Head of Campaigns (12-month-FTC)

Job Description

We’re looking for an experienced senior marketer to join Penguin General as Head of Campaigns, Launch on a fixed-term contract covering a period of parental leave.  

As Head of Campaigns, Launch, you’ll lead the quality and effectiveness of launch marketing across Penguin General, ensuring our books and authors are taken to market with clear objectives, strong audience understanding and creative, impactful campaigns. You’ll personally lead campaigns for some of our highest-priority books and authors, while line managing, developing and empowering the marketers who deliver campaigns across the wider

 

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 value curiosity and are looking for people who notice the world, ask questions, and bring fresh perspectives to what we do. If you’re endlessly curious and love discovering and sharing new ideas, you’ll feel at home here.

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

Key responsibilities:

• Raise the quality and consistency of campaigns across the list, embedding best practice in planning, briefing, execution and evaluation. 
• Provide senior oversight and sign-off on launch campaign plans, bringing strategic input, audience insight and strong creative judgement. 
• Lead a select number of Penguin General’s highest-priority campaigns, brands and authors, from initial strategy through to creative development, paid media and delivery. 
• Use data, consumer insight and emerging audience and media trends to inform campaign strategy and optimise activity. 
• Build strong relationships with authors, agents, agencies and external partners, providing excellent author care and trusted senior marketing expertise. 
• Line manage and develop members of the Launch team, setting clear expectations, supporting their development and empowering them to become confident, autonomous campaign handlers and decision-makers. 
• Work closely with editorial, publicity, sales and colleagues across the wider business to ensure marketing thinking informs publishing decisions. 
• Lead and develop our trade marketing processes and retailer engagement strategy. 
• Bring relevant developments in marketing, media, technology and consumer behaviour into the team, helping us continually improve our marketing capability. 
• Contribute to acquisitions, pitches and wider divisional initiatives where senior marketing expertise is required, and deputise for the Campaigns Director, Marketing when needed. 

 

What you’ll bring

You’ll be an experienced consumer marketer with a strong track record of leading ambitious, high-priority campaigns and developing others. 

You’ll combine strategic and commercial thinking with excellent creative judgement. You’ll be comfortable moving between the bigger picture – audiences, positioning, objectives and effectiveness – and the detail required to make excellent campaigns happen. 

You’ll also be a confident and collaborative people leader: someone who can provide clear direction and constructive challenge while empowering others to make decisions and develop their own expertise. 

Essential criteria 

• Significant experience of leading successful, high-priority consumer marketing campaigns. 

• Proven ability to develop clear, audience-led campaign strategies and translate them into creative, commercially effective activity. 

• Strong people-management experience, with the ability to motivate, develop and constructively challenge others. 

• Excellent communication, influencing and presentation skills. 

• Strong stakeholder-management skills and the confidence to represent marketing at a senior level. 

• Significant experience of working with media, creative and other external agencies. 

• Strong understanding of data and consumer insight and how to apply them to campaign decision-making. 

• Excellent project-management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and make confident decisions. 

• Strong creative judgement and experience of briefing sophisticated, impactful creative across different marketing channels. 

 

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 29th November 2026. The cover letter should be uploaded as an additional document.

 

Salary

Circa £60,000 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 will be in our Embassy Gardens office 2-3 days a 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.

  

Additional Information

 

 

Disclosure requirements pertaining to the collection of your personal data:

Responsible for processing the information provided in your application is the company specified in the job advertisement, with its registered office as indicated. The company processes your data for the purpose of establishing an employment relationship on the basis of Art. 6 (1) b GDPR / Section 26 (1) sentence 1 BDSG.

The retention period for your data is determined by the statutory time limits applicable in the respective country, beginning upon completion of the recruitment process. You can find these here.

You can contact the company’s Data Protection Officer at the above-mentioned postal address. 

Further information on data protection and your rights can be found here.
 

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