You’ll primarily focus on books published within the last two years that are showing strong ongoing sales performance and audience response, alongside selected paperback campaigns and deeper backlist opportunities. You’ll use insight to spot opportunities, shape your approach and understand what is making a difference.
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We’re looking for an experienced, curious marketer who gets excited when the latest data, insight & trends tell us something unexpected.
The role will also develop our approach to community and organic engagement, including book clubs, partnerships and long-term creator relationships.
Key Responsibilities
- Plan and deliver campaigns for in-market titles across Penguin General, including recent frontlist, paperback and backlist opportunities.
- Proactively identify growth opportunities using signals from sales performance, audience insight, reader response, consumer behaviour and wider cultural and market trends.
- Set clear measures of success and take a test-and-learn approach, using campaign performance to optimise activity and understand what is making a difference.
- Work closely with launch campaign teams to ensure continuity across a book’s lifecycle.
- Brief and collaborate with paid media teams, agencies and designers, developing creative and copy where needed.
- Turn data and campaign performance into clear, compelling stories and recommendations, sharing what we’ve learned with colleagues and stakeholders across the business.
- Help grow our consumer-facing communities and channels, including developing content-led approaches for platforms such as Reddit and YouTube and building relationships with book influencers, creators and book clubs.
- Support selected audience-growth and brand projects, testing new approaches and sharing what we learn.
What You’ll Bring
You’ll be an experienced marketer with strong campaign skills and a genuine curiosity about audiences, consumer behaviour and the wider cultural landscape. You’ll be comfortable combining insight with creativity and taking a practical, proactive approach to getting things done.
Essential criteria:
- Strong experience planning and delivering marketing campaigns across multiple projects or priorities within publishing or a relevant creative and consumer-facing industry.
- An effectiveness mindset, with experience using performance data to understand what is working, optimise activity and make recommendations about where marketing investment can have the greatest impact.
- A comprehensive understanding of marketing channels and how to use them effectively to reach audiences.
- A confident communicator who can turn complex information into clear, persuasive recommendations for different audiences and stakeholders.
- The ability to think strategically about audiences and prioritise activity based on impact.
- Strong organisation and project-management skills, with the flexibility to respond to new opportunities.
- A proactive, solutions-focused approach and confidence driving projects forward.
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to collaborate across teams.
- Curiosity and existing knowledge of consumer behaviour and the wider cultural landscape.
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Application Instructions
Please apply with your CV and cover letter (both in PDF format) outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on Sunday 25th October. The cover letter should be uploaded as an additional document.
Please ensure you include a cover letter, as it is a crucial part of our assessment process. The cover letter offers an opportunity to show how your experience and interests align with the role requirements. Typically, we expect the cover letter to be no more than one or two pages in length.
Salary
Circa £34,000 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 the In-Market Campaigns Manager to be in the office 2-3 days per week.
AI
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.
Disability Confident
As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘What you’ll bring’ section. There may be times when the volume of applications means we cannot take all eligible candidates to interview.
We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable with, for us to support your request.
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