Jobs at the Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is an equal opportunities employer, a Real Living Wage employer, and a Disability Confident Committed empoyer. Our work is framed by a commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

The Book Festival is a working environment where everyone is treated fairly, and our differences are celebrated as strengths. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply for available positions. If you have any specific access requirements, please let us know and we will do our best to meet your needs. You can visit our Fair Work Statement here.

Vacancies

When a position becomes available we'll post the details here. We also publicise vacancies through our social media channels - Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X/Twitter - so do keep an eye on those too.

Campaigns and Content Manager

Contract: 21 hours/week (3 days/wk equivalent), 9 month fixed term (Jan-Sep).
Salary: £36,000 pro rata

This exciting role will support the Brand and Audience team during a period of significant digital transformation. The role will manage and deliver a variety of brand and marketing projects, with key focuses on the development and delivery of the Festival’s annual sales campaign, production of marketing and fundraising assets, and Festival site signage and audience activations. It will operate across a wide range of channels and assets, and be responsive to the organisation’s different needs and focus throughout its yearly cycle, and make significant contributions towards the production of the organisation’s annual brochure, and website content.

Find the full job description here.
Apply via our online portal here.

Closing date for applications: 17:00 on Thursday 27 November 2025
Interviews will be held: Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 December 

Freelance Copywriters

Next year, the 2026 Edinburgh International Book Festival programme will comprise of 600+ amazing events featuring authors, thinkers, artists, and performers from across the literary and cultural spectrum. Every single one of those events needs a unique and engaging 75-word description for our brochure and website.  

We’re looking to add to our team of copywriters, seeking freelancers who are comfortable turning around engaging, zingy copy on a range of topics quickly. Our tone of voice is energetic, conversational, bold, warm, and each compact event description has to do a lot of heavy lifting. Full tone of voice briefing will be given to successful candidates. Signed-on copywriters would ideally be able to attend the project induction meeting in January in person in central Edinburgh (though remotely can be facilitiated), but thereafter the project will be remote working.  

If you’re up for the task, please get in touch. 

Dates: We’re looking for copywriters who are available across February-May (with a high level of availability in March/April as this is when the most concentrated deadlines will occur). Events will be assigned on a rolling basis as soon as they have been confirmed. You can find examples of last year’s event copy in our 2025 Programme brochure.  

Fee: £15.50 per event. Most writers will be asked to write around 40-80 events, though this can be agreed in discussion. 

How to apply: If writing for the Book Festival sounds like something you'd be interested in, please get in touch with jobs@edbookfest.co.uk using the subject line 'Copywriter Note Of Interest 2026' and include the following:

• Details of your relevant experience
• Your availability across February-May
• Your interest in writing for the Book Festival, and what you think makes a good event description
• A sample of your work (or a link to your website or online portfolio)
• A note on which of the following topics you are interested in/comfortable to write about (this will help us assign events, so please note if there are topics you would rather not write about): contemporary fiction; children's fiction and non-fiction; memoir; politics, society and geopolitics; music, art, theatre, film and wider culture; climate and the environment; LGBTQI+; science; history; genre fiction; business and economics; health and wellbeing; poetry. 

Closing date for notes of interest: 17:00 on Thursday 27 November 2025
Successful applicants will be contacted by Friday 19 December to discuss the opportunities further. 
Project induction will take place: w/c 19 January 2026 

Trustee | Chair of Audit and Risk Committee (ARC)

Find more information in the recruitment pack here.

Closing date for applications: Monday 8 December 2025
Interviews to be held: January 2026.

Information about temporary Festival staff recruitment

We employ many dedicated and enthusiastic temporary staff each year including short-term staff during August and longer term staff from April/May to September. We expect hard work, commitment, an interest in the arts and a positive, enthusiastic attitude. In return you get a fantastic learning experience that is loads of fun and the opportunity to make valuable contacts. Additional perks include discounted books and access to some of the world's greatest author events. Because of the huge number of applications we receive, and the relative shortness of the contracts, relevant experience is a must.

Please be aware that:

• We are unable to contribute to accommodation, living and travel expenses.
• We do not appoint without interview.
• All candidates will be asked to show evidence of their eligibility to work in the UK if selected for interview.
• We do not accept speculative applications for positions which are not listed on this page.
• We do not offer work experience, unpaid internships, or volunteering opportunities.